Village of Mishongnovi v. Humeyestewa

1 Am. Tribal Law 295
CourtHopi Appellate Court
DecidedMarch 20, 1998
DocketNos. CIV-008-94, 96AP000008
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 1 Am. Tribal Law 295 (Village of Mishongnovi v. Humeyestewa) 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
Village of Mishongnovi v. Humeyestewa, 1 Am. Tribal Law 295 (hopiappct 1998).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

This case presents the issue of whether federal standing doctrine applies in Hopi Tribal Court in a case involving a dispute over who should rightfully control a bank account held in the name of the Village of Mishongnovi. Appellant and Respondents each allege that they are the rightful governing body of the Village. The ultimate resolution of the case turns on the determination of who is the Village’s legitimate governing authority. As such, this case also raises the issue of whether this central factual determination is a political question that may be resolved by the tribal court.

STATEMENT OF FACTS1

Appellants seek control over a bank account held by respondents in the name of the Village of Mishongnovi. Appellant is the Cultural Preservation Board (CPB), which claims to be the operating board of Mishongnovi. Appellant claims political authority was delegated to it by an individual acting as spokesperson for Cortez Lomahukluh, Mishongnovi’s traditional Village leader. The CPB alleges that Lo-mahukluh has been considered the traditional and secular leader of Mishongnovi since 1945, although he has not been ordained kikmongwi because the necessary sacred ceremonial objects have been lost.

Respondents are members of the Board of Directors of the Village of Mishongnovi. The Board of Directors also claims to be the only legitimate governing body of the Village. Respondents trace their authority to their election to the Board of Directors in 1992. This election was held in accordance with “Operating Guidelines” approved at a Village meeting in 1988. Respondents contend that the kikmongwi has never directed the political affairs of Mish-ongnovi. Rather, they claim, for as long as anyone can remember, Village decisions have been made through building consensus at meetings of various Village committee meetings. The Board of Directors was created to streamline the committee system and manage the Village’s political affairs.

The CPB alleges that the traditional leader of Mishongnovi dissolved the Board of Directors and authorized his spokesperson to appoint the CPB as the Village’s new operating board. In November, 1992, Hopi Vice Chairman Patrick Dallas received written statements from Lomahuk-luh declaring that he had invested a spokesperson with “authority of leadership to speak on my behalf on all Hopi Tribal matters for the village of Mishongnovi.” On that same day, respondent Bernita Hu-meyestewa closed out a Bank of America account in the name of the Village of Mish-ongnovi containing $68,441.68. Humeyes-tewa then deposited $68,609.39 into a First Interstate Bank account in the name of the Village of Mishongnovi. Respondents are the only authorized signatories on the bank account. On December 1, 1992, Hu-meyestewa and respondent Rolanda Morris signed checks from the Village bank account payable to Rolanda Morris in the amount of $2065.44. Morris alone signed a check for $2600.00 to Cake Chevrolet.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On April 6, 1994, the Appellants filed a complaint as Mishongnovi’s governing [298]*298body against Respondents for conversion of Village funds contained in the Bank of America account. The complaint alleged that Respondents negligently allowed the improper expenditure of funds from the account. The Appellants sought replevin to obtain the funds and all other Village property possessed by the Respondents. The Appellants also sought a declaratory judgment from the court recognizing themselves as the lawful owner of the funds contained in the disputed bank account.

Respondents cross-claimed to enjoin the Appellants from usurping Respondents’ public authority. They also sought a declaratory judgment that the Board of Directors had not been dissolved. Both parties filed motions for summary judgment seeking the Hopi Tribal Court’s recognition that their respective board was the proper governing body of Mishongnovi.

On January 4, 1996, the Hopi Tribal Court granted partial summary judgment to the Appellants, holding that Mishongno-vi has a traditional form of Hopi government with a kikmongwi. However, the court held that it could not decide the issue of who is the proper and appropriate governing body of Mishongnovi without first determining the identity of the Village’s kikmongwi and ascertaining the extent of the kikmongwi’s authority to name a spokesperson empowered to appoint a governing body.

The Appellant moved for reconsideration of its motion for summary judgment in light of a decision in Interim Board of Directors of Sh ungopavi v. Quamahongne-wa, No. 95CV000097, Order and Decision (1997). Shungopavi v. Quamahongnewa addressed whether a village governing body had standing to use the tribal court to air generalized grievances about the conduct of former members of the village government. The Appellant argued that following the logic of the decision in Shun-gopavi v. Quamahongnewa, the tribal court lacked jurisdiction to determine the identity of the Village’s kikmongwi because the respondents lacked standing to raise this issue in their cross-claim.

After reviewing the decision in Shungo-pavi v. Quamahongnewa, the tribal court on September 3, 1996, vacated its grant of partial summary judgment and dismissed the entire case for lack of standing by the Appellant. The court held that the Appellant did not have standing because it sought to advance a general interest common to members of the Mishongnovi Village, rather than a particularized interest.

The Appellant filed an appeal on September 24, 1996, 21 days after the Tribal Court issued its order of dismissal and 20 days after certification that copies of the order were delivered/mailed. The Appellant argues on appeal that it has standing to bring the suit because it alleged particular, actual, concrete injury to itself. Respondents argue that the Hopi Appellate Court lacks jurisdiction to consider the appeal because it was filed untimely. Respondents further argue that the Appellants lack standing because Appellants allege generalized complaints about the political process that can be raised in a political forum and are non-justiciable in tribal court.

ISSUES ON APPEAL

1. Does the Hopi Appellate Court lack jurisdiction over the appeal because it was not filed within the 20 day window prescribed by Rule 37(c) of the Hopi Indian Rules of Civil and Criminal Procedure?
2. Is federal standing doctrine consistent with Hopi custom and tradition?
3. What is the appropriate standing test in Hopi Tribal Court?
[299]*2994. Does the Cultural Preservation Board have standing to present its claims in Tribal Court?
5. Is the Hopi Tribal Court barred from determining who is the rightful governing body of Mishongnovi because the determination involves a non-justiciable political question?

DECISION OF THE COURT

I. Under Rule 8(d) of the Hopi Indian Rules of Civil Procedure This Appeal Is Timely.

Rule 37(c) of the Hopi Indian Rules of Civil and Criminal Procedure establishes that the party appealing from the final judgment of the trial court must file a notice of appeal “[w]ithin 20 days from the entry of the order of judgment appealed.” H.I.R.C.C.P. Rule 37(c). However, Rule 3(d) provides for a deadline to be extended by three days whenever service is accomplished by mail. H.I.R.C.C.P.

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Bluebook (online)
1 Am. Tribal Law 295, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/village-of-mishongnovi-v-humeyestewa-hopiappct-1998.