Lisa Nicholson-True v. Colville Agency Superintendent, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 55 IBIA 137 (2012)

• Court: Interior Board of Indian Appeals

INTERIOR BOARD OF INDIAN APPEALS Lisa Nicholson-True v. Colville Agency Superintendent, Bureau of Indian Affairs 55 IBIA 137 (06/22/2012) Related Board case: 55 IBIA 1

United States Department of the Interior

OFFICE OF HEARINGS AND APPEALS INTERIOR BOARD OF INDIAN APPEALS 801 NORTH QUINCY STREET SUITE 300 ARLINGTON, VA 22203

LISA NICHOLSON-TRUE, Appellant, v. COLVILLE AGENCY SUPERINTENDENT, BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, Appellee.

Order Docketing and Dismissing Appeal

Docket No. IBIA 12-118

June 22, 2012

On June 6, 2012, the Board of Indian Appeals (Board) received a notice of appeal from Lisa Nicholson-True (Appellant). Appellant seeks review of an April 19, 2012, letter from the Colville Agency Superintendent (Superintendent), Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), responding to correspondence from Appellant regarding two inventory disputes involving the estate of her father, John Henry Nicholson (Decedent).1 In reference to the dispute involving Allotment 101-T3514 (Allotment T3514), the Superintendent stated that BIA’s Northwest Regional Director (Regional Director) issued a decision on April 9, 2010, finding that Allotment T3514 was correctly excluded from Decedent’s trust estate inventory.2 In reference to the dispute involving the Josephine Nicholson Allotment, No. 101-889 (Allotment 889), the Superintendent noted that Appellant had a pending appeal to the Board from a December 17, 2009, decision, in which the Regional Director confirmed that two portions of original Allotment 889 were no longer part of Decedent’s trust estate inventory. Subsequently, on May 1, 2012, the Board affirmed the Regional Director’s December 17 decision regarding Allotment 889. See Nicholson-True v. Acting Northwest Regional Director, 55 IBIA 1 (2012). Appellant’s notice of appeal asks that we “reverse” the Superintendent’s “decision.” Notice of Appeal at 1. But as we explain, we have no jurisdiction over an appeal from an action by the Superintendent, regardless of how his correspondence is characterized. And

1 2

Decedent was a Colville Indian; his estate was assigned Probate No. P000078355IP.

The Superintendent explained that the Regional Director’s decision concerning Allotment T3514 became effective and final for the Department when no appeal was filed. 55 IBIA 137

even if we were to construe Appellant’s notice of appeal as seeking reconsideration of our decision in Nicholson-True regarding Allotment 889, we would still lack jurisdiction because the time for...