Amicus Curiae Brief — Brendale v. Confederated Tribes and Bands of Yakima Nation
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Nos. 87-1622, 87-1697, and 87-1711
IN THE
Supreme Court of the United States
OCTOBER TERM, 1988
PHILIP BRENDALE,
y, Petitioner,
CONFEDERATED TRIBES AND BANDS OF THE
YAKIMA INDIAN NATION, et al.,
Respondents.
STANLEY WILKINSON,
v. Petitioner,
CONFEDERATED TRIBES AND BANDS
OF THE YAKIMA INDIAN NATION,
Respondent.
COUNTY OF YAKIMA, et al.,
y, Petitioners,
CONFEDERATED TRIBES AND BANDS
OF THE YAKIMA INDIAN NATION,
Respondent.
On Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals
for the Ninth Circuit
BRIEF FOR CITIZENS EQUAL RIGHTS ALLIANCE,
INC. (CERA), BIG ARM MONTANA, AS AMICUS
CURIAE, A NATIONAL COALITION
IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONERS
(Coalition Members on Inside Cover)
KENN A, PUGH
Counsel of Record
P.O. Box 6
Dupree, South Dakota 57623
(605) 365-5171
WILSON - Epes PRINTING Co., INC. - 789-0096 - WASHINGTON, D.C. 20001 \)
;
SAM E. DAVIS, INDIVIDUAL, PARKER, ARIZONA;
MONOMA COUNTY LAND ASSOCIATION
(MCLA), SLOAN, IOWA; WHITE EARTH EQUAL
RIGHTS COMMITTEE, MAHNOMEN, MINNESOTA;
UNITED TOWNSHIP ASSOCIATION, PONSFORD,
MINNESOTA; TOTALLY EQUAL AMERICANS (TEA),
WAUBUN, MINNESOTA; TULABY LAKE ASSOCIATION,
WAUBUN, MINNESOTA; EAST SLOPE TAXPAYERS
ASSOCIATION, CUT BANK, MONTANA; CITIZENS
RIGHTS ORGANIZATION (CRO), LODGEGRASS,
MONTANA; ALL CITIZENS EQUAL (ACE), POLSON,
MONTANA; CONCERNED CITIZENS COUNCIL,
WINNEBAGO, NEBRASKA; JAMES L. MITCHELL,
INDIVIDUAL, JEMEZ PUEBLO, NEW MEXICO; NEW
YORK STATE CONSERVATION COUNCIL, WATERLOO,
NEW YORK; NORTH DAKOTA COMMITTEE FOR
EQUALITY, NEWTOWN, NORTH DAKOTA; WEST
VALLEY WATCH, WILLAMINA, OREGON; CHEYENNE
RIVER LANDOWNERS ASSOCIATION, DUPREE, SOUTH
DAKOTA; INTERSTATE CONGRESS FOR EQUAL
RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES, WASHINGTON;
PROTECT AMERICANS’ RIGHTS AND RESOURCES
(PARR), PARK FALLS, WISCONSIN;
IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONERS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTEREST OF AMICUS CURIAE
SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT...
RSI SS Ce
I. THE YAKIMA NATION DOES NOT HAVE
II.
ITT.
INHERENT CIVIL JURISDICTION OVER
NON-MEMBERS LIVING ON FEE LANDS
WITHIN THE YAKIMA RESERVATION
A. The Ninth Circuit Misinterpreted the Mon-
tana v. United States Decision and Ignored
ES a
B. The General Allotment Act and Other Laws
Opening Up the Reservations to Non-Member
Settlement Restricted Any Authority the
Tribe Might Originally Have Had Over Non-
EB” de SS
)
C. The Ninth Circuit Expanded Montana’s Ex-
ceptions Far Beyond Their Intent and Mean-
IF TRIBAL AUTHORITY IS FOUND TO
EXIST OVER NON-MEMBERS, THE STATE
AND COUNTY MUST ALSO HAVE SUCH
tetanic itl
ZONING BY THE TRIBAL GOVERNMENT
OF LAND OF NON-MEMBERS WHO ARE
UNREPRESENTED IN SUCH GOVERN-
MENT AFFECTS FUNDAMENTAL CON-
STITUTIONAL RIGHTS 0 a"
IRE ST ES a
APPENDICES:
A. Becker County Record, Aug. 14, 1988, at 1, col.
SE See
12
12
18
20
22)
25
27
la
2a
EE.
=
ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS—(Continued)
Daily Press, North Wisconsin’s Morning News-
paper, July 1, 1988, at 1 col. 1 -.......------------------- .
Letter from Ann Schoenborn, Co-Chairperson,
United Township Association to Mr. Robert
Gleason, White House, Washington, D.C. (Aug.
12, 1983) (discussing White Earth Tribe) ........
Letter from David Rasmussen, Game Warden,
Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources to State
of Minnesota (May 5, 1988) enclosing Letter
from John M. Sieling, Chief Deputy, Becker
County, Minnesota to David Rasmussen (April
QB, 1988) .........--------cecceoeeeencerenesnceosseensnsasnnsnnsnesnenees
Map of Flathead Reservation, Montana by Dept.
of Interior (March 20, 1915), denotes “Boundary
of Former Flathead Indian Reservation” ............
Aquatic Lands Conservation Ordinance No. 87-A
of the Council of Confederated Salish and
Weeatemal TePRGB q....<......<ccccccwceccensensensessscserewsveseseeses
Glacier Reporter, December 12, 1985 at 9, 10
(Proposed Blackfeet Comprehensive Tax Code) ..
_ Great Falls Tribune, April 11, 1987 at 12(A)
(discussing Blackfeet 4% possessory tax) ..........
Great Falls Tribune, at 1A (discussing Blackfeet
4% POSSESSOLY tax) ....... .------------ceeceeeeeeceneseeneteeeees
Letter from Lee Jacobsen, Secretary of East
Slope Taxpayers Association of August 16, 1988,
to “whom it may concern” (Aug. 16, 1988) ........
. West Valley Watch, Inc., Aug. 17, 1988 (discuss-
ing Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde) ........
Albuquerque Journal, Aug. 31, 1983, at A-a, A-3
(discussing Sandia Pueblo) ..................-......--------
. Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Ordinance No. 42a..
. 58 Fed. Reg. 20, 179 (1988) ........------------.---10--000+
Page
2a
4a
7a
Ta
9a
9a
10a
lla
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS—(Continued)
. Draft of By-laws of Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe
(Dec, 23, 1935)
. Complaint of Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe v.
Farmers Union Oil Lester Starr (July 25,
1988)
eee r rere errr rrr
SE EERE EE EEE ORE eee
ee eee ewww wenn
. Letter from Wayne Ducheneaux, Chairman of
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe to Mr. Green, Mayor
of Dupree (Feb. 12, 1988) with Resolution No.
E. 52-88-CR attached
. Letter from Wayne Ducheneaux, Chairman of
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe to Kenn Pugh (June
6, 1988)
eee eee eee
eee ee eee ee ee ee eee ee ee eee ee
. Letter from Congressman Sensenbrenner, Wis-
consin, to Constituent (June 28, 1988)
Page
lla
12a
13a
13a
iv
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
CASES Page
California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians,
U.S. ——, 107 S.Ct. 1083 (1987) -........------- 16
Central Machinery Co. v. Arizona State Tax
Comm'n, 448 U.S. 160 (1980) .......-----------------e0--000* 23
Crow Creek Sioux Tribe v. Buum, 10 Indian L.Rep.
6031 (Intertribal Ct. App. 1983) -.........----------------- 16
Draper v. United States, 164 U.S. 240 (1896) _........ 22
Ex Parte Crow Dog, 109 U.S. 556 (1888) .........------ 17
First English Evangelical Lutheran Church of
Glendale v. County of Los Angeles, 482 U.S.
, 107 S.Ct. 2378 (1987) .......------------------eeeee 26
Fisher v. District Court, 424 U.S. 382 (1976) ........ 21
McClanahan v. State Tax Comm’n of Arizona, 411
U.S. 164 (1978) ......---.----------cc-ece-eceeeeseeccenssennsnnnseseces 13
Montana v. United States, 450 U.S. 544 (1981) ....passim
Montana Catholic Missions v. Missoula County,
200 U.S. 118 (1906) ......------------------ecceeseoesoooeeeneneeees 21
Nectow v. Cambridge, 277 U.S. 183 (1928) .........-- 26
Oliphant v. Schlie, 544 F.2d 1007 . > 25
Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe, 435 U.S. 191
(19778) ........0.220--00-encceocenssencenneesenensencnsenssncnsnsasonssosseses passim
Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. Kneip, 430 U.S. 584
(1977) ......0--c-ccecc-ncencecssnpenensensencsensnsenssonsrsensenesssensonses 19
Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez, 436 U.S. 49
| (; ) ne 10, 12, 14, 17
Solem v. Bartlett, 465 U.S. 463 (1984) -.............--.-- 7
Surplus Trading Co. v. Cook, 281 U.S. 647 (1930) .. 22
Thomas v. Gay, 169 U.S. 264 (1898) ...........------------- 21
United States v. McBratney, 104 U.S. 621 (1881)... 22
United States v. Mission Golf Course, Inc., 548
F.Supp. 1177 (D.S.D. 1982) ........----------------------- 8
United States v. Morgan, 614 F.2d 166 (8th Cir.
