Native American Law Blog

Can you commit identity theft against a whole tribe? Maybe.....

Here's a pending lawsuit that is fascinating - one group of Indians claim that another group has stolen their entire tribal identity in order to be able to build a casino. Ah, but the plot thickens - the group running the casino has filed a lawsuit against the leader of the first group, claiming that he has caused them irreparable harm by claiming that he and his group are the true tribe.

Who are the REAL Miwoks of Shingle Springs? Looks like a court will have to decide.....

Read the full story HERE.

twp

About comments to the blog.....

We welcome comments to anything posted in the blog. We welcome anyone making us aware of anything that is significant to the Indian Law community of scholars.

HOWEVER, if you come here and try to post conspiracy theory nonsense about what President Bush did or didn't know about 9/11 or anything else that is totally irrelevant to our purpose, your comments won't ever see the light of day.

Unfortunately, it is that kind of thing that requires that we screen any and all comments before we post them to the blog. Sorry for any inconvenience to those who would really like to discuss the issues and matters we present here. So please don't hesitate to send us pertinent comments, and we'll post them as soon as we humanly can.

twp

Followup - NY cigarette sales "war" continues with a small victory for the tribes

It's kind of like watching a hockey game in slow motion......the puck goes back and forth, back and forth over a long time, with neither side gaining a decisive advantage.

NY State says that they want taxes from tobacco sales made by and in tribal stores. The tribes say it's not their job to collect sales tax for the state. NY raided the stores, the tribes file suit. NY passes a law to collect the taxes.......and a NY Supreme Court judge orders the state NOT to try to enforce it and NOT to try and block tobacco sales (at least temporarily). See the latest story HERE.

twp

Followup - Hopi VICE-chairman says he'll resign, too.

As we reported earlier, the Hopi Tribal Chairman resigned, effective December 31, challenging his Vice Chair, Todd Honyaoma Sr., to do the same thing.  The latter confirmed in an AP interview Tuesday that he would.  See the full story HERE on the Arizona Daily Sun website.

twp

Ford Motor Corp. v. Kayenta District Court - first major tribal court ruling re: jurisdiction over non-Indians since Plains Commerce

We're pretty sure that this is the first, or at least the first MAJOR, tribal court ruling on tribal jurisdiction over non-Indian parties in tribal courts and/or on tribal lands since the Plains Commerce case (which most Indian Law scholars consider to have significantly limited that area of tribal jurisdiction). And it's well worth reading....the Navajo Nation Supreme Court is clearly not happy with the US Supreme Court's ruling in Plains Commerce, AND the Navajo Supremes have found what looks to be a pretty effective legal method for exercising maximum tribal jurisdiction despite the Plains Commerce precedent.

So this is recommended reading for all Indian Law scholars and practitioners. You can find the Navajo Nation Supreme Court's opinion HERE on the Navajo Nation's website in .pdf format.

Briefly, the case - the Navajo Nation bought a large number of Ford Motor Company vehicles for tribal government usage, to include tribal law enforcement. One such was involved in a fatal accident on a tribal road on tribal trust land in Utah. Then it gets jurisdictionally complicated - the deceased officer's parents filed a wrongful death civil suit in Tuba City District Court alleging that the seat belt in the vehicle was defective. It was moved to Kayenta District Court. There, Ford Motor Company moved to dismiss on the basis that the tribal court lacked jurisdiction per US Supreme Court rulings. The Kayenta District Court found that it HAD jurisdiction, and Ford then took the case to the federal courts. The FEDERAL District Court ruled there was no tribal jurisdiction per Montana v. United States, 450 U.S. 544 (1981). The Ninth Circuit initially affirmed that ruling, but then reconsidered and required Ford Motor Company to seek a review by the Navajo Supreme Court on the question of whether or not the Montana standard for tribal jurisdiction had been met.

Meanwhile, Plains Commerce goes up to the US Supreme Court, and all of the parties agree to wait until that ruling is issued, involving, as it did, similar questions on tribal jurisdiction.

