TRO Issued To Stop Army Construction At Comanche Religious Site

In Comanche Nation v. United States, (WD OK, Aug. 18, 2008), an Oklahoma federal district court granted a temporary restraining order barring the U.S. Army from starting construction of a warehouse on the Ft. Sill Military Reservation. The Comanche Tribe claimed that the construction site at the edge of Medicine Bluffs is a significant religious and ceremonial site protected by federal law from disruption or interference. the court said that the questions going to the merits of the Tribe's claims "are serious, substantial, and difficult." According to yesterday's Army Times, Medicine Bluffs has been on the Register of Historic Places since 1974. Comanche Chairman Wallace Coffey said the Army had ignored the tribe's request that the warehouse be constructed elsewhere.