federal recognition

Mackinac Tribe v. Jewell Cert Petition

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

Cert Petition

Questions presented:

Whether the Court of Appeals deviated from this Court’s decision in Carcieri v Salazar, 555 U.S. 379 (2009) which held that the Secretary of Interior’s Federal Acknowledgment Process (FAP) established in 25 C.F.R. Part 83 is not determinative as to whether Indian Tribe is “recognized” for the purposes of the Indian Reorganization Act (25 U.S.C. § 479)?

Whether the Secretary of Interior can avoid performing her mandatory non-discretionary duty under the Indian Reorganization Act (25 U.S.C. § 476) to call elections to ratify tribal constitutional documents within a reasonable time by requiring a tribe to exhaust administrative remedies estimated to require 30 years to complete?

Lower court materials here.

Kirsten Carlson on Lobbying Congress for Federal Recognition of Indian Tribes

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Kirsten Matoy Carlson has posted “Why Lobby Congress? Constitutive and Instrumental Influences on Indian Groups’ Strategies for Federal Recognition, 1977-2012” on SSRN. This paper is highly recommended.

Here is the abstract:

When and why do marginalized groups chose a particular institutional venue when pursuing their legal claims? This article combines theoretical and methodological insights from sociolegal and interest group studies to investigate why non-federally recognized Indian groups used legislative strategies for federal recognition from 1977 to 2012. It finds Indian groups employed legislative strategies both to increase their chances of success and for constitutive purposes, including educating the public and leveraging institutional tensions. The article’s emphasis on constitutive and instrumental motivations provides a more nuanced approach to understanding marginalized groups’ venue decisions.

Frank’s Landing Class II Gaming Suit Dismissed as to the NIGC; Other Defendants Remain

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in Franks Landing Indian Community v. National Indian Gaming Commission (W.D. Wash.):

19 Motion to Dismiss

24 Response

27 Reply

29 DCT Order

D.C. Circuit Forces Mackinac Tribe to Exhaust Remedies in Its Quest for Federal Recognition

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here is the per curiam opinion in Mackinac Tribe v. Jewell.

Judge Brown filed a concurrence criticizing Interior for its delays.

Briefs here.

Complaint in Mission Creek Band of Mission of Indians v. Jewell

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here, filed in the Central District of California:

Complaint

D.C. Circuit Oral Argument in Mackinac Tribe v. Jewell

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

Briefs here.

New Article by Lorinda Riley on the Role of Politics in Federal Recognition

Singel1 Comment

Lorinda Riley has published “When a Tribal Entity Becomes a Nation: The Role of Politics in the Shifting Federal Recognition Regulations,” in the American Indian Law Review.

Here is a description excerpted from the article’s introduction:

This article explores how each presidential administration has both shaped and bent the federal recognition regulations to fulfill its political priorities. By merging a quantitative analysis of each administration’s federal recognition record and the political realities that each administration faced, this study provides a rare inquiry into the political nature of the recognition process. First, this article examines the regulatory history of federal recognition, including a detailed discussion of various versions of the regulation and accompanying guidance published by the Department of the Interior (DOI). Then the article provides an overview of how politics play into the regulatory process and the implementation of regulation. Finally, the article re-visits each administration’s actions related to federal recognition, and considers how each administration has utilized these regulations to serve its own political priorities.

 

 

Federal Recognition Complaint: Agua Caliente Cupeño

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the complaint in Agua Caliente Tribe of Cupeño Indians of the Pala Reservation v. Washburn (E.D. Cal.):

Cupeño Complaint

D.C. Circuit Briefs in Mackinac Tribe v. Jewell

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here:

Tribe Opening Brief

US Answer Brief

Reply

Lower court briefs here.

Notice of Proposed Rule Making on Native Hawaiian Self Governance

Kate Fort

NPRM here.

Press release here.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Interior announced today a proposal to create an administrative procedure and criteria that the Secretary of the Interior would apply if the Native Hawaiian community forms a unified government that then seeks a formal government-to-government relationship with the United States. Under the new proposal, the Native Hawaiian community — not the Federal government — would decide whether to reorganize a Native Hawaiian government, what form that government would take, and whether it would seek a government-to-government relationship with the United States.