DOD) once cnccennescccnccsosneserssséscesconsnosecssenssesnesnnssesccunsoonons 8
United States v. Wheeler, 435 U.S. 313 (1978) ...... 10, 13,
18, 21
Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co., 272 US.
(4G —————————————EEE~ Et ee a 26
Washington v. Confederated Tribes of the Colville
Reservation, 447 U.S. 134 (1980) .......-..--..---------- 14
Vv
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES—Continued
Page
White Mountain Apache Tribe v. Bracker, 448
US. EERSTE SESS nee OS ee 22, 23
Williams v. Lee, 358 U.S. 217 (1959) ................... 21, 23, 25
Yakima Indian Nation v. Whiteside, 617 F.Supp.
Te Es I, BID i eccnnecncccncecncccnsscenttetosoeosante 20
STATUTES AND TREATIES
General Allotment Act of 1887, 24 Stat. 388 .......... 11,18
REESE SR Sm re oC 7
ET Ee ee 8
Indian Civil Rights Act, 25 U.S.C. §§ 1301-1303...... 14
Indian Financing Act of 1974.00.00. 16, 23
Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 ...........0-..... 16, 23
OTHER AUTHORITIES
53 Fed. Reg. 20, 179-20, 180 (1988) ..000 7
Cohen Handbook of Federal Indian Law (1942)... 22
1 Anderson, American Law of Zoning (3rd ed.
Rs: a AN 26
McQuillin, Municipal Corporations (3rd ed. 1983) .. 25, 26
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Constitution By-laws,
IY I accel slasecusiat ed enaceeiensebtedshindecmnte 8
IN THE
Siuyprenw Court of the United States
OCTOBER TERM, 1988
Nos. 87-1622, 87-1697, and 87-1711
PHILIP BRENDALE,
. Petitioner,
CONFEDERATED TRIBES AND BANDS OF THE
YAKIMA INDIAN NATION, et al.,
Respondents.
STANLEY WILKINSON,
Petitioner,
v.
CONFEDERATED TRIBES AND BANDS
OF THE YAKIMA INDIAN NATION,
Respondent.
COUNTY OF YAKIMA, et al.,
Petitioners,
Vv.
CONFEDERATED TRIBES AND BANDS
OF THE YAKIMA INDIAN NATION,
Respondent.
On Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals
for the Ninth Circuit
BRIEF FOR CITIZENS EQUAL RIGHTS ALLIANCE,
INC. (CERA), BIG ARM MONTANA, AS AMICUS
CURIAE, A NATIONAL COALITION
IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONERS
9
INTEREST OF AMICUS CURIAE
Amicus Curiae Citizens Equal Rights Alliance, Inc.,
Big Arm, Montana, is a national volunteer non-profit
organization incorporated under the laws of the State of
Montana. It is a coalition of citizens groups and individ-
uals from fourteen (14) states who are concerned and
alarmed at the direction federal Indian policy has taken,
especially how tribal governments and some courts have
interpreted and molded that policy. The over four hun-
dred thousand (400,000) people from all walks of life
who make up the Citizens Equal Rights Alliance, Inc. are
dedicated to effecting positive change in federal Indian
policies. They are concerned with the problems associated
with the exercise of tribal civil jurisdiction over non-
members of the tribe who are not allowed any represen-
tation in the government that seeks to govern them. And
while the members of this organization seek responsible
change in this system, they often bear the stigma of
racism for opposing any extensions of tribal power.
Totally Equal Americans is an association of individ-
uals residing and working on or near reservations in nine
(9) states, with its headquarters in Waubun, Minnesota.
These citizens sense the frustration and suffer a lesser
quality of life from the imposition of tribal regulations
and taxes in areas such as water rights, hunting and fish-
ing, zoning, and employment. They are also concerned
how this expansion of tribal power has affected their
rights under the 5th and 14th Amendments to the United
States Constitution, guaranteeing them “equal protection”’.
Protect Americans’ Rights and Resources has a na-
tional membership of nearly five thousand (5,000) people,
consisting of business people, fee land holders, farmers,
utilities, business organizations, and outdoor recreation-
ists. One of the specific concerns of this organization is
the granting of special privileges to tribal members who
do not reside on reservations. The Chippewa [Indians of
Wisconsin, for example, now claim a superior right to
3
timber, hunting, and fishing in Northern Wisconsin,
whether located on a reservation or off a reservation.
The Tulaby Lake Association and White Earth Equal
Rights Committee, Inc., are groups of citizens who live on
or near the former White Earth Reservation in Northern
Minnesota. These organizations are made up of resort
owners, farmers, business people, property owners, and
outdoor sportsmen.
United Townships Association is an organization of
thirty-two (32) township governments also within the
original boundaries of this Reservation. One of the con-
cerns of these groups in this area is the difference in
fishing regulation between members and non-members
and theassociated law enforcement problems. Also,
the White Earth Reservation Tribal Council, in 1981,
passed Ordinance Eight, a natural resources preservation
act, which applied to all individuals. Although that par-
ticular ordinance was later ruled invalid by the Depart-
ment of the Interior, this is a clear example of how In-
dian tribes are seeking to increase their power.
New York State Conservation Council is a group of fee
land owners, outdoor sportsmen, local elected officials, and
business people. These individuals face land claims from
various Indian tribes in New York and the certain exten-
sion of tribal rule and regulation to their personal and
professional lives.
Interstate Congress for Equal Rights and Responsibili-
ties is a national non-profit group headquartered in
Washington state. Their interests, given the location of
this case, is as obvious as is their concern for the expan-
sion of tribal claims.
North Dakota Committee for Equality is a non-profit
organization organized under the laws of the State of
North Dakota. The membership of this organization
include farmers, business owners, teachers, and fee land
owners who reside on or near the original Fort Berthold
4
Reservation in North Dakota. Part of the original Res-
ervation, three hundred sixty-five thousand (365,000)
acres in total, lies in portions of three North Dakota
counties. Of this acreage, less than one percent is owned
in trust. For years the Fort Berthold Tribal Constitution
contained a provision restricting the civil jurisdiction of
the Tribe to tribal members. However, that provision has
now been repealed. Consequently, the members of this
organization are now claimed to be subject to tribal civil
jurisdiction, subject to the ruling of this Court.
All Citizens Equal is an association of over 1,000 mem-
bers, primarily resident and non-resident fee land owners
within the “former” Flathead Reservation of Western
Montana. The land owners are principally farmers and
ranchers, orchard owners, small business owners, retirees,
and resort owners. Membership also includes non-resident
land owners and sports enthusiasts. They utilize private
and state land for recreation including hunting and fish-
ing, and other sports on Flathead Lake. For years,
land in the area was known as being on the former
Flathead Reservation. Yet, the Confederated Salish and
Kootenai Tribes have and continue to expand their claim
in non-members’ lives through a burdensome number of
lawsuits. For example, the Confederated Tribes passed
Ordinance No. 87-A, the Aquatic Lands Conservation
Ordinance, which would require the acquisition of permits
and payment of fees for construction of any project on or
near wet lands anywhere on the Flathead Reservation,
even though the Reservation population is eighty-five per-
cent (85%) non-members and eighty-five percent (85% )
of the land is owned in fee. Moreover, this Tribe has
summarily rejected Montana and continues to claim exclu-
sive hunting and fishing jurisdiction on private land.
Citizens Rights Organization has a membership of
farmers, ranchers, and small businesses in Big Horn
County in Eastern Montana. Their area is in the origi-
nal Crow Reservation. Approximately fifty percent
5
(50%) of the land is owned in fee by non-members. The
Crow Tribe has and is currently seeking to levy taxes on
non-members residing on the Reservation. They have also
attempted to regulate the use of farm chemicals, insec-
ticides, and herbicides on fee land on the Reservation.
East Slope Taxpayers Association is a non-profit group
of fee land owners, farmers, ranchers, business owners,
sportsmen, and conservationists who reside or recreate on
the original Blackfeet Reservation in Northern Montana.
Civil jurisdiction problems have all but stopped lending
agencies and insurance companies from doing business
on the Blackfeet Reservation. Oil companies have all but
ceased to drill or pump oil. A tribal liquor license is one
thousand dollars ($1,000.00). The Blackfeet Tribe is
attempting to control the sale of tax-free cigarettes and
gambling. The Tribe has also imposed a four percent
(4%) possessory interest tax on utility companies, rail-
roads, and oil companies, with the formula based, in part,
on holdings outside the Reservation. The local Rural
Electric Cooperative reluctantly passed this tax on to the
local consumers in the form of a one dollar ninety cent
($1.90) surcharge.
Samuel E. Davis is an individual member of Amicus
Citizens Equal Rights Organizations, Inc., who resides in
and is Mayor of Parker, Arizona. Parker is surrounded
on three (3) sides by the Colorado River Reservation and
on the fourth side by the Colorado River. In 1983 the
Colorado River Indian Tribes filed suit to have the city
stop its enforcement of the city building codes on tribally
held lots in Parker. Further conflicts have since gener-
ated on liquor licensure, zoning, business and health per-
mits, and law enforcement. Since these tribal power ex-
pansions, the quality of life in Parker has deteriorated.
The Tribe also has imposed a tribal boycott on Mr. Davis’
businesses due to his stand as Mayor in these disputes.
