Keevama v. Seweyestewa

7 Am. Tribal Law 335
CourtHopi Appellate Court
DecidedApril 4, 2008
DocketNo. 07-AP-0002
StatusPublished

This text of 7 Am. Tribal Law 335 (Keevama v. Seweyestewa) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Hopi Appellate Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Keevama v. Seweyestewa, 7 Am. Tribal Law 335 (hopiappct 2008).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

[1] The parties dispute the ownership or possessory rights to a parcel of land and house in the north part of Hotevilla Village. Appellant, Laura Mae Keevama, is a member of Hotevilla Village currently residing in Winslow, Arizona. Appellant alleges that Respondent Shirley Seweyeste-wa resides in Upper Moencopi Village. However, Respondents claims that Ms. Seweyestewa has lived in the house in question since birth, more than sixty years.

[2] The facts according to Appellant are as follows: in Spring of 1986, Appel[337]*337lant’s late grandmother, Cora Talasintewa, owned the disputed property and orally transferred it to Appellant by taking her out to the property and pointing out the specific parcel of land in accordance with tradition and custom law. Appellant provided affidavits from three of her aunts, the daughters of Cora Talasintewa, attesting to this oral transfer.

[3] The affidavits from the aunts state that the disputed parcel and extensive surrounding land had originally belonged to their late grandmother, Pohomunum (Appellant’s great-grandmother). The aunts further state that Pohomunum’s brother, Poleyumptewa, built a home on Pohomu-num’s land with her permission. Later, another house was built on Pohomunum’s land for the late Sarah Gashweseoma, the wife of Poleyumptewa’s late son, Viness Poleymuptewa. That marriage ended in dissolution. Viness Poleyumptewa subsequently entered into a nonmarital relationship with another woman, Florine Hamana of Old Oraibi Village. The aunts’ affidavits indicate that the relationship between Viness Poleyumptewa and Florine Hamana lasted no more than three years. Appellant understands that Respondent Shirley Seweyestewa claims that she purchased the disputed parcel and house from Florine Hamana. In contrast, Respondents assert that the property was purchased prior to her birth by Ms. Seweyestewa’s parents, who lived there for fifty years.

[4] In August 2006, Appellant attempted to place building materials on the land and was blocked by Respondents. Respondents removed Appellant’s materials and began placing their own building materials in the disputed area. Appellant then made numerous requests to Respondents to meet and discuss their competing claims. According to Appellant, Respondents did not respond. On August 22, 2006, Appellant wrote a letter to Hotevilla Village Board of Directors complaining about the situation. The record does not indicate that the Hotevilla Village Board of Directors ever replied to Appellant.

[5] On January 3, 2007, Appellant filed with the trial court a Petition For Certification Of Inheritance; Petition For Temporary Restraining Order; Petition For Preliminary Injunction;1 Motion For Order For Hotevilla Board Of Directors To Hear This Matter; and Motion For A Judge Outside The Territorial Jurisdiction To Hear This Matter. The Petition stated no facts or reasons supporting the request for a non-Hopi judge.

[6] Simultaneously, on January 3, 2007, notice was given to the Hotevilla Village Board of Directors that pursuant to Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution and ByLaws of the Hopi Tribe the trial court did not have original jurisdiction over this matter. The Village was informed that it had twenty days to notify the trial court whether it would handle the matter, intervene in the action, or delegate jurisdiction to the trial court. On January 5, 2007, Appellant wmote to the Hotevilla Village Board of Directors requesting that the Board hold a village meeting to certify Appellant’s inheritance of the parcel from Cora Talasintewa. On January 12, 2007, Hotevilla Village provided the trial court with a copy of an August 22, 2006, letter from the President of the Hotevilla Village Board of Directors expressly waiving and delegating all land dispute matters to the Hopi Tribal Courts.

[7] On January 16, 2007, Respondents filed a Motion to Dismiss Due To Lack Of Jurisdiction. The motion alleged that the land inheritance dispute was constitution[338]*338ally reserved to the villages and that therefore the matter was improperly before the trial court. Respondents further asserted that the trial court had no authority to order the Village of Hotevilla to schedule a meeting on the matter, that Appellant had not followed proper procedure under the Hopi Indian Rules of Criminal and Civil Procedure (“HIRCCP”) Rule 33(b) for requesting removal of a judge, and that the form of the petition was improper and the court could not provide the relief requested.2

[8] After multiple continuances, oral argument was scheduled and a hearing held on June 6, 2007, before Judge Delfred Leslie. At the hearing, both sides stated to the court that they would prefer an outside judge and expressed concern that Judge Leslie knew some of the proposed witnesses. Judge Leslie denied the motion as both sides had over four months to file a HIRCCP 33(b) petition for removal. Because the parties did not move for removal in a timely manner, the court found that their right to do so had been waived. The court also found it had proper jurisdiction to hear the matter because the Hotevilla Village Board had waived its jurisdiction to hear it in favor of the tribal courts.

[9] Lastly, the court found that there was no law authorizing a certification of a private individual’s decision, pursuant to Horde v. Hopi Tribal, Housing Authority, 96-AP-000007, 1 Am. Tribal Law 346, 1998 WL 35281675 (1998). The court suggested that Appellant might need to file another cause of action to request the relief she was seeking. The court dismissed the case without prejudice and repeated that Appellant could re-file a different cause of action.

[10] On June 14, 2007, the court filed its Finding Of Facts, Conclusions Of Law, And Judgment. The court held that it had jurisdiction to hear the matter and that the Hotevilla Village Board of Directors could not be forced to hear the case. The court further found that Appellant had not properly followed the proper Rule 33(b) procedure for removing a judge, and thus denied Appellant’s motion to disqualify the Hopi judges. Finally, the court found that it could not certify an unwritten decision made by a private individual, therefore the petition to certify Appellant’s inheritance was improper.

[11] On July 5, 2007, Appellant timely filed her Notice Of Appeal. Appellant raises the following issues on appeal:

1. Did the trial court err in denying Appellant’s motion for a non-Hopi judge to hear the case?
2. Did the trial court err in holding that it lacked the authority to certify an oral transfer of property by an individual?
3. Was Appellant required to post a bond on appeal?
4. Are Respondents entitled to either costs or attorney’s fees at this stage of the proceedings?

I. Non-Hopi Judge

[12] Our procedure for disqualification of judges is governed by HIRCCP 33(b), which requires that an affidavit be filed “as soon as practicable after a case has been assigned or ... bias or prejudice is known.”3 HIRCCP 33(b). The affidavit [339]*339must state facts and reasons showing bias or prejudice of the sitting judge. Id. However, “the Court should allow Plaintiff sufficient time to file an affidavit that provides the facts and reasons.” Martin v. The Hopi Tribe,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
7 Am. Tribal Law 335, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/keevama-v-seweyestewa-hopiappct-2008.