Is There a Money Claim Against the US Post-Carcieri?

I see now that the Dept. of Interior is (un)officially segregating Indian tribes for purposes of trust acquisitions (see email reported on Indianz), shutting down (apparently) some trust applications and allowing others to proceed, that the first impacts of Carcieri have reached Indian Country, as expected.

Maybe it’s worth revisiting what the Supreme Court did in Carcieri from a slightly different point of view. Arguably, a money claim against the United States for failure to properly recognize certain Indian tribes in 1934 has now accrued.

Consider. The Court has effectively created classes of Indian tribes, as seemingly established by the email:

Continue reading

MSU Working Paper 2009-03 — Carcieri’s Impact on Michigan Tribes

Novaline Wilson (MSU Law ’08) has written a nice paper on the impact of Carcieri v. Salazar on Michigan tribes, many of whom (8 out of 12) were not federally recognized in 1934. It is here. Note that she wrote this before Carcieri was decided. An excerpt:

The Supreme Court must consider unique historical circumstances of Michigan Indian tribes before effectively barring these administratively aggrieved tribes from the federal land-to-trust process. Michigan Indian tribes have a distinct political history as treaty tribes that were illegally administratively terminated in a “situation [that] is not simply an injustice of major proportions, it is a travesty of logic that boggles the rational mind.” Carcieri was correctly decided at the administrative appeals level, by the District Court, and by the First Circuit Court of Appeals. This case is not only without merit, it directly contravenes the BIA’s authority to fulfill their federally mandated trust obligations to tribes. The BIA has to administer the same general federal fiduciary obligations to all tribes, regardless of the year the federal government finally got around to “formally recognizing” tribes. As demonstrated through Michigan Indian tribal history, an outright bar on land-to-trust for those tribes not recognized in 1934 would not only eviscerate fundamental Indian law and administrative law principles, it would demonstrate deliberate ignorance of hundreds of years of American history between Indian tribes and the federal government.

Podcast on Indian Freedmen Panel at AALS

The podcast is here. Speakers included:

Bell Jeannine – Speaker

Kathryn Fort – Speaker

Kevin Maillard – Speaker

Carla Pratt – Speaker

G.W. Rice – Speaker

Sherri N. Thomas — Speaker

Matthew L.M. Fletcher — moderator

Nottawaseppi Huron Band Tax Dispute

From Indianz:

The Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi says it won’t pay local taxes until the Michigan Tax Tribunal resolves its case.

The tribe says it is owed a refund on more than $90,000 in township, school, county and state taxes. The tribe says it shouldn’t pay because the Pine Creek Reservation is held in trust. But Athens Township says the tribe owes the money because the reservation wasn’t taken into trust until the summer of 2008. The treasurer says the bill comes to $112,770 for 2008. The tribe won federal recognition in 199.

Get the Story:
Tribe’s taxes go unpaid as dispute continues (The Battle Creek Enquirer 1/12)

Related Stories:
Nottawaseppi Huron Band negotiates service deal (1/7)

Federal Court Holds Lumbee Tribe Must Comply with Title VII

Here is the opinion from the Eastern District of North Carolina in Cummings v. Lumbee Tribe — cummings-v-lumbee-tribe-dct-order

The issue wasn’t briefed at all, it appears, by the defendants, who just made a motion. But here are the materials anyway:

lumbee-tribe-answer

cummings-opposition-brief

Written Testimony in SCIA Hearing on Burt Lake etc. Federal Recognition Bills

From SCIA:

Witnesses

THE HONORABLE TIMOTHY M. KAINE
Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Richmond, VA

THE HONORABLE JIM WEBB
United States Senate, Washington, DC

THE HONORABLE JAMES P. MORAN
United States Congressman

Panel 1
MR. LEE FLEMING
Director, Office of Federal Acknowledgment, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC

THE HONORABLE ANNE TUCKER
Chairwoman, Muscogee Nation of Florida, Bruce, FL

THE HONORABLE JOHN SINCLAIR
President, Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana, Great Falls, MT

THE HONORABLE RON YOB
Chairman, Grand River Bands of Ottawa Indians, Grand Rapids, MI

DR. HELEN C. ROUNTREE
Professor Emeritus, Old Dominion University, Hampton, VA

Grand River Band of Ottawas before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee

The SCIA will hold a hearing Thursday on several recognition bills, including the Grand River Band recognition bill (H/T Indianz).

Here is testimony from Grand River from last year.

Schaghticoke Tribal Nation v. Kempthorne — DCT Rejects Tribal Claims

Here is the summary judgment order: schagticoke-dct-order

Here are the cross-motions. And here are many other background materials.

MOWA Tribe v. United States

The district court dismissed the appeal of the MOWA band’s denial of federal recognition because the six-year statute of limitations period had passed.

sd-ala-dct-decision

Samish Indian Tribe v US — DCT Dismisses for Lack of Jurisdiction

This case may harbor some bad news for Michigan tribes who had been administratively terminated and still hoping to be able to recover for the years that the federal government illegally failed to provide services.

samish-second-amended-complaint

us-motion-to-dismiss-samish-complaint

samish-report-on-why-discovery-should-be-permitted

us-supplement-brief-re-motion-to-dismiss

samish-response-to-us-supplemental-brief

us-reply-brief

dct-opinion-in-samish-v-us