federal recognition – Page 12

1. Whether the Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. 1491(a)(1), or Indian Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. 1505, grants the Court of Federal Claims subject-matter jurisdiction over an Indian Tribe’s claim for money damages against the United States, based on the United States’ purported violation of sources of law that do not themselves mandate a damages remedy for their violation.

2. Whether the United States may be required to pay damages for failing to provide an Indian Tribe with a statutorily defined portion of a statutory fund, where Congress enacted limited appropriations for that fund and those appropriations were exhausted over a decade before the tribe filed its action for money damages.

Lower court materials are here.

Effort by “Ukiah Valley Pomo Indian Tribe” to Force Secretarial Election/Federal Recognition Fails

May 18, 2012Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in Allen v. United States (N.D. Cal.):

DCT Order Dismissing Allen Complaint

USA Motion to Dismiss

Allen Motion for Summary J

Sandy Lake Band of Chippewa Fails in Second Federal Court Effort to Win Federal Recognition

May 8, 2012Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here are some of the materials in Sandy Lake Band of Chippewa Indians v. United States (D. Minn.):

DCT Order Dismissing Sandy Lake II

Sandy Lake Motion for Partial Summary J

USA Motion to Dismiss

Materials on their prior effort are here.

Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Roundtable on Federal Recognition TOMORROW

April 25, 2012Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here.

N.C. COA Decides Case Involving Membership in State Commission on Indian Affairs

April 5, 2012Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in Meherrin Tribe of N. Carolina v. N. Carolina State Commission on Indian Affairs (N.C. App.):

NC COA Opinion in Meherrin

NC Commission Appellate Brief

Meherrin Tribe Brief

NYTs: Wither Foxwoods?

March 14, 2012March 14, 2012Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the article (h/t Pechanga).

An excerpt:

In the early 1970s, just one resident remained on a Pequot reservation in Ledyard, now the site of Foxwoods — an elderly woman named Elizabeth George. Her grandson was Richard Hayward (known as Skip), a pipe welder and a former short-order cook with an audacious vision, innate political skills and a flair for dealmaking. Through his efforts, the tribe won federal recognition in 1983. In 1986, it opened a high-stakes bingo hall. Full-blown casino gambling came to Foxwoods in 1992 and in the two decades since has produced not millions but billions of dollars of revenue. Not surprisingly, the casino and its largess rejuvenated the tribe, whose population is now about 900. (Members trace their bloodlines to 11 Pequot families counted in a 1900 census.)

These days the tribe is dealing with the latest improbability in its turbulent history: financial havoc. The casino is underwater, like a five-bedroom Spanish colonial in a Nevada subdivision. The Pequots misjudged the market, borrowed too much and expanded unwisely. Foxwoods’s debt is on a scale befitting the size of the property — $2.3 billion.