tribal membership

California Court of Appeals Allows Adopted Indian Woman to Prove Ancestry

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is an interesting case captioned Wynn v. Superior Court (opinion here). From the opinion:

Karen Victoria Dahlberg Wynn (appellant) filed a petition in the superior court seeking an order correcting her original birth certificate to state the actual names of her birth parents rather than the fictitious names her mother used when the original certificate was prepared. Appellant’s situation is unusual because her original birth certificate is sealed and her legally operative birth certificate lists her adoptive parents.

The superior court denied the petition on the ground that it lacked the legal authority to modify the original, sealed birth certificate because a subsequent certificate was in effect.

We conclude appellant qualifies as an interested person who may bring an action to adjudicate her parentage and, therefore, the superior court had the authority to adjudicate the facts concerning a possible biological relationship between mother and daughter. Furthermore, if the superior court determines appellant’s original birth certificate is not accurate regarding her parentage, then it must order the issuance of a new birth certificate.

No Jurisdiction in Suit against Feds over Choctaw Membership

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the opinion in Greene v. Skibine (E.D. Cal.) in which the federal court dismissed the complaint sua sponte — Greene v Skibine DCT Order

Greene has made many efforts to gain membership in the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

Saginaw Chippewa Disenrollment News Coverage

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Indianz:

The Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of Michigan plans to remove people who don’t meet its membership criteria.

It’s unclear how many people will be affected though prior news stories have said up to 125 adults could be removed. A spokesperson said the tribal council has been concerned about the issue for some time. The tribe will spend the next month to determine how many people to remove.

Get the Story:
Tribe disenrolling members (Central Michigan Life 4/15) Related Stories:
Saginaw Chippewa Tribe mum on disenrollment (3/27)

Dollar Douglas v. Dry Creek — Enrollment Dispute

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in this enrollment-related case:

report-and-recommendations-dollar-douglas

dct-order-adopting-report-and-recommendations-dollar-douglas

Hendrix v. Coffee — Comanche Membership Dispute

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in this case, dismissed on the basis that the federal court lacked subject matter jurisdiction.

hendrix-complaint

comanche-motion-to-dismiss

hendrix-brief

hendrix-v-coffee-dct-opinion

David Wilkins on Tribal Disenrollment and Banishment

Matthew L.M. Fletcher3 Comments

David Wilkins has published “Exiling One’s Kin: Banishment and Disenrollment in Indian Country” in Western Legal History. This excellent piece describes banishment and membership laws from traditional law through the early 20th century and into the modern era of tribal banishment and disenrollment.

Paul Spruhan on Navajo Blood Quantum

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Paul Spruhan (Navajo Nation Supreme Court law clerk) has posted, “The Origins, Current Status, and Future Prospects of Blood Quantum as the Definition of Membership in the Navajo Nation” (forthcoming in the Tribal Law Journal) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

The paper, forthcoming in the Tribal Law Journal, traces the origins of the requirement that persons have one-quarter or more Navajo blood to be enrolled in the Navajo Nation. Through minutes of the Navajo Nation Council and Bureau of Indian Affairs documents, the paper discusses the genesis of this requirement in the context of the development of the Nation’s natural resources and the Nation’s attempts to adopt a tribal constitution. The paper further examines recent unsuccessful efforts to revise the requirement, and the possibility of challenges to the requirement under the recently passed statute mandating application of the Fundamental Laws of the Dine.

Kirsty Gover on Tribal Membership Criteria

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Kirsty Gover, a grad student, has posted “Genealogy as Continuity: Explaining the Growing Tribal Preference for Descent Rules in Membership Governance” on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

This article presents the findings of a large-scale study of current and historic tribal membership rules contained in the constitutions of federally-recognized tribes. The constitutions of 245 tribes in the lower 48 states are surveyed. The article explains changes in membership governance by reference to changes in the political, legal and social environments of tribes, including especially shifts in federal Indian policy and tribal demography. It discusses the increasing tribal preference for lineal descent and tribal blood quantum rules, relative to older criteria such as parental enrollment, parental residence and Indian blood quantum rules. It explains that these rules are tribe-specific, in contrast to the pan-tribal measures of Indianness and Indian blood quantum used in federal law and policy, and suggests that while tribes deploy familiar administrative mechanisms, such as blood quantum, they increasingly refashion these as measures of genealogy rather than race. It further argues that these rules are a form of tribal self-help, that assist a tribe to repair disruptions in its continuity, especially those occurring as a result of the operation of termination policy.

Pechanga Disenrollment Dispute – Salinas v. Barron

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

The California Court of Appeals (4th Dist., Div. 2) decided Salinas v. Barron, another in the series of cases involving the Pechanga Band’s various membership disputes. This case involves the disenrollment of the plaintiffs in LaMere v. Superior Court, 131 Cal. App. 4th 1059 (2005).

From the opinion:

In LaMere, the plaintiffs were members of the Pechanga Band of Temecula Luiseo Mission Indians (the Band); the defendants were members of the Band’s enrollment committee. The defendants had allegedly commenced proceedings to disenroll the plaintiffs, in violation of the Band’s own laws. This court held that the trial court lacked jurisdiction of the dispute.
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Alvarado v. Table Mountain Rancheria (9th Cir.) Materials

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of claims by a class represented by Pearl Alvarado that they are entitled to membership in the Table Mountain Rancheria. The Ninth Circuit did not address the tribe’s claim of sovereign immunity, but instead ruled that the plaintiffs failed to establish subject matter jurisdiction.

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