Once Plains Commerce was decided, the Navajo Supreme Court again took up the case - but on much broader grounds than the Ninth Circuit ordered, "this Court posed an
additional question to the parties in keeping with its own precedents. Namely, whether
the Treaty of 1868 (Treaty between the Navajo Tribe of Indians and the United States of
America, 15 Stat. 667) provides an independent ground for the Nation's courts to hear the
case under the right of inherent sovereignty."

Bottom line - the Navajo Supreme Court ruled that the tribal courts DID have jurisdiction on that basis AND asserted that even though the Montana standard was not applicable, the case would have met that standard, anyway.

The decision was issued December 18 - no word yet on any plans to appeal.

twp

Followup - Hopi Chairman announces resignation

Hopi Tribal Chairman Ben Nuvamsa has announced he will resign December 31, simultaneously challenging Vice Chair Todd Honyaoma. Sr to do the same. Is this the beginning of the end of the chaos that has dominated Hopi Tribal government for the last 6 months? We'll see.......

See the full story HERE in the Gallup, NM, Independent web edition.

You can find the text of the Mr. Nuvamsa's statement HERE on the Navajo-Hopi Observer.

twp

Harassment or legitimate law enforcement? Suffolk Co. NY blockade of reservation

It's still the cigarette sales thing....see the full story HERE on the NY Daily News online edition.

twp

Save the date, Native American Law professors and clinicians

June 7-9, 2009

Third Annual Indian Law Clinics and Externship Programs: Symposium and Workshop

Sponsors
Southwest Indian Law Clinic UNM School of Law
University of Denver Sturm College of Law
Contributors
The Tribal Law Practice Clinic Washburn University School of Law
Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law

Where: Isleta Casino & Resort, Pueblo of Isleta (located just south of Albuquerque, New Mexico)
Web site: www.isleta-casino.com

For: Professors, Directors, Clinicians and Staff of Indian Law, Poverty Law, Economic Justice and
Community Lawyering Clinics and those interested in carefully considering their work with Communities
through the provision of legal representation.

Goal: To dedicate time and space for Indian law clinics and other clinicians working with minority populations
to work in solidarity on Poverty Law and Community Lawyering issues, to discuss our shared mission and differing
perspectives, and to support new ideas

We look forward to your participation in our Exciting Symposium Program. Watch for more Program details Coming Soon.
Contacts:

Professor Christine Zuni Cruz Professor Aliza Organick
Professor Barbara Creel Tribal Law Practice Clinic
Southwest Indian Law Clinic Washburn University School of Law

UNM School of Law
505-277-5265 (P) aliza.organick@washburn.edu
zunich@law.unm.edu
creel@law.unm.edu

twp

Shades of NY State tobacco wars? - cigarette seizure in Oklahoma

As money gets tighter, the states look for other sources of income, and tobacco taxes are high on their lists......which runs right up against various tribes' smoke shop businesses.

NY State is going round and round with the tribes there (see our previous entries on that subject) and now there's been a Oklahoma state law enforcement seizure of a truck filled with no-tax-paid cigarettes apparently headed for the Creek Nation. See the full story HERE on the Tulsa World website.

twp

NY Governor signed bill to collect taxes on Indian cigarettes

This morning, Governor Paterson signed a bill that seeks to begin collecting taxes on cigarettes sold by Indian retailers to non-Indians.  Similar bills have been passed but not enforced by previous administrations. As reported on Syracuse.com, "the current legislation would shift the collection from reservations to the manufacturing and wholesale level, a tactic that worked in other states."

Read the full story on buffalonews.com . 

ddg

Montana State University is offering an online class in Native American studies.

Find out more information about the course HERE.

Hopi tribal government woes continue to grow

It's still a mess. Arguably, it's getting worse. Will a new constitution solve the problems of Hopi Tribal government? Doesn't look like it.....see the full story by Mary Kim Titla HERE on Indian Country Today.

twp

Court rules against Cayugas in tobacco dispute - appeal forthcoming

As Indian Country Today reports, "In a 30-page decision issued Dec. 9, New York Supreme Court Justice Kenneth R. Fisher sided with Cayuga and Seneca county law enforcement officials’ claims that the two convenience stores they raided recently are not on sovereign territory or on a “qualified reservation” and, therefore, the tribe cannot exercise the sovereign right of Indian nations to trade tax free on their lands."

