LaMear v. United States

9 Cl. Ct. 562, 1986 U.S. Claims LEXIS 904
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedFebruary 25, 1986
DocketNo. 582-82L
StatusPublished
Cited by34 cases

This text of 9 Cl. Ct. 562 (LaMear v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
LaMear v. United States, 9 Cl. Ct. 562, 1986 U.S. Claims LEXIS 904 (cc 1986).

Opinion

OPINION

REGINALD W. GIBSON, Judge:

I. Introduction

Plaintiff, Jennie Red Fox LaMear, is a member of the Blackfeet Tribe of the [563]*563Blackfeet Indian Reservation, located in Browning, Montana. Plaintiff’s cause of action is premised on an alleged breach of fiduciary duty, as trustee, occasioned by the defendant’s failure to properly handle a 1950 voluntary exchange of Indian allotments between plaintiff’s mother-in-law, Good Victory Red Fox Spottedeagle (Spottedeagle) and another tribe member, Rosie Yellowowl Wells (Yellowowl) in violation of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 (IRA), 25 U.S.C. § 464 (1982). At the time of the 1950 exchange, defendant was authorized by said statute to only approve “voluntary exchange[s] of lands of equal value ... whenever such exchange, in [its] judgment, is expedient and beneficial for ... the proper consolidation of Indian lands____” Plaintiff alleges injury because the exchange approved by defendant for her ancestor, Spottedeagle, was an unequal exchange whereby Spottedeagle traded land containing valuable subsurface mineral rights for land belonging to Yellowowl which did not contain any mineral rights. Because of this alleged mismanagement of mineral rights and the monies paid for leases with respect thereto, plaintiff seeks an accounting, an order declaring (i.e., a declaratory judgment) that the mineral rights themselves be divested from Yellowowl and revested in plaintiff, and damages measured by all monies paid to Yellowowl as a result of the development of the mineral rights.

Following the filing of its answer, asserting various affirmative defenses, defendant has opposed plaintiff’s petition with a motion to dismiss, or in the alternative, for summary judgment. Defendant’s motion argues that (1) plaintiff’s claim is time-barred by the statute of limitations contained in 28 U.S.C. § 2501 (1982)1 (six years) and 25 U.S.C. § 347 (1982) (five years); (2) plaintiff lacks standing to sue; (3) the petition fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted pursuant to R.U.S.C.C. 12(b)(4); and (4) pursuant to R.U.S.C.C. 19(b), plaintiff has failed to join an indispensable party, Rosie Yellowowl Wells. In response, plaintiff cross-moves for summary judgment on the grounds that there are no genuine issues of material fact regarding the merits of plaintiff’s claim, and that she is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

In her complaint, plaintiff alleges that jurisdiction is premised upon 28 U.S.C. § 1491 (1982). Defendant in its answer denies such allegation but failed to address the efficacy of this court’s jurisdiction in its moving papers.2 After thoroughly examining the record and the arguments of the parties relative to the issues detailed, supra, the court hereby dismisses plaintiff’s claim for lack of jurisdiction based on her failure to assert said cause of action within the applicable statute of limitations, 28 U.S.C. § 2501.

II. Background Facts

On February 28, 1918, Spottedeagle, the deceased mother-in-law of plaintiff and a member of the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, received, as an original allottee, a trust patent identi[564]*564fied as Allotment 1250-A.3 This trust patent, issued pursuant to the Act of March 1, 1907, Pub. No. 154, 34 Stat. 1015, 1035 (1907), allotted 320 acres to Spottedeagle, the title to which was to be held in trust for 25 years by the United States for her sole use and benefit. 25 U.S.C. § 348 (1982). By virtue of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, § 2, Pub. No. 383, 48 Stat. 984 (1934), 25 U.S.C. § 462 (1982), this trust period was extended indefinitely. Included within Allotment 1250-A was Spottedeagle’s right to the minerals as well as to the surface estate.

On June 6, 1922, Rosie Yellowowl Wells, also an original allottee, received trust patent 866738. This trust patent, identified as Allotment 3477-B, allotted 319.84 acres to Yellowowl, the title to which was to be similarly held in trust by the United States; however, it consisted of only the title and rights to the surface estate {i.e., ex-mineral rights). The right to the minerals was reserved to the United States to be held in trust for the benefit of the Blackfeet Tribe of Indians pursuant to the Act of June 30, 1919, Pub. No. 3, 41 Stat. 3, 17 (1919). See Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment, June 28, 1983, at Exhibit l.4

With respect to the foregoing two allotments, in 1949, Spottedeagle and Yellow-owl voluntarily entered into an agreement to exchange their respective allotments as lands of equal value. To effect such an exchange, pursuant to the Indian Reorganization Act, 25 U.S.C. § 464, it was required to be approved by the Secretary of the Interior. According to documents submitted by the defendant, in a letter dated March 8, 1950, the Superintendent of the Blackfeet Indian Office in Browning, Montana, recommended that the Secretary approve the exchange of land allotments voluntarily agreed to between Spottedeagle and Yellowowl as being of equal value. Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment, June 28, 1983, Exhibit 6. The apparent basis for the Superintendent’s recommendation was the Certificates of Appraisement regarding both allotments executed on May 27, 1949, by the appraiser, Stanley Pugh, which were enclosed with the letter.5 Id., Exhibits 2 and 3. . Mr. Pugh, who had been appointed by the Superintendent, inspected and appraised each allotment and certified that Allotment 1250-A (Spottedeagle’s original lot) consisted of 320 acres of grazing land valued at $1,280.00 and indicated “none apparent” for oil, gas or mineral value. Id., Exhibit 3. Regarding Allotment 3477-B, Mr. Pugh certified that it consisted of 300 acres of grazing land and 19.84 acres of timber land with also no apparent oil, gas or mineral value. Id., Exhibit 2. The appraiser did not indicate on the Certificate of Appraisement that one allotment contained mineral “rights,” and the other did not. No explanation was proffered for this omission.

Previously, on or about February 27, 1950, Spottedeagle executed a deed conveying all of Allotment 1250-A (mineral rights and surface lands) to the United States in trust for Yellowowl. Similarly, thereafter, on March 2, 1980, Yellowowl and her spouse executed a deed conveying all of Allotment 3477-B {i.e., surface land only) to the United States in trust for Spottedeagle. On both deeds it was stated that “[t]his conveyance is made in accordance with the provisions of the Act of June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984),” better known as the [565]*565Indian Reorganization Act.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
9 Cl. Ct. 562, 1986 U.S. Claims LEXIS 904, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lamear-v-united-states-cc-1986.