Tuscaloosa Nation

Court of Claims

Tuscaloosa Nation

566 F.2d 1191, 215 Ct. Cl. 966, 1977 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 270

CourtUnited States Court of Claims

DecidedNovember 11, 1977

DocketNo. 186-77

StatusPublished

This text of 566 F.2d 1191 (Tuscaloosa Nation) 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

Tuscaloosa Nation, 566 F.2d 1191, 215 Ct. Cl. 966, 1977 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 270 (cc 1977).

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Opinion

"The Tuscaloosa Nation has filed a 'Petition for Compensation for Lands Taken,’ asserting that 'on or about July 4, 1776, the government of the United States of America’ took without payment certain of the Nation’s tribal lands which the Nation had possessed and occupied from time immemorial. The suit is apparently sought to be filed under 28 U.S.C. § 1505. The defendant has moved to dismiss on a number of grounds, of which we need consider only one.

"That fatal defect is that the claim clearly arose, from the statement in the petition itself, almost two centuries before August 13,1946, the date of enactment of the Indian Claims Commission Act, 25 U.S.C. §70 et seq. Moreover, the claim for the taking of aboriginally owned land was within that Commission’s jurisdiction. Otoe and Missouria Tribe of Indians v. United States, 131 Ct. Cl. 593 (1955), cert. denied, 350 U.S. 848. Section 12 of the Claims Commission Act, 25 U.S.C. § 70h, provides that claims existing prior to the enactment date which could have been but were not filed with the Commission within five years of that date cannot 'thereafter be submitted to any court or administrative agency for consideration, nor will such claim thereafter be entertained by the Congress.’ Congress obviously required all pre-1946 claims for takings to be submitted to the Commission by 1951, and in that connection forbade this court and all others from entertaining that kind of pre1946 claim. This is confirmed by 28 U.S.C. § 1505, the only basis for a suit in this court by an Indian group, which declares (in part) that this court shall have jurisdiction 'of any claim [by an Indian group] against the United States accruing after August 13, 1946 * * *’ (emphasis added). Except for a few special acts relating to specific claims or named Indian groups, Congress has not lifted this bar to our consideration of pre-1946 Indian claims.¹

"It is therefore ordered and concluded that defendant’s motion to dismiss is granted and the petition is dismissed.”

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"The Tuscaloosa Nation has filed a 'Petition for Compensation for Lands Taken,’ asserting that 'on or about July 4, 1776, the government of the United States of America’ took without payment certain of the Nation’s tribal lands which the Nation had possessed and occupied from time immemorial. The suit is apparently sought to be filed under 28 U.S.C. § 1505. The defendant has moved to dismiss on a number of grounds, of which we need consider only one.

"That fatal defect is that the claim clearly arose, from the statement in the petition itself, almost two centuries before August 13,1946, the date of enactment of the Indian Claims Commission Act, 25 U.S.C. §70 et seq. Moreover, the claim for the taking of aboriginally owned land was within that Commission’s jurisdiction. Otoe and Missouria Tribe of Indians v. United States, 131 Ct. Cl. 593 (1955), cert. denied, 350 U.S. 848. Section 12 of the Claims Commission Act, 25 U.S.C. § 70h, provides that claims existing prior to the enactment date which could have been but were not filed with the Commission within five years of that date cannot 'thereafter be submitted to any court or administrative agency for consideration, nor will such claim thereafter be entertained by the Congress.’ Congress obviously required all pre-1946 claims for takings to be submitted to the Commission by 1951, and in that connection forbade this court and all others from entertaining that kind of pre1946 claim. This is confirmed by 28 U.S.C. § 1505, the only basis for a suit in this court by an Indian group, which declares (in part) that this court shall have jurisdiction 'of any claim [by an Indian group] against the United States accruing after August 13, 1946 * * *’ (emphasis added). Except for a few special acts relating to specific claims or named Indian groups, Congress has not lifted this bar to our consideration of pre-1946 Indian claims.¹

"It is therefore ordered and concluded that defendant’s motion to dismiss is granted and the petition is dismissed.”

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Bluebook (online)

566 F.2d 1191, 215 Ct. Cl. 966, 1977 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 270, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tuscaloosa-nation-cc-1977.

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