The company seeks to restore oil leasing on land sacred to the tribes

By MATTHEW BROWN
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BILLS, Mont. (AP) — Attorneys for an oil company are asking a federal judge to reinstate a drilling lease on federal land deemed sacred to Native American tribes in the United States and Canada. The energy lease at the Badger-Two Medicine area near the Blackfeet Reservation in northwestern Montana was canceled in 2016. That decision was upheld by a federal appeals court last year. Now, the Louisiana company that holds the contract is running another race to get the court to restore its mining rights. Solenex LLC’s attorneys argued that Jewell had exceeded its jurisdiction. Badger-Two-Medicine is the birthplace of Blackfeet’s story.