Concerned Citizens Council consists of resident and
non-resident fee land owners, farmers, and businessmen
6
who reside on the original Omaha and Winnebago Reser-
vations in Thurston County, Nebraska. The Omahas
were retroceded jurisdiction in 1969 and the Winnebagos
in 1986. The concerns of this organization are what
they perceive to be well settled legal principles, are for-
eign concepts in federal Indian law, for example, statutes
of limitation.
The Omaha Tribe is also suing to regain jurisdiction
and title to land across the Missouri River in Monoma
County, Iowa. If such a suit is successful, memb. rs of
Monomo County Land Association would be claimed to
come under tribal civil jurisdiction. The members of this
Organization, landowners, farmers, and businesses who
have been in this area of Iowa for at least a century,
would then be subject to a system, totally foreign to them,
in which they have no representation.
West Valley Watch, Inc., a volunteer non-profit cor-
poration organized under the laws of the State of Oregon,
consists of landowners, farmers, and business owners also
concerned with the effects of a formation of a new reser-
vation in their area. The creation of a new nine thousand
eight hundred (9,800) acre reservation for the Confeder-
ated Tribes of Grand Ronde in Western Oregon would
subject the members of this organization to claims of
tribal civil jurisdiction. Once again, people who have
lived in an area for several years are suddenly being
thrust into a governmental system totally unknown to
them.
James L. Mitchell is also an individual member of the
Amicus Citizens Equal Rights Alliance, Inc., who resides
in Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico. Mr. Mitchell is typical of
those who are deeply interested and concerned with the
continuing expansion of the tribes and pueblos of New
Mexico and Arizona. Extensive litigation has taken place
between the federal government, the tribes, and individ-
ual land owners in the area of water rights. Also efforts
7
are being made by the Sandia Pueblo to reclaim nine
thousand four hundred (9,400) acres they maintain was
deprived of them by an erroneous 1859 survey. They are
also concerned with the expanding efforts of the tribes to
tax and assert tribal jurisdiction over non-member individ-
uals and businesses, outside of the Navajo Reservation.
Cheyenne River Landowners Association is a group of
farmers, ranchers, business owners, and local] elected offi-
cials in Dewey and Ziebach Counties in South Dakota.
These people are fully aware of what can happen when
tribal jurisdiction is suddenly thrust upon them, and mir-
ror others who we put in the same situation. Until this
Court’s decision in Solem v. Bartlett, 465 U.S. 463
(1984), portions of the Cheyenne River Sioux Reserva-
tion were not considered Indian country. 18 U.S.C. 1151.
After the decision in that case, the Cheyenne River Sioux
Tribe has greatly expanded its efforts to govern non-
members. The Tribe has passed a Tribal Employment
Rights Ordinance (TERO), which requires an excise tax,
and Indian preference in employment, hiring and con-
tracting, whether the project is on trust or fee land.
The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe has also been active
in the area of liquor licensure. The Tribe passed Ordi-
nance No. 48, the Alcohol Beverage Control Law, apply-
ing the Ordinance expressly to all lands, whether trust,
allotted, or fee lands, repealing an earlier ordinance
which only applied to “Indian land”. The Tribal Ordi-
nance was approved by the Department of the Interior on
June 2, 1988, and is found at 53 Fed. Reg. 20,179-20,182.
The Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Ralph R.
Reesen, noted at 53 Fed. Reg. 20,179-20,180:
Section 1-1-2 and 1-1-3(B) apply to [the] tribal liquor
ordinance to all lands within the reservation bound-
aries. There is no reference to the two exemptions to
the tribe’s jurisdiction as described in 18 U.S.C.
1154(c). However the existence of land entitled to
either of the two exemptions, fee patent lands in non-
8
Indian communities or rights of way through Indian
reservations, is a factual determination to be decided
by the Courts.
The Tribe has since filed a number of lawsuits in the
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Court to enforce this ordi-
nance. This is done in spice of the Assistant Secretary’s
statement, in spite of the existence of 18 U.S.C. 1154(c),
in spite of the existence of United States v. Morgan, 614
F.2d 166 (8th Cir. 1980) and United States v. Mission
Golf Course, Inc., 548 F. Supp. 1177 (D.S.D. 1982), and
in spite of a By-law provision in the Cheyenne River
Sioux Tribe Constitution By-laws, Article IV, Section
1(c), which limits the jurisdiction of the tribal courts
over non-members to instances where the member and
non-member litigants stipulate to the jurisdiction of the
tribal court. The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe has also
put in place a tribal boycott of businesses in municipali-
ties which do not follow their liquor control ordinance.
This is all done in the name of “inherent tribal sover-
eignty”’.
The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe has also made at-
tempts to collect a tribal business license fee from busi-
ness owners on the Reservation, including from present
counsel of record. Once again these efforts to collect a
tax are done in spite of the Tribal Constitution and
By-laws.
The people who make up the membership of amicus
fall into several categories. Many of the people have
lived in these areas for all their lives, some are the second
or third generation in the area. Others, while not in the
area for as long, nonetheless rely on the area for their
livelihood. Other members of amicus, while they do not
actually live on reservations, work or conduct business
on the reservation. Still others enjoy the vast recreational
opportunities available. Yet, all these people face the
prospect of ever increasing tribal civil jurisdiction, unless
it is checked by this Court.
9
There are similar threads which weave together the
common interest of the amicus. First, nearly all the ordi-
nances, either passed or proposed, by various Indian
tribes across the country say on their face that the action
taken or proposed is done to regulate conduct which has
a direct impact on the political integrity, economic secu-
rity, or health or welfare of the tribe, thus parroting
the language contained in Montana v. United States, 450
U.S. 544, 566. The tribes have taken one paragraph of
dicta in Montana and literally attempted to mushroom
their power into every conceivable facet of the lives of
non-members living on reservations and individuals who
do not reside on reservations but conduct their business
or recreational activities on reservations. Until the mat-
ter is further defined or restricted by this Court, the
tribes will continue to test the boundaries.
The other thread of common ground which holds the
amicus together is their shared frustration as to their
inability to effect positive change within tribal govern-
ment. One might say that this is very similar to an
American who resides in a country overseas. There is
one important distinction, however. An American citi-
zen who resides overseas can, if he so chooses, give up his
American citizenship and seek the citizenship of the
country in which he lives. American citizens who live on
tribal reservations within this country, do not have that
ability. Tribal membership is severely limited by blood
quantums. Moreover, Amicus feels that the only protec-
tion they have from the increasing efforts of tribes to
govern them is the courts.
Further, amicus, whatever their race, look at their
issues as lay people. As lay people they do not under-
stand (nor do some lawyers) the complicated legal issues
involved in cases such as these which bring such confusion
to their lives. They can, however, comprehend the distrac-
tions which these issues bring into their lives. They see
how these issues impair and reduce the quality of life.
10
Also, they see these issues as individuals, and not in the
light of local, state, or tribal governments.
Finally, amicus fully realizes that unbridled zoning can
deprive them of the use of their land and further depre-
ciate its value. They also fully realize under Santa Clara
Pueblo v. Martinez, 436 U.S. 49 (1978), they cannot seek
compensation from a tribal government for such a zoning.
This cannot be what Congress. envisioned.
SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT
The Yakima Nation does not have inherent civil juris-
diction over non-members living on fee lands within the
Yakima Reservation.
The Ninth Circuit misinterpreted Montana v. United
States, 450 U.S. 544 (1981), and ignored the vital prece-
dents Montana used as the framework for its opinion
(i.e., United States v. Wheeler, 4385 U.S. 313 (1978), and
Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe, 435 U.S. 191
(1978) ). A careful review of these cases by the Ninth
Circuit would have made it recognize several important
principles essential in determining the instant issue.
First, the Ninth Circuit would have had to recognize the
reduced reliance that courts should give to “platonic no-
tions of Indian sovereignty”. Tribal sovereignty over non-
members should be analyzed in terms of the “tradition of
sovereignty”, which is defined in the “shared presump-
tions” of various branches of the federal government.
The Ninth Cireuit would have had to have found that
there is no such “tradition of sovereignty” over non-
members.
The Montana Court stated that inherent sovereign
powers of Indian tribes do not extend to non-members
except in two situations. The Ninth Circuit erred by seiz-
ing upon these exceptions and molding them into the
“rule”. It disregarded the very framework of these ex-
ceptions and gave the second Montana exception (regard-
11
ing situations which threaten the existence of the tribe
or livability of a reservation) such an expansive reading
so as to negate significant remaining language in the
Montana opinion.
Furthermore, the Ninth Circuit applied the federal pre-
emption test in an erroneous manner. The question is
whether any specific federal legislation gave the Yakima
Tribe jurisdiction over non-members, thereby pre-empting
state or county jurisdiction. Federal pre-emption must be
found in a comprehensive federal scheme in a particular
field. Only after such federal pre-emption is found can
there be any balancing of state interests against Indian
interests. The Ninth Circuit made only a cursory ex-
amination of such a federal regulatory scheme and could
only come up with general legislation on various disparate
subjects. It erroneously held such marginally related
legislation pre-empted state jurisdiction over non-mem-
bers. It then prematurely went on to balance the inter-
ests of the Yakima Nation with those of the county.
The Ninth Circuit further erred in that the court only
balanced a myopic version of county interests. It dis-
regarded present and future county interests beyond the
specific proposed uses of Brendale and Wilkinson.
