Citizen Potawatomi Nation v. Norton, 99-6077

• Citation: 248 F.3d 993
• Decision Date: 25 April 2001
• Docket Number: No. 99-6077,99-6077
• Parties: (10th Cir. 2001) CITIZEN POTAWATOMI NATION, A FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED INDIAN TRIBE, PLAINTIFF - APPELLANT, v. GALE A. NORTON, <A HREF="#fr1-*" name="fn1-*">* SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, WILLIAM SINCLAIR, DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF SELF GOVERNANCE, DEFENDANTS - APPELLEES
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (10th Circuit)

Page 993

248 F.3d 993 (10th Cir. 2001)

CITIZEN POTAWATOMI NATION, A FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED INDIAN TRIBE, PLAINTIFF - APPELLANT, v. GALE A. NORTON,^* SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, WILLIAM SINCLAIR, DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF SELF GOVERNANCE, DEFENDANTS - APPELLEES.

No. 99-6077

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS TENTH CIRCUIT

April 25, 2001

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF OKLAHOMA (D.C. No. CIV-98-1324-A)

[Copyrighted Material Omitted] Michael Minnis, Michael Minnis & Associates, PC., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, (David McCullough with him on the briefs) for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Arvo Q. Mikkanen, Assistant United States Attorney, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, (Patrick M. Ryan, United States Attorney, with him on the brief) for Defendants-Appellees.

Before Tacha, Chief Judge, Holloway and Seymour, Circuit Judges.

Holloway, Circuit Judge

Plaintiff/appellant Citizen Potawatomi Nation (Citizen Potawatomi), a federally recognized Indian Tribe located in the Western District of Oklahoma, brought this action which the Tribe termed as one for a "mandatory injunction in the nature of mandamus" against federal officials of the United States Department of the Interior challenging their methods for calculating funding the Citizen Potawatomi Nation receives under its tribal self-governance compact. Subject matter jurisdiction was asserted under 28 U.S.C. § 1362 in that the action was brought by an Indian tribe or band with a governing body duly recognized by the Secretary of the Interior and the matter in controversy arises under the Constitution, laws or treaties of the United States. The complaint also presented an action in the nature of mandamus to compel an officer or employee of the United States to perform a duty owed to the Plaintiff. 28 U.S.C. § 1361.

Defendants moved to dismiss the action on the ground that the Citizen Potawatomi are unable to join three "necessary" and "indispensable" parties, tribal participants in the funding agreement. The district court agreed and granted the motion. This timely appeal ensued. We have appellate jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291.

I. BACKGROUND

Under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, 25 U.S.C. §§ 450 et seq., the United States is authorized to enter into compacts with tribes. Pursuant to that Act, tribes do not contract to take over specific programs; rather, tribes assume comprehensive responsibility for the planning and administration of programs and services previously provided by the United States. Essentially, the Act provides for tribal self-governance.

Once the United States enters into a compact with a tribe, the parties ordinarily negotiate an Annual Funding Agreement. In 1988, however, five tribes within the Shawnee Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs negotiated a formula among themselves for dividing future federal appropriations. Those tribes included the Citizen Potawatomi, the Shawnee Tribe, the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma, the Sac & Fox Nation, and the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma. Under their formula, the tribes agreed to divide (1) twenty-five percent of the funding equally; (2) twenty-five percent in proportion to total tribal enrollment; (3) twenty-five percent in proportion to resident tribal enrollment within each tribe's jurisdictional area; and (4) twenty-five percent of the funds in proportion to the amount of trust property in each tribe's jurisdiction. The United States used this formula to determine the amount of funding awarded to the tribes in their Annual Funding Agreements.

On September 23, 1998, the Citizen Potawatomi brought this action against Defendants challenging the methods they use for determining the Citizen Potawatomi's funding. Specifically, the Citizen Potawatomi challenge (1) the determination that the Shawnee Tribe and the Citizen Potawatomi share the same service area and, therefore, the funds provided to that area; (2) the determination that the 1988 formula is static and does not change as the data change; (3) the refusal of Defendants to fund certain items of the Citizen Potawatomi that Defendants claim are "residual"; and (4) Defendants' interpretation of a "moratorium" clause, which Defendants allege prevents them from fully funding the Citizen Potawatomi.

After the Citizen Potawatomi filed this lawsuit, Defendants moved to dismiss the action on the ground that the Citizen Potawatomi had not, and could not, join as parties to the action the other tribal participants in the funding agreement; the Defendants argued that because those tribes were "indispensable," the court should dismiss the action pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 19(a). The district court agreed and rejected the Citizen Potawatomi's contention that the evidence had not been sufficiently developed for the court to rule on the motion.

