Download Memorandum for Record here.
The Corps has denied the permit to build a coal export facility near Cherry Point after deciding the impact to Lummi Nation fishing would violate their treaty rights.
economic development
Bigotry, Calls for Violence, Follow Protest of Tribal Treaty Fishing
Link to article by Charles Tanner Jr. on IREHR’s website here.
Ante Up: Pojoaque Pueblo is the last holdout in a fight over the state’s cut of gaming revenues
Link to Santa Fe Register article by Steven Hsieh here.
ROW Claim Against City in Santa Clara Pueblo Negotiation Dispute
Download complaint in United States v. City of Española, 16-cv-00391 (D. N.M.) here.
The DOJ is using its authority as trustee under the Indian Right-of-Way Act to sue the City of Española over expired easements for water and sewer systems. Much of the City is on the Pueblo and both the City and the Pueblo rely on the infrastructure the City provides, but the grants expired in 1994 and 2002. The federal government claims the City is trespassing and seeks monetary damages and ejection if the City cannot negotiate settlement.
New Paper Focuses on Double Taxation in Indian Country
Link to article here.
Citation and abstract:
Croman, K. S., & Taylor, J. B. (2016). Why beggar thy Indian neighbor? The case for tribal primacy in taxation in Indian country. Joint Occasional Papers on Native Affairs (JOPNA 2016-1). Tucson, AZ and Cambridge, MA: Native Nations Institute and Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development.
The law governing taxation in Indian country is a mess. The accretion of common law precedents and the general tendency of states to assert primacy over the taxation of non-Indians create absurd outcomes. This article makes the case three ways. The argument based on the law shows that particularized, fact-specific precedents create a thicket of rulings that impede business development. The argument based on facts shows that these impediments to economic development harm not only tribal economies, but state and local economies, too. And the argument based on just claims testifies to the fact that the current arrangement could hardly have emerged from the actions of willing and informed governments operating in good faith. To borrow from Adam Smith, states beggar their Indian neighbors, seeking fiscal gain to the tribes’ detriment and, ultimately, their own. We conclude by recommending actions to bring fairness and certainty to the law governing taxation in Indian country.
City Of Pocatello Prohibits Business with Shoshone-Bannock Tribes
As tweeted by Native News Online with link to article:
— NativeNewsOnline (@Native_NewsNet) May 1, 2016
Excerpt:
The City’s contract provisions expressly state the company renting land from the City at the airport shall “not enter into any written agreement with the Tribes” without the City’s approval. Further, the agreement provides if the City’s tenant receives communications from the Tribes, the tenant must “immediately provide” the City “with a copy of any written correspondence or material” received from the Tribes.
FHWA Request for Comments and Nominations for Negotiated Rulemaking Committee
Download notice from the Federal Register here.
The Federal Highway Administration is announcing its intent to establish a negotiated rulemaking committee to develop a proposed rule to carry the Tribal Transportation Self-Governance Program (TTSGP) as required by Section 1121 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. The FHWA will select the tribal representatives for the committee from among elected officials of tribal governments (or their designated employees with authority to act on their behalf), acting in their official capacities and whose tribes have existing Title 23 U.S.C. funding agreements with the Department. To the maximum extent possible, FHWA will consider geographical location, size, and existing transportation and selfgovernance experience, in selecting tribal committee representatives. Per the FAST Act, the committee will assist in the development of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that contains the proposed regulations needed to implement the TTSGP.
BIA’s Brief in Support of Partial Dismissal in Mashpee Wampanoag Carcieri Challenge
Here are the materials, so far, in Littlefield et. al. v. U.S. Department of Interior (D. Mass.):
Doc. 1 – Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief
Doc. 10 – United States’ Memorandum of Law in Support of Motion for Partial Dismissal
Except:
Plaintiffs’ Fifth Cause of Action seeks a declaration that the IRA, enacted over eighty years ago, is unconstitutional. Plaintiffs specifically allege that the IRA’s provision authorizing the Secretary to acquire land in trust on behalf of federally-recognized Indian tribes somehow reflects an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority. This legal question, however, has long been resolved against Plaintiffs by all courts to consider it, including the First Circuit in a decision binding on this Court. Federal courts have held, consistently and repeatedly, that the Secretary’s authority to acquire land in trust under the IRA does not violate the United States Constitution because there are sufficient intelligible principles provided in the statute and its legislative history to guide the Secretary’s discretion whether to acquire land in trust on behalf of a tribe. Moreover, it has been over 85 years since the Supreme Court invalidated any statute on the grounds of excessive delegation of legislative authority. The Supreme Court in fact has only found two statues to be a violation of the non-delegation doctrine, neither of which are comparable to the statute at issue here. Accordingly, the Court must dismiss Plaintiffs’ Fifth Cause of Action.
Request for Proposals – Court Assessments in Alaska-AVCP & California
As a courtesy notice, the below Request for Proposals are available on the Federal Business Opportunities website. Please note, they are advertised as 100% Indian Small Business Economic Enterprise Set-aside in accordance with the Buy Indian Act.
- RFQ No. A16PS00308, closes 4/25/2016, BIA Office of Justice Services District IX (California) Tribal Court Assessments
- RFQ No. A16PS00309, closes 4/25/2016, BIA Office of Justice Services District IX (California) Tribal Court Assessments
- RFQ No. A16PS00310, closes 4/25/2016, BIA Office of Justice Services District IX (Alaska – AVCP) Tribal Court Assessment
Please direct all questions to the Contracting Officer listed on the solicitation.
Tribal NLRB Background Materials
Here are the materials relevant to Little River Band of Ottawa Indians Tribal Government v. NLRB.
Supreme Court cert stage briefs
Little River Petition and Appendix COMBINED
Final CO-UMUT Amicus Cert Petition – Saginaw Chippewa and LRB
National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation
Sixth Circuit En Banc Stage Continue reading
Turtle Talk 
You must be logged in to post a comment.