In contrast to the Ninth Circuit’s strained attempt to
find federal pre-emption, it chose to simply ignore the
federal legislation (i.e., General Allotment Act of 1887,
24 Stat. 388) which indicated an affirmative attempt to
preclude tribal regulation of non-members. The General
Allotment Act was addressed in great, detail in Montana,
which found from it a congressional assumption that
tribes did not have and should never have jurisdiction
over non-members.
Finally, by ignoring precedent and the United States
Constitution, the Ninth Circuit placed non-members under
a regulatory system that is not subject to all the con-
straints of the United States and under which they have
no representation. In effect, it incongruously deprived
12
United States citizens of constitutional protections, but
yet granted Indian tribes power inconsistent with the
tribe’s dependent status on the United States.
Zoning, if too restrictive, could constitute a taking of
the use of non-member land. However, under Santa Clara
Pueblo v. Martinez, 486 U.S. 49 (1978), such non-mem-
bers can not gain compensation from the tribal govern-
ment for such a taking.
ARGUMENT
I. THE YAKIMA NATION DOES NOT HAVE INHER-
ENT CIVIL JURISDICTION OVER NON-MEMBERS
LIVING ON FEE LANDS WITHIN THE YAKIMA
RESERVATION.
A. The Ninth Circuit Misinterpreted the Montana v.
United States Decision and Ignored Vital Precedent.
The Ninth Circuit, as well as some other post-Montana
courts and Indian tribes all over the nation, seized upon
certain wording in this Court’s Montana opinion and
turned the general analysis of that opinion on its head.
Instead of starting with the premise that tribes in gen-
eral were divested of their jurisdiction over non-Indians,
the Ninth Circuit and various tribes assume the existence
of such jurisdiction and put the burden on non-Indians
to prove why such jurisdiction should not exist. That
kind of analysis ignores the thrust of Montana, and a
host of very real practical problems have resulted and
will result if the Ninth Circuit is not corrected.
Montana dealt with the same kind of question as is in
this case: whether a tribe has the power to regulate civil
activities by non-members on fee land within a reserva-
tion. Ultimately the court said that no such tribal power
existed. The primary analysis of Montana also addressed
the issue presented in this case: whether inherent tribal
sovereignty was an appropriate basis on which to find
tribal power over non-members. As in Montana, there is
13
little real argument here that some particular treaty or
statute gave the Yakima nation the power to regulate,
control fee land development, and ultimately punish non-
members in a civil law context.
The framework which guided the Montana court’s
analysis was the framework set out in United States v.
Wheeler, 435 U.S. 313 (1978), and Oliphant v. Suqua-
mish Indian Tribe, 4385 U.S. 191 (1978). Both the
Wheeler and Oliphant cases discussed the issue of tribal
authority over non-members in detail. Wheeler concluded
that by virtue of their original incorporation into the
United States, tribes lost some of their origina] attributes
of sovereignty, including “those involving the relations
between an Indian tribe and non-members of the tribe.”
435 U.S. at 326. In citing Oliphant, the Montana court
concluded that “[t]hough Oliphant only determined in-
herent tribal authority in criminal matters, the principles
on which it relied support the general proposition that
the inherent sovereign powers of an Indian tribe do not
extend to the activities on non-members of the tribe.”
450 U.S. at 565.
Oliphant and Wheeler have been followed consistently
and are good law. They remain as the most extensive
analyses of the thorny questions of tribal jurisdiction
over non-Indians. No decision in the present case can be
made without a serious review of the reasoning of those
cases. The Ninth Circuit made no attempt at such re-
view. If it had, it would have had to recognize the re-
duced reliance that modern courts should give to “platonic
notions of Indian sovereignty” and the increased impor-
tance of analyzing jurisdictional issues in terms of appli-
cable federal treaties and statutes. McClanahan v. State
Tax Comm’n of Arizona, 411 U.S. 164 (1973). It would
also have had to analyze Yakima’s powers over non-mem-
bers in terms of the tradition of its sovereignty, which
in turn was defined by the “shared presumptions” of the
various branches of the federal government. Oliphant,
14
435 U.S. at 206. See also Washington v. Confederated
Tribes of the Colville Reservation, 447 U.S. 134, 153
(1980).1. The Ninth Circuit further would have had to
acknowledge that the tradition of sovereignty, or shared
presumptions of the branches of the federal government,
all pointed to the fact that tribal jurisdiction over non-
members was almost universally denied, that until re-
cently few tribes even had court systems, and that no
congressional action has granted tribes civil power over
non-members. See, e.g., Oliphant, 435 U.S. at 201-06.
Finally, had the Ninth Circuit recognized Oliphant and
Wheeler, it would have considered the rights of non-
members to be protected from a regulatory system that
might have no relationship with the United States Con-
stitution or commonly accepted principles of American
procedural and substantive justice. The Supreme Court
has readily acknowledged that tribal governments and
judicial systems “are in many ways foreign to the con-
stitutional institutions of the federal and state govern-
ments.” Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez, 436 U.S. 49,
71 (1978). Tribal governments and court systems also
are not subject to the constraints of the United States
Constitution. Jd. at 56. Even under the Indian Civil
Rights Act (25 U.S.C. §§ 1301-1303), which does not in-
corporate all constitutional protections, there is no civil
law remedy for violations—only the remedy of habeas
corpus is available. Id. at 65, 72.
1The analysis of “inherent authority” recommended by Mr.
Justice Rehnquist in the Washington case (447 U.S. 134, 176-90)
is appropriate. Such an approach entails examining the “tradition
of sovereignty” with regard to the tribal regulation of non-
members on non-member lands. The tra tion would indicate
that tribal regulation of non-members on’ e lands has not been
historically accepted or exercised. A:‘er 2 “tradition” has been
examined, it will be appropriate to review relevant treaties and
statutes to determine whether Congress expressly altered that
tradition. If Congress did not so alter the tradition, then the
courts should not grant the tribe civil jurisdiction over land use
by non-members on fee lands.
15
The Oliphant decision reviewed the history of the rea-
sons for traditional lack of authority over non-members
and concluded:
But from the formation of the Union and the adop-
tion of the Bill of Rights, the United States has
manifested an equally great solicitude that its citi-
zents be protected by the United States from un-
warranted intrusions on their personal liberty. The
power of the United States to try and criminally
punish is an important manifestation of the power
to restrict personal liberty. By submitting to the
overriding sovereignty of the United States, Indian
tribes therefore necessarily give up their power to
try non-Indian citizens of the United States except
in a manner acceptable to Congress. This principle
would have been obvious a century ago when most
Indian tribes were characterized by a “want of fixed
laws [and] of competent tribunals of justice.” H.R.
Rep No. 474, 23d Cong., Ist Sess., at 18 (1834). It
should be no less obvious today, even though present-
day Indian tribal courts embody dramatic advances
over their historical antecedents.
Oliphant, 435 U.S. at 210. The powers of a tribe to con-
fiscate property, to severely restrict the use of private fee
land, to restrict freedom of movement over territory that
is not Indian owned, and to punish non-members with
fines or even arrest (as in, for cxample, civil contempt
proceedings) are precisely the potential “intrusions on
[non-members’] personal liberty” that the Oliphant court
determined were given up by tribes “except [to be exer-
cised] in a manner acceptable to Congress.” Jd. at 210.
Indeed, various Indian Tribes recognize this power, and
have provided for it in their laws and ordinances. The
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Tribal Rights Employment
Ordinance provides for the seizure and sale of construc-
tion equipment to pay due excise taxes and penalties.
The Aquatic Lands Conservation Ordinance of the Con-
federated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead
16
Reservation calls for civil penalties of between twenty-
five dollars ($25.00) and five hundred dollars ($500.00)
for each day the violation of the ordinance continues to
exist. Finally, the Intertribal Court of Appeals, in Crow
Creek Sioux Tribe v. Buum, 10 Indian L.Rep. 6031 (in-
tertribal Ct. App. 1983), expressly held tribes have the
power to enforce court orders through civil contempt
proceedings.
Because potential intrusions on liberty are labelled
“civil” rather than “criminal” does not mean that the
intrusions are any less onerous. One who sits in jail for
civil contempt sits in the same jail as does one who vio-
lates tribal criminal law. In fact, given the expansive
reading given the term “civil-regulatory” in recent cases
such as California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians,
—— US. , 107 S.Ct. 1083 (1987), it would seem
that even the Oliphant type of direct intrusions on per-
sonal liberty (e.g., incarceration) could be the result of
civil-regulatory jurisdiction by tribes over non-members.
Nor does it make any difference that after more than
one hundred years many (but certainly not all) tribes
have court systems and at least some written laws or
ordinances. Until and unless Congress specifically returns
it, the tribes have lost their power to regulate non-mem-
bers on fee land because that power is “inconsistent with
their status.” Oliphant, 435 U.S. at 208. The return of
jurisdiction over non-members must be specific because
it is so fundamentally important. It is absurd to find
such power by implication (as the Ninth Circuit hints in
this case below) from statutes such as the Indian Financ-
ing Act of 1974 or the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978.
