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Mescalero Apache woman, a long-time foe of storage of nuclear waste on Indian reservation says she is being denied chance to run for top tribal office.

Rufina Marie Laws, an enrolled member of the Mescalero Apache Tribe in New Mexico, has been a committed opponent of tribal government plans to establish a nuclear waste storage facility on the reservation, for several years.

For four years she resisted discouragement, discrimination in employment, faced threats of physical harm, and assaults on some members of her family. She said a death threat was made to her, her daughter, and four grandchildren. She had been spat on, received obscene phone calls, and verbally abused. Then suddenly it appeared that her activism was nearing success.

She had toured the country seeking information and assistance in her fight against the nuclear project. She organized local people for opposition to the project. And she asked that the tribal government allow a referendum of tribal members to vote their approval or disapproval of the project.

After a long and hard fight, earlier this year it appeared that Rufina Laws had won.

In January of 1995, Mescalero Apache President Wendell Chino, in office for more than 30 years, apparently felt confident enough to announce that a referendum would be held, and that he would abide by the decision of the voters. The vote took place as scheduled, but - SURPRISE, SURPRISE, SURPRISE - the voters rejected the nuclear waste storage project!

After three years of wheeling and dealing with first the Federal Nuclear Negotiator, and when that fizzled, making private plans with the nuclear power generating industry amid much ballyhoo, Chino had suffered his first tribal setback in many, many years. He then went back on his word to accept the decision.

A counterattack was immediately begun by Chino. Cronies close to Chino began circulating a petition for another vote. Some members of the tribe said they had been told that money would later be distributed to those who would vote for the project.

The second vote was quickly held and this time Chino won. As of this writing, it appears that tribal negotiations with the nuclear industry is proceeding. In August, the Mescalero Apache tribe began the licensing procedure for a Monitored Retrievable Storage (MRS) facility with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Rockville, Maryland.

Rufina Laws and her allies have not given up and are now attempting to unseat the well established power structure of Wendell Chino by running an electable candidate in the upcoming elections for tribal officials. Rufina Laws submitted her candidacy to the tribal election board, but she has been told that she will not be allowed to run for the office of President because she lives in the nearby town of Ruidoso.

She has appealed that decision, reminding the Mescalero Apache Election Board that their Constitution states all tribal members have "the right to vote in any tribal election" if they have lived within a fifty mile radius of the Tribal Administrative office for a period of at least six months. Laws argues that if a person can vote, "cannot a person be a candidate for office?"

As for meeting the requirement of living "within a 50-miles radius," she says she has repeatedly been denied housing on the reservation in spite of many attempts. She believes that this is because of her opposition to the Chino administration's plans. In the meantime, she has requested that her candidacy for the tribes highest office be reconsidered. Unfortunately, the tribe's Constitution empowers President Chino to appoint, or remove, members of the Election Board, and even the Tribal Court Judges, just in case of an appeal being made.

For those still wondering about civil rights, the Civil Rights Act does not apply on Indian reservations.