Shoshone Indian Tribe of the Wind River Reservation v. United States

51 Fed. Cl. 60, 163 Oil & Gas Rep. 241, 2001 U.S. Claims LEXIS 240, 2001 WL 1529616
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedNovember 30, 2001
DocketNos. 79-458a L, 79-459a L
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 51 Fed. Cl. 60 (Shoshone Indian Tribe of the Wind River Reservation v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shoshone Indian Tribe of the Wind River Reservation v. United States, 51 Fed. Cl. 60, 163 Oil & Gas Rep. 241, 2001 U.S. Claims LEXIS 240, 2001 WL 1529616 (uscfc 2001).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

HEWITT, Judge.

This is an action by the Eastern Shoshone Tribe (the Shoshone) and the Northern Arapaho Tribe (the Arapaho) (collectively, the Shoshone and Arapaho are referred to as the Tribes) for damages based on the United States’ alleged breach of trust for mismanagement of the Tribes’ natural resources up to the point of collection and with respect to defendant’s handling of Tribal funds post-collection. See Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes’ Legal Bases for the Tribes’ Theories of Recovery for Breach of Trust (Tribes’ Bases) at 1. The Tribes in this consolidated action share an undivided interest in the Wind River Indian Reservation (the Reservation) in Wyoming including, but not limited to, the mineral and other resources on and under the Reservation. Id.

Before the court is Defendant’s Motion and Supporting Memorandum Re: Statute of Limitations Issues (Def.’s Mot.) and the responsive briefing. Defendant asserts that the applicable statute of limitations, 28 U.S.C. § 2501, limits plaintiffs’ recovery to a period of time beginning no earlier than October 10, 1973, that is, six years prior to the filing of the complaint in this action. The Tribes oppose defendant’s motion on the basis that the statute of limitations is tolled as to their claims until defendant provides an accounting of their trust property as required by a series of appropriations enactments (the Acts).2 See Response of the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes to United States’ Motion RE Statute of Limitations Issues (Pls.’ Resp.) at 10-11. For the following reasons, defendant’s motion is DENIED.

[62]*62I. Background

The litigation in this case is currently divided into four phases for adjudication. The first phase, as to which trial will be held beginning June 17, 2002, involves the Tribes’ mineral trespass claims, as well as other claims, relating to specific sand and gravel pits on the Reservation. Pls.’ Resp. at 2. The second phase involves extraction issues relating mostly to royalty accounting as to specific oil and gas deposits. Id. The third phase involves residual issues relating to oil and gas extraction, such as the failure to monitor leases. Id. at 2-3. The fourth phase involves the Tribes’ trust money mismanagement claims. Id. at 3. The litigation is in various stages of discovery as to each of the phases; however, the legal questions raised in defendant’s motion are ripe for judicial resolution at this juncture. Defendants Reply to Plaintiffs’ Response to Defendant’s Motion and Supporting Memorandum Re: Statute of Limitations Issues (Def.’s Reply) at 2.

Defendant’s motion seeks to limit damages to a period of time beginning no earlier than October 10, 1973, that is, six years prior to the filing of the complaint in this action as provided by this court’s statute of limitations. Def.’s Mot. at 2; 28 U.S.C. § 2501. Plaintiffs seek recovery for breaches of trust beginning in 1946 and continuing to the present date. See Petition filed October 10, 1979 at 111110-11; Tribes’ Bases at 29-30. Plaintiffs argue that the Acts, a series of Department of the Interior appropriations enactments listed above in note 2, toll the statute of limitations as to the entirety of the Tribes’ claims, and particularly as to those claims arising out of events prior to October 10, 1973, until the Tribes receive an accounting of their trust monies and property. See Tribes’ Bases at 30. Resolution of the legal questions raised in defendant’s motion, namely, the interaction between the Acts and the court’s statute of limitations, will define both the scope of testimony to be received in the sand and gravel trial and the scope of discovery and testimony in the remaining phases of the litigation.

II. Discussion

A. Jurisdiction

The United States Court of Federal Claims has jurisdiction over the Tribes’ claims pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1491 (1976) (the Tucker Act), and 28 U.S.C. § 1505 (1976) (the Indian Tucker Act). The Tucker Act and Indian Tucker Act waive the United States’ sovereign immunity as to claims within their scope. United States v. Mitchell, 463 U.S. 206, 211-216, 103 S.Ct. 2961, 77 L.Ed.2d 580 (1983) (Mitchell II). It is established law that the United States is vested with a general trust responsibility with respect to tribal monies or properties “where the federal government takes on or has control or supervision over” such “monies or property.” Id. at 225, 103 S.Ct. 2961 (quoting Navajo Tribe of Indians v. United States, 224 Ct.Cl. 171, 183, 624 F.2d 981 (1980)).3 The statutes and regulations in the area of mineral resources, the subject matter of this litigation, provide sufficient control to vest the defendant with a fiduciary duty with respect to the Tribes’ monies and properties. It is undisputed that this court has jurisdiction over the Tribes’ claims that accrued after October 10, 1973; however, jurisdiction is disputed as to the Tribes’ claims that might have accrued prior to October 10,1973. See Defendant’s Answer (Def.’s Ans.) at 1; see also Def.’s Mot. at 7-10.

B. The Impact of the Acts on the Statute of Limitations

1. The Issues

The principal legal issue to be resolved by the court is the precise impact of the Acts on [63]*63the statute of limitations. The general statute of limitations, 28 U.S.C. § 2501, provides that “[e]very claim of which the United States Court of Federal .Claims has jurisdiction shall be barred unless the petition thereon is filed within six years after such claim first accrues.” The most recent of the Acts states:

[Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the statute of limitations shall not commence to run on any claim, including any claim in litigation pending on the date of the enactment of this Act, concerning losses to or mismanagement of trust funds, until the affected tribe or individual Indian has been furnished with an accounting of such funds from which the beneficiary can determine whether there has been a loss

Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001, Pub.L. No. 106-291,114 Stat. 922, 939 (2000).

It is undisputed that plaintiffs’ claims involve trust funds and that the Tribes have yet to receive an accounting of their trust monies or property.

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Bluebook (online)
51 Fed. Cl. 60, 163 Oil & Gas Rep. 241, 2001 U.S. Claims LEXIS 240, 2001 WL 1529616, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shoshone-indian-tribe-of-the-wind-river-reservation-v-united-states-uscfc-2001.