tribal courts

Sac and Fox Company Sues Ponca Tribe in Federal Court over Construction Contract

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the complaint in G2 v. Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma (W.D. Okla.):

G2 Complaint

An excerpt:

5. On March 1, 2010, the Ponca Tribe executed a “Construction Loan” in favor of G2 in the principal amount of $750,000.00, with a rider that all construction should be performed at cost plus 10%.

6. G2 performed all of its obligations under the Construction Loan contract.
7. The Ponca Tribe had been substantially performing on this Construction Loan by making payments to G2 in the amount of $35,000.00 per month. See attached Exhibit 2.
8. Despite G2’s notice of default and demand for repayment, the Ponca Tribe has defaulted on repayment pursuant to the terms of the Construction Loan. Said failure constitutes an event of default pursuant to the Construction Loan. The Ponca Tribe breached its contract with G2 by failing to make payments on the principal balance, and failing to otherwise cure the default.
9. G2 has sustained damages in connection with the Ponca Tribe’s breach of contract.
10. G2 has sustained damages and costs in connection with the Ponca Tribe’s continued use of its tax license, incurring fees and monies owed (OTC Case No. P-13-037-K).

11. G2 is entitled to recover damages it has sustained, including repayment of the remaining principal balance of $350,000.00, interest which continues to accrue, plus the expenses related to filing this action and reasonable attorneys’ fees.

Reply Brief in EXC, Inc. v. Jensen

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

Jensen Reply

 

White House Blog Post on VAWA 2013 and Indian Health

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

An excerpt:

Because of the successful 2013 Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which President Obama signed into law on March 7, 2013, tribal courts and law enforcement will soon be able to exercise the sovereign power to investigate, prosecute, convict, and sentence those who commit acts of domestic violence or dating violence or violate certain protection orders in Indian country, regardless of the defendant’s Indian or non-Indian status. The tribal provisions of this landmark legislation were originally proposed by the Department of Justice in 2011 to address alarming rates of violence against native women.  We believe today, as we did then, that this is not only constitutionally sound law, but it is also a moral prerogative and an essential tool to ensure that non-Indian men who assault Indian women are held accountable for their crimes.

Grand Canyon Skywalk Development Cert Petition

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here is the cert petition in the case now captioned Grand Canyon Skywalk Development LLC v. Grand Canyon Resort Development Corporation:

Petition For A Writ Of Certiorari

Questions presented:

1. Does Montana v. United States, 450 U.S. 544 (1981) apply on tribal land, as this Court suggested in Nevada v. Hicks, 533 U.S. 353, 358 (2001), or does this Court acquiesce in the Ninth Circuit’s contrary decision in Water Wheel Camp Recreation Area v. LaRance, 642 F.3d 802 (9th Cir. 2011)?

2. Does a non-tribal member consent to tribal jurisdiction under Montana even when that “consent” comes in the form of a contract with a tribal corporation which expressly provides that disputes will be resolved through binding arbitration, not in tribal court, and where the tribal enterprise has expressly waived its sovereign immunity to permit arbitration?

3. Are intangible contract rights of a Nevada corporation located on federal land held in trust for the Tribe and thus subject to the Tribe’s eminent domain powers because they relate to activities on tribal land?

4. Does the bad-faith exception to National Farmers exhaustion require a showing that the tribal court acted in bad faith, or is it sufficient to demonstrate that the Tribe’s governing council (Tribal Council) did so and that the Tribe’s judiciary lacked judicial independence?

Lower court materials here.

Douglas Luckerman’s Attorney Fees Suit Remanded to Tribal Court

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here are the materials in Luckerman v. Narragansett Indian Tribe (D. R.I.):

8-1 Narragansett Motion to Dismiss

10-1 Luckerman Response

13 Matthew Thomas Affidavit

13-1 Narragansett Reply

16 DCT Order

Prior post here.

Native Nations Institute Announces Online Courses: “Rebuilding Native Nations”

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

August 8, 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Native Nations Institute Launches Groundbreaking “Rebuilding Native Nations” Online Course Series

TUCSON, Arizona – Culminating a six-year development process, the Native Nations Institute (NNI) today announced the launch of its groundbreaking “Rebuilding Native Nations: Strategies for Governance and Development” distance-learning course series. Designed primarily for use by Native nations and tribal colleges and universities, the curriculum examines the critical governance and development challenges facing Native nations and surveys the breadth and diversity of Native nation-building efforts across Indian Country. Sharing lessons learned through 25 years of community-based research by NNI and its sister organization the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, it explores what is working, what isn’t, and why as Native nations move aggressively to reclaim control over their own affairs and create vibrant futures of their own design.