See 828 F.2d at 533. )
The United States government has a paramount sover-
eign interest in making sure that the constitutional in-
stitutions of the federal and state governments are made
available to its non-Indian citizens. This is especially
true because this United States government was respon-
17
sible for opening up reservations and inviting non-Indians
to reside thereon. Justice White, in his dissent in the
Santa Clara Pueblo case, quoted the purpose of the con-
gressional Indian Civil Rights Act as being “to insure
that the American Indian is afforded the vroad constitu-
tional rights secured to other Americans.” 456 U.S. at 72.
The Ninth Circuit’s ruling in this case has the peculiar
result of interpreting federal statutes and law so as to
remove those constitutional rights from those “other
Americans” who Congress (and the Court) assumed were
fully and properly protected.
The Oliphant court as well as earlier courts recognized
the dangers of subjecting people of one sovereign to the
eourts of another. Oliphant cited the early case of Ex
perte Crow Dog, 109 U.S. 556 (1883), as an example.
Ex parte Crow Dog involved the question of whether,
prior to the Major Crimes Act, federal courts had juris-
diction over offenses by Indians against Indians on reser-
vations. The Court refused to extend federal jurisdiction
saying that, without statutory mandate, the United States
was trying to extend its law:
by argument and inference only, . . . over aliens and
strangers; over the members of a community sep-
arated by race [and] tradition, . . . from the au-
thority and power which seeks to impose upon them
the restraints of an external and unknown code .
which judges them by a standard made by sais
and not for them. ... It tries them, not by their
peers, nor by the customs of their people, nor the
law of their land, but by .. . a different race, ac-
cording to the law of a social state of which they
have an imperfect conception. . . .
109 U.S. at 571, quoted in Oliphant, 435 U.S. at 210-11.
The above words could have been written with reference
to the present case.
The Ninth Circuit misread the main emphasis of Mon-
tana, ignored Oliphant and Wheeler, and disregarded the
18
constitutional protections to which non-members of a
tribe are entitled. This Court should correct the Ninth
Circuit’s reasoning, much as it had to do in Montana,
Wheeler, and Oliphant.
B. The General Allotment Act and Other Laws Open-
ing Up the Reservations to Non-member Settlement
Restricted Any Authority the Tribe Might Origi-
nally Have Had Over Non-members.
The Montana decision teaches that the general rule in
matters such as the present one is that notions of “in-
herent sovereignty” do not give tribes jurisdiction over
non-members. That should also be the starting point in
the present case.
The next question should be whether the Ninth Circuit
could identify any specific federal legislation which gave
the Yakima tribe jurisdiction over non-members. The
Ninth Circuit could identify no such legislation. The best
it could come up with is citation to general legislation
encouraging tribal governments in programs involving
their members in areas such as child welfare, education,
and financing. Such statutes are so marginally related to
the present issue as to be of virtually no assistance.
The final question is an analysis of the Yakima issue
should be whether any federal legislation has indicated
an affirmative intent to preclude tribal regulation of non-
members. The Ninth Circuit ignored this inquiry. The
Montana court, however, addressed this question in de-
tail. The court found that the General Allotment Act of
1887 (24 Stat. 388) and subsequent allotment acts which
opened up reservations demonstrated a congressional as-
sumption that tribes did not have and should never have
jurisdiction over non-members. These congressional en-
actments, which encourage and enabled non-members to
move on to reservations, form the correct backdrop
against which to analyze questions such as those posed in
the present case.
19
The Montana court discussed the federal allotment acts
in detail, holding that even if prior treaties had preserved
some tribal jurisdiction over non-members, the allotment
acts removed such jurisdiction. In an extensive footnote
detailing its reasons for that conclusion, the Montana
court said in part:
The policy of the Acts was the eventual assimilation
of the Indian population [citation omitted] and the
“gradual extinction of Indian reservations and In-
dian titles.” [citation omitted] The Secretary of
the Interior and Commissioner of Indian Affairs re-
peatedly emphasized that the allotment policy was
designed to eventually eliminate tribal relations. .. .
There is simply no suggestion in the legislative
history that Congress intended that the non-Indians
who would settle upon alienated allotted lands would
be subject to tribal regulatory authority. Indeed,
throughout the Congressional debates, allotment of
Indian land was consistently equated with the dis-
solution of tribal affairs and jurisdiction. [citations
omitted] It defies common sense to suppose that Con-
_ gress would intend that non-Indians purchasing al-
lotted lands would become subject to tribal jurisdic-
tion when an avowed purpose of the allotment policy
was the ultimate destruction of tribal government.
Montana, 450 U.S. at 559-60 n.9 (emphasis added).
There was no Yakima jurisdiction over non-members
when the reservation was allotted and when non-members
became fee owners within the reservation, and there is
no Yakima jurisdiction today. No federal enactment has
granted such jurisdiction to the Yakima nation in the
face of the congressional policy which allowed the reserva-
tion to become allotted in the first place. The Ninth Cir-
cuit cannot change that history or congressional policy.
As the Supreme Court has stated on more than one oc-
easion, “[o]ur task here is a narrow one. ... [Wle can-
not remake history.” Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. Kneip, 430
U.S. 584, 615 (1977).
20
C. The Ninth Circuit Expanded Montana's Exceptions
Far Beyond Their Intent and Meaning.
In this case, the Ninth Circuit took what the Montana
court stated to be exceptions to a general rule, and turned
those exceptions into a general rule. Neither logic nor
precedent support what the Ninth Circuit did.
The Montana court stated clearly “the general proposi-
tion that the inherent sovereign powers of an Indian
tribe do not extend to the activities of nonmembers of the
tribe.” 450 U.S. at 565. It then, however, recognized two
special situations where the general rule could be altered.
First is when non-members choose to become involved
with a tribe by entering “consensual relationship.” Pre-
sumably the non-member has a choice about whether he
wants to deal with a tribe, and therefore can refuse to
become a subject to tribal regulation by ending his con-
sensual (usually commercial) relationship.
Such is not the case with non-members living on reser-
vations who have not made any “consensual” commercial
relationships with a tribe. The Montana court acknowl-
edged that at some level an activity of a non-member
could become so onerous as to threaten the very existence
of a tribe or livability of its reservation. In such a situa-
tion, the court acknowledged that a tribe could act to pro-
tect itself. However, such a situation had to be ex-
tremely serious and was clearly an exception to the gen-
eral rule. Where the Ninth Circuit went astray was
when it took Montana’s language and interpreted it as
encompassing virtually any activity over which a govern-
ment can exercise traditional police power.” Police power
2 The district court in the Whiteside case went so far as to
identify perceived threats to a tribe’s “cultural” and “spiritual”
values as sufficient to justify tribal authority over non-Indians.
617 F.Supp. at 744. Such a reading of the Montana exception is
sufficient to bring just about any conduct within the exception’s
terms, thereby virtually eliminating the general rule.
21
authority (used to promote the “general welfare’) is
incredibly broad, and goes far beyond situations which
threaten the existence of a tribe or livability of a reser-
vation. It makes no sense to give the Montana exceptions
such an expansive reading because to do so would negate
the Montana court’s preceding extensive discussion of
Oliphant, Wheeler, and the allotment acts.*
The proper interpretation of Montana is that tribal
civil authority over non-members is precluded unless the
tribe can prove that a particular activity is so onerous as
to threaten its own or its reservation’s existence. The
Yakima nation did not, and could not, demonstrate this
in the present case. The activities of non-members of the
tribe are not unregulated. They are subject to state and
local government regulations, constrained by principles of
substantive and procedural due process, and subject to
tribal action if they are particularly onerous. This Court
* The Montana court’s citations to previous authority in support
of its identified exceptions certainly do not support the Ninth
Circuit’s overbroad reading. The Montana court, 450 U.S. at 566,
cited Fisher v. District Court, 424 U.S. 382 (1976); Williams v.
Lee, 358 U.S. 217 (1959); Montana Catholic Missions v. Missoula
County, 200 U.S. 118 (1906); and Thomas v. Gay, 169 U.S. 264
(1898). In Fisher the court dealt with a private legal dispute
involving only Indians. In Wiiliams the issue was jurisdiction over
a private legal dispute between a non-member and a reservation
Indian. In Montana Catholic Missions the court actually upheld
state taxation of cattle owned by non-members in the face of
argument that such taxation would really be against Indians and
should not be allowed. No claims of tribal jurisdiction were made
or ruled upon. The Thomas case was also concerned with state tax-
ation of cattle belonging to non-members on leased Indian land.
Such a state tax was upheld. Again there were no issues involving
tribal jurisdiction over non-members.
The fact that Montana cited only cases that either upheld state
jurisdiction or involved interaction with tribal members empha-
sizes the point that tribal jurisdiction over non-members who are
not directly involved in disputes with tribal members is an
exceptional event.
22
should clear up the Ninth Cireuit’s misreading, and
should re-emphasize the past reasoning and understand-
ing of the branches of the federal government when ana-
lyzing the reglationship between tribes and non-members
living on fee lands.*
Il. IF TRIBAL AUTHORITY IS FOUND TO EXIST
OVER NON-MEMBERS, THE STATE AND COUNTY
MUST ALSO HAVE SUCH AUTHORITY.
If the Yakima nation is found not to have civil author-
ity over non-members, the issue of concurrent jurisdiction
(or pre-emption thereof) need not be addressed. It has
traditionally and consistently been held that in general a
state has jurisdiction over non-Indians anywhere within
the state’s territory, even within Indian reservations.
