Law and Order on Indian Reservations; Correction.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs

25 CFR Part 11

RIN 1076-AD76

Law and Order on Indian Reservations; Correction.

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs.

ACTION: Correction to proposed regulations; reopening of comment

period.

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[[Page 8665]]

SUMMARY: This document contains corrections to the proposed regulations

which were published Friday, July 5, 1996 (61 FR 35158). The proposed

rule amends regulations governing Courts of Indian Offenses.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 28, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Comments are to be mailed to Bettie Rushing, Office of

Tribal Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1849 C Street, NW, MS 4641-

MIB, Washington, DC 20240; or, hand delivered to Room 4641 at the same

address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bettie Rushing, Bureau of Indian

Affairs (202) 208-4400.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The proposed rule that is the subject of these corrections

supersedes 25 CFR 11.100(a) and affects those tribes that have

exercised their inherent sovereignty by removing the names of those

tribes from the list of Courts of Indian Offenses.

The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, or her designee, has

received law and order codes adopted by the Lovelock Paiute Tribe of

Nevada, the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma, the

Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, the

Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma, the Kaw Nation, the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma,

the Otoe-Missouria Tribe of Indians, the Pawnee Indian Tribe of

Oklahoma, and the Osage Indian Nation (except those matters involving

the Osage mineral estate) in accordance with their constitutions and

by-laws and approved by the appropriate bureau official. The Assistant

Secretary-Indian Affairs recognizes that these courts were established

in accordance with the tribes' constitutions and by-laws.

Inclusion in Sec. 11.100, Where are Courts of Indian Offenses

established?, does not defeat the inherent sovereignty of a tribe to

establish tribal courts and exercise jurisdiction under tribal law.

Tillett v. Lujan, 931 F.2d 636, 640 (10th Cir. 1991) (CFR courts

``retain some characteristics of an agency of the federal government''

but they ``also function as tribal courts''); Combrink v. Allen, 20

Indian L. Rep. 6029, 6030 (Ct. Ind. App., Tonkawa, Mar. 5, 1993) (CFR

court is a ``federally administered tribal court''); Ponca Tribal

Election Board v. Snake, 17 Indian L. Rep. 6085, 6088 (Ct. Ind. App.,

Ponca, Nov. 10, 1988) (``The Courts of Indian Offenses act as tribal

courts since they are exercising the sovereign authority of the tribe

for which the court sits.''). Such exercise of inherent sovereignty and

the establishment of tribal courts shall comply with the requirements

in 25 CFR 11.100(c).

Need for Correction

As published, the proposed rule contains errors which may prove to

be misleading and are in need of clarification.

Correction of Publication

Accordingly, the publication on July 5, 1996 of the proposed

regulations, which were the subject of FR Doc. 96-16039, is corrected

as follows:

Sec. 11.100 [Corrected]

1. On page 35159 in the third column and on page 35160 in the first

column paragraph (a) is corrected to read as follows:

Sec. 11.100 Where are Courts of Indian Offenses established?

(a) Unless indicated otherwise in this title, the regulations in

this part apply to the Indian country (as defined in 18 U.S.C. 1151)

occupied by the following tribes:

(1) Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians (Minnesota).

(2) Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation (Nevada).

(3) Te-Moak Band of Western Shoshone Indians (Nevada).

(4) Yomba Shoshone Tribe (Nevada).

(5) Kootenai Tribe (Idaho).

(6) Shoalwater Bay Tribe (Washington).

(7) Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (North Carolina).

(8) Ute Mountain Ute Tribe (Colorado).

(9) Quechan Indian Tribe (Arizona) (Except resident members).

(10) Valley Tribe, Yurok Tribe, and Coast Indian Community of

California (California Jurisdiction limited to special fishing

regulations).

(11) Louisiana Area (includes Coushatta and other tribes located in

the State of Louisiana which occupy Indian and which accept the

application of this part); Provided that this part shall not apply to

any Louisiana tribe other than the Coushatta Tribe until notice of such

application has been published in the Federal Register.

(12) For the following tribes located in the former Indian

Territory (Oklahoma):

(i) Chickasaw Nation.

(ii) Choctaw Nation.

(iii) Thlopthlocco Tribal Town.

(iv) Seminole Nation.

(v) Eastern Shawnee Tribe.

(vi) Miami Tribe.

(vii) Modoc Tribe.

(viii) Ottawa Tribe.

(ix) Peoria Tribe.

(x) Quapaw Tribe.

(xi) Wyandotte Tribe.

(xii) Seneca-Cayuga Tribe.

(xiii) Osage Tribe (Limited to mineral estate matters).

* * * * *

Dated: February 14, 1997.

Ada E. Deer,

Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.

[FR Doc. 97-4686 Filed 2-25-97; 8:45 am]

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