The six-year period to sue had ended by 1967 at the latest, U.S. District Judge Richard Roberts, who is based in Washington, D.C., said in granting a motion by the government to throw out the case.

The legal action centered on the Ute Partition Act of 1954, which divided the tribe into "mixed-bloods" and "full-bloods." Under the legislation, 490 mixed-blood individuals lost recognition by the federal government as Indians and were removed from tribal roles.

In addition, they lost their rights to share in a $32 million judgment obtained by the Ute tribe over the federal government's taking of Colorado lands previously occupied by the White River and Uncompaghre Bands.

All but a few of the terminated members were Uintah Band descendents. Full-bloods were defined as tribal members whose ancestry was at least one-half Ute and more than one-half Indian. Mixed-bloods were defined as members who lacked sufficient Ute or Indian ancestry to qualify as full-bloods.

On Aug. 27, 1961, the the secretary of the interior published the names of the 490 mixed-bloods and the termination policy in the Federal Register.

The terminated members filed suit in November 2002, seeking reinstatement in the Ute tribe or federal recognition as a separate tribe and an accounting of the $32 million allocated to the Colorado bands. But time had run out, Roberts said.

"Even assuming that plaintiffs' claim did not accrue until the most recent act alleged in the complaint - the publication in the 1961 Federal Register of the list of terminated members - the six-year statute of limitations expired before plaintiffs filed this action," the judge wrote.

Oranna Felter, the lead plaintiff in the case, said Friday that she was still reviewing the ruling with the group's attorney and had no immediate comment.

pmanson@sltrib.com