“Rebuilding Native Nations presents and celebrates the great strides Native nations are making as they work to fully exercise their sovereignty and engage in true self-governance,” says Joan Timeche, NNI executive director. “It offers Native nations a chance to learn from one another, and for society at large to learn about the many positive things taking place across Indian Country.”

Featuring eight different course options, Rebuilding Native Nations provides a dynamic individual or group learning experience, weaving together video lectures by course instructors, video assignments featuring the perspectives of more than 125 Native leaders and scholars, curricular materials from NNI’s “Native Nation Building” and “Emerging Leaders” executive education seminars, in-depth case studies, illustrative graphics, the landmark Rebuilding Native Nations course textbook (Univ. of Arizona Press, 2007), and original readings drawn from the NNI-Harvard Project research.

“This curriculum provides Native nation leaders, employees, citizens and others a unique opportunity to learn about Native nation building directly from the horse’s mouth,” says Ian Record, the curriculum’s director. “It puts an exclamation point on what the NNI-Harvard Project research has found – that self-determination is the only policy that has ever worked for Native nations. The many governance success stories chronicled in the curriculum attest to that fact.”

Offered online, Rebuilding Native Nations also is available on DVD for those who live in rural areas with poor internet connectivity. Volume discounts are available to Native nations, organizations, and tribal colleges and universities that wish to enroll groups of participants in the courses. To learn more about Rebuilding Native Nations, please visit www.rebuildingnativenations.com or call 520-626-9839.

Continue reading →

Nooksack COA Stays Enrollments

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in Lomeli v. Kelly (Nooksack Ct. App.) and Roberts v. Kelly (Nooksack COA):

Roberts v Kelly Order on Motion for Permission to File Interloctory Appeal

Lomeli v Kelly Order Extending Stay

Roberts v Kelly Notice and Emergency Motion for Permission to Appeal Interlocutory Order And Aceptance of Appeal

Seattle Times Coverage of Nooksack Disenrollments

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

Excerpt:

The federal government has been hesitant to get involved in tribal internal affairs, according to Robert Anderson, director of the Native American Law Center at the University of Washington and an enrolled member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. A group of Snoqualmie members experienced a rare legal victory in 2009 when a federal court judge overturned their banishment and disenrollment.

Disenrollment decisions are not only about membership, but also about belonging, Raquel Montoya-Lewis, chief judge of the Nooksack Tribal Court, wrote in a court decision.

“Cultural and tribal identity lay at the heart of how we know ourselves. … Belonging to a tribe gives tribal members a sense of home, of connection to a community, whether one lives there or not,” Montoya-Lewis wrote.

Western Sky Motion to Dismiss Heldt Class Action in South Dakota

Matthew L.M. Fletcher4 Comments

Here is the motion in Heldt v. Payday Financial LLC (D. S.D.):

Western Sky Motion to Dismiss

Complaint here.

AK Tribal Jurisdiction/ICWA Case–News Coverage

Kate Fort1 Comment

Here.

At issue is whether a small tribal court in the village of Minto, 130 road miles west of Fairbanks, could strip Parks of his parental rights to one of his daughters, named “S.P.” in legal filings, and approve her adoption by Jeff Simmonds, the cousin of the child’s mother, and Simmonds’ wife Rozella. According to court filings, S.P. is a member of the Minto tribe, as is her mother, Stearman, the victim of Parks’ rage. Jeff Simmonds is also a Minto tribe member, while Rozella Simmonds is a Zuni Pueblo Indian from the Southwest.

One of Parks’ parents is Alaska Native and Parks himself is an enrolled member of the tribe at Stevens Village, about 60 miles north of Minto on the Yukon River, according to the court filings.

To the state, that meant that the Minto court was trying to enforce its order against a nonmember of its tribe. The Minto court’s declaration on May 7, 2009, that Parks was an unfit parent was improperly reached, the state said in its brief to the Alaska Supreme Court, filed in April.

The proper venue for that question is before a state judge in Fairbanks, not the elders of the Minto court, the state said.

[Natalie] Landreth, from the Native American Rights Fund office in Anchorage, said the state is overreaching and ignoring the years of legal precedent since Congress passed the Indian Child Welfare Act in 1978.

 

Related case in the 9th Circuit here.