Nooksack Disenrollees Get Discovery in Suit against Interior Department

Here are the updated materials in St. Germain v. Dept. of Interior (W.D. Wash.):

29 – Defendants’ Motion for Order Determining Applicable Standard of Judicial Review

30 – Response Re Motion for Order Determining Applicable Standard of Review

31 – Defendants’ Reply re Motion for Order Determining Applicable Standard of Judicial Review

32 – Declaration of Judith R Joseph

33 – Order

Prior materials in this federal case here.

New Scholarship on Tribal Membership and Race by Sarah Krakoff

Sarah Krakoff posted “Constitutional Concern, Membership, and Race” on SSRN. It is forthcoming in the Florida International Law Review.

The abstract:

American Indian Tribes in the United States have a unique legal and political status shaped by fluctuating federal policies and the over-arching history of this country’s brand of settler-colonialism. One of the several legacies of this history is that federally recognized tribes have membership rules that diverge significantly from typical state or national citizenship criteria. These rules and their history are poorly understood by judges and members of the public, leading to misunderstandings about the “racial” status of tribes and Indian people, and on occasion to incoherent and damaging decisions on a range of Indian law issues. This article, which is part of a larger project on tribes, sovereignty, and race, will discuss the history of Florida’s tribes, their road from pre-contact independent peoples to federally recognized tribes, and their contemporary membership criteria in order to shed light on the inextricably political nature of race, membership and sovereignty in the American Indian context.

 

News Preview of Nooksack Election; Disenrollments Hang in Balance

Here.

And here.

Federal Court Dismisses Chukchansi Suit over Missing Bags of Money

Here are the materials in Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians v. Tan (E.D. Cal.):

13-1 Ayala Faction Motion to Dismiss

14 Lewis Faction Response to Order to Show Cause

28 DCT Order

Prior posts on this suit are here and here.

Federal Court Denies TRO to Lewis Faction in Chukchansi Dispute

Here is the order:

11 DCT Order Denying TRO

Complaint and motion are here.

Chukchansi Leadership Dispute Now a “Civil War”

Here.

The February 11 from the BIA is here.

Pleadings in Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians v. Tan (E.D. Cal.):

2014 02 19 Aff of R. Lewis – ENDORSED

2014 02 19 Aff of R. Rosette – ENDORSED

2014 02 19 Complaint – ENDORSED

2014 02 19 Ex Parte App – ENDORSED

2014 02 19 Ex Parte Notice & Motion -ENDORSED

2014 02 19 MPA ISO TRO- ENDORSED

WaPo Article on Interior and the Cherokee Freedmen

Here.

Additional Materials in California Valley Miwok Tribe v. Jewell

Here:

2014 01 07 CVMT Background Memo (FINAL)

2014 01 06 Exs 1-9 CVMT Memo

2014 01 06 Exhs 10-23 CVMT Memo 

We posted most recently on this case here and here.

Sherry Treppa Op/Ed on the BIA and Tribal Membership Decisions

Here.

Ninth Circuit Affirms Injunction against BIA in San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians Membership Dispute

Here are the materials in Alto v. Black:

CA9 Opinion

San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians Brief

Alto Answer Brief

Federal Appellee Brief

San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians Reply Brief

An excerpt:

In an appeal from the district court’s orders denying a motion to dissolve a preliminary injunction and denying motions to dismiss in an action concerning a dispute over membership in an Indian tribe, the panel affirmed in part, dismissed in part, and remanded. The San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians’ governing documents vested the United States Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, with ultimate authority over membership. The panel held that the district court had jurisdiction to enjoin preliminarily the enforcement of the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ order upholding the Band’s decision to disenroll descendants of Marcus Alto, Sr. from the Band, and that the Band was not a required party, because the claims underlying the preliminary injunction concern solely the propriety of final agency action. Accordingly, the panel affirmed the district court’s denial of the Band’s motion to dismiss the claims on which the injunction rests and  the district court’s consequent refusal to dissolve the preliminary injunction. The panel remanded to allow the district court to clarify its order. Finally, the panel held that it lacked jurisdiction to review on interlocutory appeal the Band’s motion to dismiss the Altos’ other claims, on which the district court expressly deferred ruling.

Lower court materials here and here.