The Cayuga Indian Nation has already stated that it will appeal the decision.

twp

Federal Bar Association sets dates for Indian Law conference

Just announced - April 2-3 will be the dates for the FBA Indian Law Conference. From their "save the date" notice:

"For the first time in its history, the annual Federal Bar Association Indian Law Conference will take place in a tribal community just outside of Santa Fe, N.M., at Pojoaque Pueblo’s Buffalo Thunder Resort. We celebrate this historic move as an opportunity for reflection on the relationship between federal Indian law and Indian communities, particularly in an era of political change and promise.

Federal Indian law, with its assimilationist legacy, has not always promoted the best interests of Indian tribes. Today, however, grassroots movements in Indian Country inspire tribal advocacy before all three branches of federal government. Tribes are positioned like never before to shape the law that affects tribal people, resources, and values.

The 2009 conference will examine these issues through discussions on reservation-based economies, renewable
energy, religious freedoms, environmental regulation, legal ethics, Supreme Court litigation, and gaming. Other panels will address opportunities for tribes to use the law as a tool in revitalizing Indian communities, particularly in light of the new Presidential administration."

twp

Followup - Hopi political situation still very unsettled

The saga continues - the Hopi tribal government continues in disarray, to the great displeasure of some 133 tribal members who showed up at what was supposed to be a tribal council meeting that didn't quite get off the ground.   See the details HERE on the Navajo-Hopi Observer.

twp

Newspaper series on tribal dis-enrollments online

Elizabeth Larson of the Lake County News has written a series of articles about the efforts of one Indian group, the Robinson Rancheria, to disenroll members - in fact, to disenroll 60 of the tribes current 347 voting members, with the number possibly climbing to as high as 74.

As Ms. Larson notes, the consequences can be large, "Entire families face the loss of their homes, jobs, health care, education and a sense of their own identity. Homebound elders may no longer receive much-needed meals or monthly retirement checks."

See the first of the series HERE. The second in the series is HERE, and the third HERE.

twp

twp

Do the Colorado River Indian tribes own both sides of the river?

They say they do, based on executive orders and BIA rulings.....but now there's a new fight (this disputes have a long history) over whether or not they can evict people and businesses from some of those lands. See the full story HERE on the Press Enterprise website.

One of the men they're trying to evict claims that the tribe has no claim in California. "They say the reservation's western boundary extends only as far as the Arizona side of the Colorado River instead of straddling the river with land in both states." The matter is in tribal appellate court now, but it is expected to end up in federal court at some point in time.

twp

Followup - Judge hears arguments on Cayuga Nation tobacco raids

The full story here HERE on Indian Country Today. A state Supreme Court judge (note: the Supreme Court is NOT the highest NY state court) indicated on December 4 that he would issue an expedited decision on the fight between the Cayuga Indian Nation and Seneca and Cayuga Counties over untaxed cigarette sales on tribal land in New York.

We'll post the results when we hear them.

twp

Followup - Hopis demand end to tribal government stalemate, but don't get it

The Hopi tribal government continues in disarray, despite constituent pressure to resolve the situation and move on with the necessary functions of government. See the full story HERE in the Navajo Times.

twp

Court rules NIGC lacked authority to decide whether to allow gaming on restored lands

The Ponca Tribe purchased land in Carter Lake, Iowa,  with the stated purpose of opening a health facility. The state of Iowa opposed the land-into-trust application but dropped the threat of litigation when the tribe agreed not to pursue gaming. The BIA then took the land in trust only for the Tribe’s stated public health and governmental function purposes, “not for gaming activities." Since then, the Tribe has  changed its mind and filed a petition with the NIGC to amend the ordinance in order to allow gaming. That request was originally denied by the NIGC, and the DOI concurred in that advice. The Tribe then appealed and the state stood its ground, but, in a complete turn-around, the NIGC approved the amended ordinance; overriding the DOI's earlier decision. 

The state filed suit and contended that the NIGC did not have the authority to declare the site restored Indian Lands when the tribe deeded the property to the BIA in trust. The court agreed, and then went one step further, finding that, in the alternative, even if they had the authority, the NIGC's decision was "without rational basis on the law and facts of record, and therefore arbitrary and unlawful."

Read the story HERE.

DDG