Surplus Trading Co. v. Cook, 281 U.S. 647 (1930);
Draper v. United States, 164 U.S. 240 (1896); United
States v. McBratney, 104 U.S. 621 (1881). As was sum-
marized in Cohen’s original Handbook of Federal Indian
Law (1942) at 121:
The mere fact that the focus of an event is on an
Indian reservation does not prevent the exercise of
state jurisdiction where the parties involved are not
Indians and the subject matter of the transaction is
not of federal concern.
In order for state or county jurisdiction over non-
_members to be removed it must be shown either (1) that
the federal government has evidenced an intent to remove
the state’s jurisdiction (White Mountain Apache Tribe v.
Bracker), 448 U.S. 186 (1980)) or (2) that the exercise
4It is important not to confuse tribal jurisdiction over non-
members who have no relationship with the tribe with triba!
jurisdiction over disputes between members and non-members, or
tribal jurisdiction over the activities of its members. There are
stronger reasons (and more lenient tests) for finding jurisdiction
when tribal members or tribal land are involved than there are
when only non-members are involved.
23
of state jurisdiction somehow so severely interferes with
the right of reservation Indians to make their own laws
and be ruled by them that such jurisdiction should be
disallowed (Williams v. Lee, 358 U.S. 218 (1959)). The
Ninth Cireuit once again misinterpreted these tests in
pre-empting county jurisdiction in the “closed” reserva-
tion area.
The Ninth Circuit erred in applying the federal pre-
emption test as discussed in the cases of White Mountain
Apache Tribe v. Bracker, 448 U.S. 136 (1980), and Cen-
tral Machinery Co. v. Arizona State Tax Comm’n, 448
U.S. 160 (1980). The Bracker and Central Machinery
cases do not present a simple “balancing of interests” test
and nothing more, as the Ninth Circuit implies. Rather,
both of those cases make clear that federal pre-emption
must still be found in a comprehensive federal statutory
and regulatory scheme, even if the classic requirement of
an express statement of intent to pre-empt is not neces-
sary. It is only after » comprehensive federal scheme
in a particular field has been found that an analysis of
any competing state interests is required—and then only
to see if the state interest is so strong as to overcome the
implicit federal pre-emption. Again it must be empha-
sized that authority over non-members is at stake here,
which makes it different than an analysis which deals
with activities involving member Indians.
The Ninth Circuit engages only in the most cursory
examination of a specific federal regulatory scheme.
Rather, it cites general federal statutes such as the
Indian Financing Act of 1974 and Indian Child Welfare
Act of 1978. 828 F.2d at 533. The court apparently con-
cludes that these statutes constitute a comprehensive
scheme for land use management for it then goes directly
to a balancing of interests test. No attempt is made to
support a conclusion, such as was made in Bracker, that:
the Federal Government has undertaken comprehen-
sive regulation of the harvesting and sale of tribal
24
timber, where a number of the policies underlying
the federal regulatory scheme are threatened... .
448 U.S. at 151. The Ninth Circuit apparently has con-
cluded that general recent federal Indian legislation on
various disparate subjects has in effect pre-empted state
jurisdiction over non-members in all areas—without the
necessity of proving comprehensive federal (as opposed to
tribal) involvement. Such a conclusion is at odds with a
great deal of precedent. Such a conclusion eliminates—
without congressional consideration—almost all state or
county jurisdiction over non-members on reservations.
Such a conclusion should not be accepted by this Court.
Error was also committed below when the Ninth Cir-
cuit analyzed the potential county interest in zoning mat-
ters—an analysis which should only come into play if the
court has found a comprehensive framework of federal
statutes and regulations. It must be remembered that the
county interests go beyond the specific proposed uses by
Brendale and Wilkinson. The Yakima nation is con-
cerned with land uses that may spill over from the fee
land to affect the remaining reservation land. The county
has a similar long range concern that the reservation not
allow development on fee land that would spill over to
affect non-reservation county land. The issue for the
county goes beyond the specific uses proposed by defend-
ants in these cases. The county’s authority will not dis-
appear or reappear depending on the specifics of a future
proposal. If this Court upholds the Ninth Circuit, the
county’s authority is likely gone forever and as to all
future proposed uses of reservation fee lands.
The most reasonable way to protect future county con-
cerns is to also preserve county authority over reserva-
tion fee land. The Ninth Circuit ignored legitimate
future county concerns when it focused only on current
proposals by Brendale and Wilkinson. The court’s error
should not be allowed to continue.
25
The second barrier to state or county jurisdiction was
not discussed much by the Ninth Circuit, probably be-
cause it does not apply to the present situation. Williams
v. Lee, 358 U.S. 217 (1959), a case involving a legal dis-
pute with a reservation Indian, stands for the rule that
state jurisdiction over such conflicts with tribal Indians
cannot exist when it would severely interfere with the
right of reservation Indians to make their own laws and
be governed by them. County jurisdiction in the present
case does not affect the Yakima nation’s ability to pass
laws governing its own members and their conduct.
County jurisdiction relates only to the activities of non-
members which takes it out of situations such as those
addressed in the Williams case. Any other interpretation
would make the Williams test unnecessary—the court
would have ruled that any state jurisdiction is prohibited
because it, of necessity, would involve regulation of some
kind of on-reservation conduct. No such rule has been
adopted. Since jurisdiction in the present case involves
only non-members, it does not fall victim of the Williams
test.
Ill. ZONING BY THE TRIBAL GOVERNMENT OF
LAND OF NON-MEMBERS WHO ARE UNREPRE-
SENTED IN SUCH GOVERNMENT AFFECTS FUN-
DAMENTAL CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS.
Mindful of not getting the “cart before the horse”, it is
nevertheless important at this juncture to at least
address the fundamental constitutional rights potentially
affected by the zoning powers of governmental units.
Oliphant, 544 F.2d 1007, 1019 (1976) (Kennedy, J., dis-
senting). Since voting in tribal governments is limited to
tribal members, the power and the rights involved must
be closely scrutinized by this Court.
The power to zone is derived from the state’s police
power to promote the public health, safety, morals and
welfare. 8 McQuillin, Municipal Corporation, § 25.34,
26
p. 81 (8rd ed. 1983). Also, see generally 1 Anderson,
American Law of Zoning (8rd ed. 1986). When author-
ized by the state constitution, a specific statute or general
enabling legislation, zoning powers of the state may be
delegated to municipalities and other political subdivi-
sions or units of local government. The enactment of a
zoning ordinance is “an exercise of legislative power
residing in the state.” 8 McQuillin, Municipal Corpora-
tions § 25.54, p. 139.
In general, zoning measures must observe fundamental
guaranties of personal or property rights protected in
federal or state constitutions. For example, such zoning
measures must observe equal protection and due process
of the laws. 8 McQuillin, Municipal Corporations § 25.05,
pp. 12-13. “Moreover, zoning ordinances must conform
and not conflict with enabling statutes or state conferred
rights of eminent domain.” Id.
Under ordinary circumstances, zoning ordinances will
not be struck down unless they are discriminatory, op-
pressive or excessive. See generally Nectow v. Cambridge,
277 U.S. 183 (1928); Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty
Co., 272 U.S. 365 (1926); 8 McQuillin, Municipal Cor-
porations § 25.05, pp. 12-13.
By definition, the zoning power of a tribal government
over non-members on fee lands is discriminatory in that
only tribal members have a voice in that government.
Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co., 272 U.S. 365
(1926). As a result, this is not a case involving inherent
sovereignty, but rather it is a case of inherent discrimi-
nation. The presence of inherent discrimination makes
the implication of those fundamental due process rights
recognized by this Court in First English Evangelical
Lutheran Church of Glendale v. County of Los Angeles,
482 US. , 107 S.Ct. 2378 (1987), more crucial.
Under the circumstances, it should also make the requests
for this Court to adhere to the fundamental aspects of
Oliphant and Montana, seem only reasonable.
27
CONCLUSION
Extremely important issues are at stake in this case.
The Court has an opportunity to restore some consistency
and predictability to the law of jurisdiction over non-mem-
bers of a tribe within Indian country. The Ninth Circuit
has erroneously interpreted Supreme Court precedent in a
manner guaranteed to create more confusion and ill will
in Indian country. This Court should reverse the decision
in Yakima Indian Nation v. Whiteside and find exclusive
jurisdiction within the county to impose civil land use
regulations on non-member owners of fee land within the
Yakima reservation.
Respectfully submitted,
KENN A. PUGH
Counsel of Record
P.O. Box 6
Dupree, South Dakota 57623
(605) 365-5171
la
APPENDIX
A. Becker County Record, Aug. 14, 1988, at 1, col. 1 and 6A,
col. 1
NON-INDIANS FEAR RULING—ty Bill Pond
A small band of residents living on the White Earth
Reservation are deeply troubled about their futures.
They are part of the non-Native American Indian com-
munity living on the reservation, which is primarily
populated by whites. But they say the White Earth’s
band’s control could very well strip their rights under the
U.S. Constitution, rights many people take for granted.
Resort owners Jane and John Reish and Bob Bruns
had dreams of owning their business and living in peace.
But political relations between White Earth tribal lead-
ers and whites are crushing their idyllic world.
om ” *
. . . White Earth Tribal Chairman Chip Wadena said
that may not be the case. If precedence is set, Wadena
said the tribe will not immediately adopt the footsteps
of the Yakima Nation.
a * * *
... Today, roughly 30 percent of the population of White
Earth is native American, controlling 7 percent of the
land.