The court first noted that under Rule 19, it must determine whether the absent tribes are "necessary"; if they are necessary, whether joinder is "feasible"; and if not, whether the absent tribes are "indispensable." Applying this three-part test, the district court ruled that the absent tribes were necessary because complete relief was not possible without them since "as a result of the action and a possible increase in plaintiff's funding allocation, the remaining tribes would suffer detriment from which they may seek collateral relief from the plaintiff or the defendants" and because the absent tribes had an interest in the funding allocations. Order [granting motions to dismiss] at 5, II App. at 406. Further, the district court ruled that joinder was not feasible because the absent parties possessed sovereign immunity. Finally, the absent tribes were indispensable because they would suffer substantial prejudice if the action proceeded without them; there was no way to lessen the prejudice; a judgment without the tribes would be inadequate; and the Citizen Potawatomi Nation was said to have an adequate alternative remedy in Congress. See Order at 8-10, II App. at 409-411. Accordingly, the district court granted the motions to dismiss.

II.

A. STANDARD OF REVIEW

We review determinations made pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 19(a) for an abuse of discretion, while the underlying legal conclusions supporting Rule 19 determinations are reviewed de novo. Davis v. United States, 192 F.3d 951, 957 (10th Cir. 1999). We review de novo the legal ruling on when a party can assert its sovereign immunity and the district court's determination of subject matter jurisdiction. Fletcher v. United States, 116 F. 3d, 1315, 1323-24 (10th Cir. 1997).

B. RULE 19

"The question of whether an absent party is necessary and/or indispensable is resolved by applying Rule 19 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure." Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri v. Norton, 240 F.3d 1250, 1258 (10th Cir. 2001) (quoting Davis, 192 F.3d at 957). Rule 19 provides a three-step process for determining whether an action should be dismissed for failure to join a purportedly indispensable party. United States v. Bowen, 172 F.3d 682, 688 (9th Cir. 1999). First, the court must determine whether the absent person is "necessary." A person is necessary if:

(1) in the person's absence complete relief cannot be accorded among those already parties, or (2) the person claims an interest relating to the subject of the action and is so situated that the disposition of the action in the person's absence may (i) as a practical matter impair or impede the person's ability to protect that interest or (ii) leave any of the persons already parties subject to a substantial risk of incurring double, multiple, or otherwise inconsistent obligations by reason of the claimed interest.

Fed. R. Civ. P. 19(a); Bowen, 172 F.3d at 688.

If the absent person is necessary, the court must then determine whether joinder is "feasible." See Fed. R. Civ. P. 19(a)-(b). In the instant case, the Citizen Potawatomi do not dispute the district court's ruling that joinder of the absent tribes was not feasible because the tribes possess sovereign immunity. See Fletcher v. United States, 116 F.3d 1315, 1324 (10th Cir. 1997) ("Indian tribes are `domestic dependent nations' that exercise inherent sovereign authority over their members and territories.... As an aspect of this sovereign immunity, suits against tribes are barred in the absence of an unequivocally expressed waiver by the tribe or abrogation by Congress.") (citing Oklahoma Tax Comm'n v. Citizen Band Potawatomi Indian Tribe of Oklahoma, 498 U.S. 505, 509 (1991)).

Finally, if joinder is not feasible, the court must decide whether the absent person is "indispensable," i.e., whether in "equity and good conscience" the action can continue in his absence. The factors the court considers include:

[F]irst, to what extent a judgment rendered in the person's absence might be prejudicial to the person or those already parties; second, the extent to which, by protective provisions in the judgment, by the shaping of relief, or other measures, the prejudice can be lessened or avoided; third, whether a judgment rendered in the person's absence will be adequate; fourth, whether the plaintiff will have an adequate remedy if the action is dismissed for non-joinder.

Fed. R. Civ. P. 19(b).

III.

NECESSARY PARTIES

A. THE FUNDING FORMULA

The Citizen Potawatomi challenge Defendants' determination that the 1988 formula is static. Because the Citizen Potawatomis' action may alter the future funding for the absent tribes, the tribes can claim interests relating to the subject of the action. See Manygoats v. Kleppe, 558 F.2d 556, 558 (10th Cir. 1977) ("The financial and other benefits to the Tribe under the Exxon agreement give the tribe sufficient interest to satisfy the requirements of Subsection (a)(2)(i)."). In Citizen Band Potawatomi Indian Tribe of Oklahoma v. Collier, 17 F.3d 1292, 1294 (10th Cir. 1994), we noted that for purposes of Rule 12(b)(7) necessary party analysis the Rule does not protect "inchoate" interests....