Samish Indian Nation v. United States

657 F.3d 1316
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
DecidedSeptember 20, 2011
DocketNo. 2010-5067
StatusPublished

This text of 657 F.3d 1316 (Samish Indian Nation v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Samish Indian Nation v. United States, 657 F.3d 1316 (Fed. Cir. 2011).

Opinion

GAJARSA, Circuit Judge.

The issues on appeal before this court are ones of statutory construction. We must decide whether certain claims are premised on money-mandating statutes and are therefore within the jurisdiction of the United States Court of Federal Claims pursuant to the Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1491(a), and the Indian Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1505. The Court of Federal [1318]*1318Claims dismissed for lack of jurisdiction over the claims brought by the Samish Indian Nation (“Samish”) because some of their allegations were not premised upon any statute that was money-mandating, and the allegations reliant on money-mandating statutes were limited by other statutes. We affirm the Court of Federal Claims’ decision that it lacked jurisdiction over some of the Samish’s allegations because the Tribal Priority Allocation (“TPA”) system is not money-mandating. We conclude, however, that the trial court’s ability to provide a monetary remedy under the State and Local Fiscal Assistance Act of 1972 (“Revenue Sharing Act”) is not limited by operation of the Anti-Deficiency Act, 31 U.S.C. § 1341. We therefore reverse the trial court’s dismissal of the Samish’s Revenue Sharing Act allegations and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Background

This case is the latest in a series of suits filed by the Samish to obtain treaty rights and benefits from the United States (“Government”).1 The Samish’s efforts to be federally recognized and acknowledged for statutory benefits are more fully discussed in Samish Indian Nation v. United States, 58 Fed.Cl. 114, 115-16 (2003) (“Samish I”) and Samish Indian Nation v. United States, 419 F.3d 1355, 1358-62 (Fed.Cir. 2005) (“Samish II”) but are briefly summarized below.

Before 1978, the Department of the Interior (“Department”) through the Bureau of Indian Affairs (“BIA”) accorded tribes federal recognition on an ad hoc basis. Kahawaiolaa v. Norton, 386 F.3d 1271, 1272-73 (9th Cir.2004). In 1966, the BIA created an unofficial list of tribes recognized by the United States. According to the BIA, the 1966 list was not intended “to be a list of federally recognized tribes as such” and was derived from its unofficial files. Samish II, 419 F.3d at 1359. The list did not distinguish between tribes based on their treaty recognition status because, at that time, the BIA lacked the legal basis to determine which tribes were treaty recognized. Id. The Samish were included on the list.

In 1969, the BIA created another unofficial list restricted to tribes with a “formal organization” approved by the BIA. Id. The Samish did not appear on that list due to an arbitrary omission by the BIA. Greene v. Babbitt, 943 F.Supp. 1278, 1288 n. 13 (W.D.Wash.1996) (concluding that the omission of the Samish from the unofficial 1969 list was arbitrary). Although the BIA created the list, it lacked the legal authority to determine which tribal groups [1319]*1319would be accorded federal recognition. The 1969 list nonetheless became the basis for the BIA’s classification of tribes in the future. Samish II, 419 F.3d at 1361. According to the BIA employee who prepared the list, the BIA’s relevant records from 1969 have been lost. Id.

In the early 1970s, Congress began conditioning federal benefits to the tribes and their members on formal federal recognition as determined by the Department. The final regulation establishing the formal procedure for federal recognition of the tribes was published by the Department in 1978. See Procedures for Establishing that an American Indian Group Exists as an Indian Tribe, 43 Fed.Reg. 39,361 (Sept. 5, 1978) (codified at 25 C.F.R. Pt. 54 (1979)). As the current version of that regulation makes clear, federal acknowledgment does “not create immediate access to existing programs.” 25 C.F.R. § 83.12(c) (2011). A tribe may participate only “after it meets the specific program requirements, if any, and upon appropriation of funds by Congress.” Id. Because they were arbitrarily removed from the list of recognized tribes, the Samish ceased receiving federal benefits.

In 1972, the Samish petitioned the Department seeking federal recognition in order to obtain federal program benefits. Samish Indian Tribe v. Babbitt, Docket No. Indian 93-1, Office of Hearings and Appeals, Recommended Decision (Dep’t of Interior, Aug. 31,1995). That petition was finally denied fifteen years later by the Department following an informal adjudication procedure. Final Determination That the Samish Indian Tribe Does Not Exist as an Indian Tribe, 52 Fed.Reg. 3,709 (Feb. 5, 1987). As a result, the Samish filed an action in federal district court alleging that the Department’s adjudicative procedure violated the tribe’s due process rights. In 1992, the district court vacated the Department’s determination and remanded the federal recognition petition to be reconsidered under the formal adjudication procedures set forth in the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”). Greene v. Lujan, No. 89-645, 1992 WL 533059, at *9 (W.D.Wash. Feb. 25, 1992), ajfd sub nom., Greene v. Babbitt, 64 F.3d 1266 (9th Cir.1995). This long travail for the Samish finally ended when it obtained federal recognition on April 9, 1996. The Department published formal notice on that date indicating that the Samish was an Indian tribe under applicable federal law. Final Determination for Federal Acknowledgement of the Samish Tribal Organization as an Indian Tribe, 61 Fed.Reg. 15,825 (Apr. 9,1996).

On October 11, 2002, the Samish filed suit in the Court of Federal Claims seeking money damages under the Tucker Act and the Indian Tucker Act, which waive the sovereign immunity of the United States with respect to certain actions. These statutory provisions only waive the sovereign immunity of the United States. Damages, if any, must be premised on money-mandating statutes. In their first amended complaint, the Samish sought damages for the deprivation of their statutory benefits as a result of the Government’s erroneous and arbitrary refusal to recognize the tribe between 1969 and 1996, as well as compensation for benefits that the Samish had been wrongfully denied since their acknowledgement and recognition as a federal tribe in April 1996. Samish I, 58 Fed.Cl. at 116-17.

The trial court dismissed the complaint holding that the six-year statute of limitations in 28 U.S.C. § 2501 barred all but one of the Samish’s claims and 28 U.S.C. § 1500 barred the remaining claim. Id. On appeal, this court found that the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, 25 U.S.C. § 450 et seq., and the Snyder Act, 25 U.S.C.

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