. . . Wadena said if white residents chose to live on the
reservation, they should be willing to live under White
Earth jurisdiction.
“There is nothing that holds them here. Our tribal
government does have autonomy. They have to under-
stand there is a different government here,” Waldena
said.
2a
B. Detroits Lakes, Apr. 14, 1988, at 1A, 10A
CONTROVERSY OVER FISHING RIGHTS HEATS
UP—by James Campbell
Tempers are flaring after the public announcement
last week of the 1988 White Earth Reservation tribal
fishing regulations.
While the general fishing regulations—which among
other things allow tribal members to take a daily catch
of 10 each of walleyes, northerns, bass and trout; one
muskellunge; 30 crappies; 100 sunfish; and 200 roughfish
—are unpopular, they are unchanged this year from last
year.
But an experimental spring gamefish spearing season
the reservation has instituted for this year is a source of
new controversy.
C. Daily Press, North Wisconsin’s Morning Newspaper, July
1, 1988, at 1, col. 1
4 INDIANS CLAIM TIMBER RIGHTS—Two Bands
Place Moratorium on Treaty Lumbering
SIREN (AP)—Four Chippewa tribal members, citing
Indian treaty rights, want to harvest timber on four
tracts of land open for a Burnett County sale, but the
county said Thursday the sale will go on as planned.
Meanwhile, two Chippewa bands have passed resolu-
tions placing a moratorium on harvesting timber off-
reservation under treaty rights.
“T’ve been concerned about this for years,” said Charles
Tollander, Burnett County board chairman.
He sent a letter Thursday to each of the four members
of the Lac du Flambeau band, saying the tribal members
could be cited for timber theft if they took the timber
without following state and local regulations.
@ & * &
3a
D. Letter from Ann Schoenborn, Co-Chairperson, United
Township Associations to Mr. Robert Gleason (Aug. 12,
1983) (discussing White Earth Tribe)
1. To obtain a true picture of the legal status of all
people living within the boundaries of an open reservation
like White Earth, a division of the people must be made.
The division is Tribal member and Non-Tribal member.
Tribal members are citizens of the White Earth Tribe,
United States, State of Minnesota, and respective County,
Township, or City in which they reside. As citizens of
these governmental bodies they have the right to run for
office, elect officials, have a voice in the formation of laws
and assessment of taxes, and partake in any services
available. They also have one other unique right. That
is the right to discriminate against any person on the
basis of race. This is most prevelant in the case of hiring
practices.
Within any governmental organization the rights of an
individual go hand in hand with a responsibility to main-
tain that organization. Here is where a major division
within Tribal members occurs. A Tribal member living
and working within reservation boundaries pays no state
income taxes while a Tribal member either living or
working or both off the reservation pays state income tax
like any other Minnesota resident. The responsibility for
supporting local services is non-existent for members
living in mobile homes or on Tribal land as they do not
pay real estate taxes. ...
Non-Tribal members include all other people of other
races and people with Indian heritage who by choice or
other Tribal background are not Tribal members. Non-
Tribal members make up 70% of the residents of White
Earth. This group of people are citizens of all the afore-
mentioned governmental bodies except Tribal. They are
financially responsible for all these governmental bodies
4a
including Tribal, without having all of their basic
rights. ...
. . . An example to demonstrate this dilemma would be
a local White Earth businessman. If this person, say a
retailer, sells to a Tribal member he now has a consensual
relationship. If on the other hand he chooses to not sell
to Tribal members he now threatens the economic se-
curity or the health or welfare of the Tribe. Either way
he stands in a position of being licensed and regulated
by a group in which he has no choices. This example can
be applied to grocers, gas stations, hardware stores, bait
dealers, resorters and farmers, to name a few.
* * + *
In our meeting with Mr. Rick Neal we asked to have
the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights be directed to study
and collect information and appraise Federal laws and
policies with respect to discrimination of non-Tribal
members living on open reservations. Mr. Neal said this
could be Step 2 if necessary.
* * * *
E. Letter from David Rasmussen, Game Warden, Minnesota
Dept. of Natural Resources to State of Minnesota (May 5,
1988) enclosing Letter from John M. Sieling, Chief Deputy,
Becky County, Minnesota to David Rasmussen (April 28,
1988)
* * * *
... Due to the fact that the White Earth Indian Reserva-
tion decided to open up legalized spearing of game fish
during the spawning season, we felt that a number of
concerned residents that lived within the reservation were
upset about the events that had taken place in the past
with the trespassing and they anticipated more incidents
this year.
* * * *
Several of our officers that patrolled the reservation dur-
ing the spearing season have advised me that the situa-
tion up there was very tense in regards to the tribal
5a
members that were spearing on the reservation and with
the land owners that own property on the reservation
itself. ...
EE. Map of Flathead Lake, Flathead Reservation, Montana
by Dept. of Interior (March 20, 1915), denotes “Boundary
of Former Flathead Indian Reservation”
F. Aquatic Lands Conservation Ordinance No. 87-A of the
Council of Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
AQUATIC LANDS CONSERVATION ORDINANCE—
BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CON-
FEDERATED SALISH AND KOOTENAI TRIBES
that:
PART II—FINDINGS AND POLICY
Section 1. Findings.
The Tribal Council finds that:
a. The self-governing capabilities, political integrity,
health and welfare, and economic security of the Tribes
will be protected and enhanced by Tribal governmental
control, regulation and protection of aquatic lands which
are critical for the perpetuation of Reservation fisheries
and wildlife, the preservation of Reservation water qual-
ity, and the maintenance of the health, safety and wel-
fare of Tribal members and thereby of all persons resid-
ing on the Reservation.
b. The Treaty of Hellgate July 16, 1855 (12 Stat.
975) reserved to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai
Tribes (hereinafter the “Tribes”) the exclusive right to
hunt and take fish within the exterior toundaries of the
Flathead Reservation.
m. “Reservation waters” means:
(1) all naturally occurring bodies of water within the
exterior boundaries of the Reservation regardless of al-
6a
teration by man, including but not limited to lakes, rivers,
streams (including intermittent streams), mudflats, wet-
lands, sloughs, potholes and ponds from which fish and
wildlife are or could be taken, but does not include
wholely manmade water bodies.
(2) tributaries of waters identified in subpart (1)
above;
(3) wetlands adjacent to Reservation waters.
G. Glacier Reporter, December 12, 1985 at 9, 10 (Proposed
Blackfeet Comprehensive Tax Code)
BLACKFEET COMPREHENSIVE TAX CODE
Of the Blackfeet Tribe of the
Blackfeet Indian Reservation—October, 1985
* *
Section 1.1 Statement of Purpose.
The Blackfeet Tribal Business Council of the Blackfeet
Indian Tribe hereby enacts this Blackfeet Tribal Tax
Code for matters regarding assessments and collection of
taxes imposed by the Tribe, in furtherance of its policy
of assuming, to whatever degree permitted by the Con-
stitution, laws and treaties of the Blackfeet Tribe, and
by the Constitution, laws and treaties of the United States
of America, governmental control over property, persons
and business activities within the exterior boundaries of
the Blackfeet Indian Nation. Tax revenues collected pur-
suant to this Code are to be used to provide governmental
services which improve the health and welfare of both
members and non-members of the Tribe residing within
the boundaries of the Blackfeet Nation. To finance and
strengthen these tribal governmental policies, the Black-
feet Tribal Business Council of the Blackfeet Indian
Tribe hereby adopts and incorporates the ordinances set
forth as Chapters, Sections or Provisions, in this Code,
as well as any subsequent tax ordinances and amend-
7a
ments thereto which the Business Council of the Black-
feet Tribe may, from time to time, deem necessary and
proper.
H. Great Falls Tribune, April 11, 1987 at 12(A) (discussing
Blackfeet 4% possessory tax)
* * *
*
The Blackfeet Tribe’s 4 percent possessory tax on oil
companies, railroads, utility firms and rural cooperatives
is a bad idea—from start to finish. It may be discrimina-
tory and, at least in the early phases, it disregarded the
interests of people and companies that were affected.
The possessory tax was passed by the Blackfeet Tribal
Council on Dec. 30, to take effect two days later, with
little advance notice and no public hearing. Tribal of-
ficials said the tax was necessary to maintain essential
reservation services—such as health programs, the tribal
court and the community college.
* * * oe
The BIA has approved the proposed tax. But Marlenee
has asked Interior Secretary Donald Hodel for a mora-
torium on new tribal taxes on non-Indian interests while
his legislation is pending.
& * * *
I. Great Falls Tribune, at 1A (discussing Blackfeet 4% pos-
sessory tax)
TRIBAL TAX WINS APPROVAL
OF FEDERAL AGENCY
By The Associated Press and Tribune Staff
BILLINGS—The Bureau of Indian Affairs has ap-
proved a 4-percent tribal tax on utilities, railroads and
oil and gas companies that cross the Blackfeet Indian
Reservation.
* * * *
8a
The Blackfeet tax was the second tribal tax approved
in Montana this year. Earlier, a 3-percent tribal tax
was imposed on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation.
The tax took local businesses by surprise when a news-
paper advertisement in January informed them the tax
due by March 23. The tribal business council had passed
the measure without hearings at the end of 1986.
* * & *
Glacier County officials opposed the tax, saying they
fear it will spark a major financial crisis if the affected
utilities protest their taxes. County Attorney James C.
Nelson said the protests could tie up tax revenue for
years and force the county to reduce its services.
* * * +
J. Letter from Lee Jacobsen, Secretary of East Slope Tax-
payers Association of August 16, 1988, to “whom it may
concern” (Aug. 16, 1988)
ao * * *
Jurisdiction problems have all but stopped lending
agencies and insurance companies from doing business
here. The oil companies have pulled out and new drilling
is at a minimum. The $300.00 business tax is now at
$1,000.00 for anyone who sells liquor on the Blackfeet
Reservations, control of sale of tax free cigarettes and
gambling is also strictly under tribal control.
The threat of carrying out the letter of the tax ordi-
nance is making lots of farmers and ranchers and Ag
Business Associates very wary. The economy is very bad
and so much time and money spent on trying to prevent
more problems exist such as this legal brief.
* * * *
9a
K. West Valley Watch, Inc., Aug. 17, 1988 (discussing Con-
federated Tribes of Grand Ronde)
SENATE CLEARS GRAND RONDE
TRIBAL MEASURE
By George Robertson
Even though the U.S. Senate last week approved a bill
creating a 9,8ll-acre reservation for the Confederated
Tribes of Grand Ronde some opponents are still hoping
President Reagan will kill the measure.
* * * *
Kathy Thole, a Grand Ronde business owner who has
opposed the bill, said if Reagan signs it she might seek a
preliminary injunction in the federal courts to prevent
the measure from being enacted.
* * * +
L. Albuquerque Journal, Aug. 31, 1983, at A-a, A-3 (discussing
Sandia Pueblo)
PUEBLO ASKS RETURN OF
9,000 ACRES IN SANDIAS
By Nolan Hester, Journal Staff Writer
Sandia Pueblo is seeking the return of almost the en-
tire northern half of the Sandia Mountain Wilderness,
claiming it has uncovered a surveying mistake that
dropped approximately 9,000 acres from the pueblo’s or-
_ iginal Spanish land grant.
Tribal officials have asked Rep. Bill Richardson, R-
N.M., to introduce federal legislation allowing the trans-
fer—which would include land beneath the Sandia Crest
transmission-tower site, the Sandia Peak Tramway, the
Juan Tabo picnic area and approximately 100 homes in
the nothern foothills.
* . * *
10a
M. Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Ordinance No. 42a
Section 1: Declaration of Policy
As a guide to the interpretation and application of this
Ordinance, the public policy of the Cheyenne River Sioux
Tribe is declared to be as follows:
* + * -_
Indians have unique and special employment, subcon-
tract and contract rights and the Cheyenne River Sioux
Tribal Government has the inherent sovereign power to
pass laws to implement and enforce those special rights
on behalf of Indians... .
C. “Covered Employer” means any employer employ-
ing two or more employees who during any 30-day pe-
riod, spend, cumulatively, 40 or more hours performing
work within the exterior boundaries of the Cheyenne
River Sioux Reservation.
* * * -
Section 3: Indian Preference in Employment
All covered employers, for all employment occurring
within the exterior boundaries of the Cheyenne River
Sioux Reservation, shall give preference to qualified In-
dians, with the first preference to local Indians, in all
hiring, promotion, training, layoffs, and all other aspects
of employment. Such employers shall comply with the
rules, regulations, guidelines and orders of the Cheyenne
River Sioux Tribal Employment Rights Commission
which set forth the specific obligations of employers in
regard to Indian preference and local Indian preference.
These requirements shall not apply to any direct employ-
ment by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe...
* * * *
A. Every covered employer with a construction con-
tract in the sum of $50,000.00 or more shall pay a one-
time fee of 1% of the total amount of the contract... .
lla
B. Every covered employer, other than construction
contractors, with twenty (20) or more employees working
on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation, or with gross
sales on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation of $50,000
or more shall pay a quarterly fee of 1% of his employees
quarterly payroll which shall be paid within 30 days
after the end of each quarter.
N. 53 Fed. Reg. 20, 179 (1988)
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of South Dakota;
Ordinance Amending Alcohol Beverages Control] Law
* * * *
Sec. 1-1-1. Statement of Purpose. The purpose of this
Alcoholic Beverages Control Law is to regulate the ac-
tivities of the manufacture, distribution, sale and con-
sumption of liquor on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reser-
vation. Any person desiring to engage in the possession,
sale, trade, transport or manufacture of alcoholic bever-
ages on the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation
shall comply with the rules and regulations set forth in
this Alcoholic Beverages Control Law. This Ordinance
shall be cited as the “Cheyenne River Sioux Alcoholic
Beverages Control Law” and, pursuant to the constitu-
tional and inherent sovereignty of the Cheyenne River
Sioux Tribe, shall be deemed an exercise of the Tribe’s
powers for the purpose of protecting the welfare, health,
peace, morals and safety of all people residing on the
Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation.
* * * *
O. Draft of By-laws of Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe (Dec. 23,
1935)
12a
BYLAWS OF THE CHEYENNE RIVER SIOUX
TRIBE OF SOUTH DAKOTA
Article V Section 1
(ec) This court shall have jurisdiction over all Indians
upon the reservation and over such disputes or lawsuits
as shall occur between Indians on the reservation or be-
tween Indians and non-Indians where such cases are
brought before it by stipulation of both parties provided
that jurisdiction over Indian employees of the Indian
Service shall be subject to rules and regulations pre-
scribed by the Secretary of the Interior.
* * * *
P. Complaint of Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe v. Farmers
Union Oil, Lester Starr (July 25, 1988)
* * * -_
III. The defendant operates a liquor establishment
within the exterior boundaries of the Cheyenne River
Sioux Reservation without the appropriate tribal business
and liquor licenses in violation of Ordinance No. 1, gov-
erning tribal business license and in violation of Ordi-
nance No. 48, the Alcoholic Beverages Control Law.
* * * *
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff requests judgment as follows:
1. Adjudging that the defendant is subject to the juris-
diction of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. 2. That de-
fendant herein is in violation of Ordinance No. 1 for the
failure to secure the appropriate tribal business license.
3. That Defendant herein is in violation of Ordinance
No. 48 for the failure to secure the appropriate tribal
liquor license. 4. Plaintiff requests to the courts for in-
junctive relief in the form of closing down said estab-
lishments owned by the defendant until such time as de-
fendant has secured the appropriate business and liquor
license from the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.
13a
Q. Letter from Wayne Ducheneaux, Chairman of Cheyenne
River Sioux Tribe to Mr. Green, Mayor of Dupree (Feb. 12,
1988) with Resolution No. E. 52-88-CR attached
Dear Mr. Green:
Please find enclosed the above referenced resolution
detailing sanctions adopted by the Cheyenne River Sioux
Tribe which are directed towards the cities of Timber
Lake and Dupree. . ..
* * * -_
. .. The economic sanctions will not only affect your local
banks and grocery outlets but, also, includes the busi-
nesses therein.
The Tribe will also make a concerted effort to infiuence
the Indian students and parents thereof into transferring
said Indian students to the Cheyenne-Eagle Butte School,
thereby endangering the federal and State funding re-
ceived due to your large Indian student populations.
I had sincerely hoped that our government to govern-
ment relationship had been one of mutual respect and
concern for the citizens of our communities, but the Tribe
has been met with nothing but belligerent and hostile
attitudes from both governing bodies.
R. Letter from Wayne Ducheneaux, Chairman of Cheyenne
River Sioux Tribe to Kenn Pugh (June 6, 1988)
Pugh, Kenn, A., Attorney at Law...
P.O. Box 6, Dupree, SD 57623
As of February 8, 1988 our records show that your
business has not remitted the required 1988 business li-
cense fee for doing business on the Cheyenne River Sioux
Reservation. And/or, your firm also has not filed a busi-
ness application with the CRST Revenue Department.
l4a
The procedures for this delinquent business license
account have been initiated with delinquent notice. The
administrative procedures includes assessing a penalty of
ten percent (10%) of the fee owed for each month the
business license fee is not paid...
* * a +.
. . . Should your business fail to come into compliance
with tribal ordinance governing the business licensing
requirements, the Bureau of Indian Affairs may be forced
to implement federal law regarding the Federal Trader’s
iicensing provisions.
S. Letter from Congressman Sensenbrenner, Wisconsin, to
Constituent (June 28, 1988)
o * + %
On June 3rd, Federal District Judge Barbara Crabb
issued a decision in the continuing lawsuit over Chippewa
hunting and fishing rights. This decision, in my opinion,
is far worse than Judge James Doyle’s landmark decision
of February 1987.
Judge Crabb ruled that the Chippewa have the right
to harvest all of the more than 175 species of animals and
plants listed in the Doyle decision and that they have
the right to use all of the harvest methods employed in
treaty times and developed since then. Crabb ruled that
the Chippewa have greater rights to hunt, fish and gather
in the “ceded” territory than do non-Indians and that the
Chippewa’s rights are “paramount.”
What this ruling means is that the Chippewa have the
rights to all of the fish and game in northern Wisconsin
and that non-Indians have no rights to them at all.
* * 7. *
This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.