Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe v. US

• Decision Date: 03 May 1988
• Docket Number: No. CV-87-095-GF.,CV-87-095-GF.
• Citation: 686 F. Supp. 831
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Montana
• Parties: SISSETON-WAHPETON SIOUX TRIBE OF the LAKE TRAVERSE INDIAN RESERVATION, NORTH DAKOTA AND SOUTH DAKOTA, Devils Lake Sioux Tribe of the Devils Lake Sioux Indian Reservation, North Dakota, and the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Council of the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Montana, Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES of America and Donald P. Hodel, Secretary of the Interior, and James A. Baker, Secretary of the Treasury, Defendants.

686 F. Supp. 831

SISSETON-WAHPETON SIOUX TRIBE OF the LAKE TRAVERSE INDIAN RESERVATION, NORTH DAKOTA AND SOUTH DAKOTA, Devils Lake Sioux Tribe of the Devils Lake Sioux Indian Reservation, North Dakota, and the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Council of the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Montana, Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES of America and Donald P. Hodel, Secretary of the Interior, and James A. Baker, Secretary of the Treasury, Defendants.

No. CV-87-095-GF.

United States District Court, D. Montana, Great Falls Division.

May 3, 1988.

Bertram E. Hirsch, Floral Park, N.Y., Sandra K. Watts, Great Falls, Mont., for plaintiffs.

George F. Darragh, Jr., Asst. U.S. Atty., Great Falls, Mont., for defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

HATFIELD, District Judge.

The present action challenges the validity of an act of Congress implemented to distribute those sums of money appropriated by Congress to satisfy a final judgment entered by the Indian Claims Commission pursuant to the authority vested in that entity by the Indian Claims Commission Act, 60 Stat. 1049, 25 U.S.C. §§ 70, et seq. At issue is the Act of October 25, 1972 (25 U.S.C. §§ 1300d, et seq.), which provided for distribution of a congressionally appropriated fund of money to the Sisseton and Wahpeton Tribes of Sioux Indians in satisfaction of a compromise judgment entered by the Indian Claims Commission to redress a breach by the United States of the terms of the Treaty of Prairie du Chien of July 15, 1830, and the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux of July 23, 1851. The Devils Lake Sioux Tribe of North Dakota, the Sisseton and Wahpeton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota and the Sisseton and Wahpeton Council of the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Montana (hereinafter collectively referred to as the "plaintiff Tribes"), challenge the validity of that portion of the Distribution Act which provides for distribution of part of the fund to the individual lineal descendants of the Sisseton and Wahpeton Mississippi Sioux Tribe who are not members of any of the plaintiff Tribes (hereinafter referred to as "lineal descendants").

The plaintiff Tribes contend a distribution to lineal descendants of any monies appropriated to the Sisseton and Wahpeton Tribes of Sioux Indians pursuant to the final judgment of the Indian Claims Commission entered on July 25, 1967, in the Sisseton and Wahpeton Bands or Tribes, et al. v. United States of America, 18 Indian Claims Commission 526-a (1967), would violate: (1) the rights guaranteed the plaintiff Tribes under the due process and just compensation clauses of the fifth amendment to the United States Constitution; (2) the Tribes' rights established by agreement with the United States that settled the Tribes' action before the Indian Claims Commission; (3) the Supplemental Appropriations Act of June 19, 1968, which appropriated funds to satisfy the judgment entered by the Indian Claims Commission; (4) the trust responsibility and duty of the United States to the plaintiff Tribes.

The plaintiff Tribes invoke jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1346(a)(2), 1361, 1362 and the fifth amendment to the United States Constitution.

On May 8, 1987, this court granted the Sioux Tribes' request for preliminary injunctive relief thereby enjoining the distribution of the fund to the lineal descendants in accordance with the directive of 25 U.S. C. § 1300d-3(b), which was scheduled to commence on May 7, 1987.

The action is presently before the court on motion of the United States requesting the court to dismiss the plaintiff Tribes' claims on the grounds those claims are (1) barred by the general statute of limitations applicable to civil actions against the United States as established in 28 U.S.C. § 2401(a) and (2) the Distribution Act challenged by the plaintiff Tribes represents a legitimate, constitutionally permissible, exercise of the plenary authority of Congress over Indian money and property. The individual defendants, i.e., Donald P. Hodel, Secretary of the Department of Interior, and James A. Baker, Secretary of the Department of Treasury, move the court to dismiss the complaint as against them upon the ground that it fails to state a claim against them upon which relief can be granted.

I.

Section 2 of the Indian Claims Commission Act, as amended, 25 U.S.C. § 70a, authorized claims to be brought on behalf of any Indian tribe, band or other identifiable group of American Indians for "claims arising from the taking by the United States, ... of lands owned or occupied by the claimant without the payment for such lands of compensation agreed to by the claimant." Following the enactment of the Indian Claims Commission Act, the plaintiff Tribes, in two companion actions, brought claim against the United States seeking compensation for approximately two million acres of land ceded by the Sisseton and Wahpeton Sioux Tribes to the United States by the Treaty of Prairie du Chian of July 15, 1830 (7 Stat. 328) and approximately 25 million acres of land ceded by the Sisseton and Wahpeton Sioux Tribes to the United States by the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux of July 23, 1851 (10 Stat. 949). On May 17, 1967, the plaintiff Tribes and the United States entered into a stipulation for settlement and entry of final judgment in the two actions before the Indian Claims Commission.

Based upon the stipulation executed between the parties, the Indian Claims Commission entered a final judgment on July 25, 1967, in favor of the Sisseton and Wahpeton Tribes of Sioux Indians in the two companion actions, for the sum of approximately six million dollars. See, Sisseton and Wahpeton Bands or Tribes, et al. v. United States of America, 18 Indian Claims Commission 526-a (1967). The plaintiff Tribes and their respective members, under the supervision of the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the Department of Interior, voted to approve that settlement.

Pursuant to the Act of June 19, 1968 (82 Stat. 239), Congress appropriated money to satisfy the judgment entered by the Indian Claims Commission.¹ The monies appropriated were deposited in an interest-bearing trust account in the Treasury of the United States. Subsequently, by the Act of October 25, 1972 (25 U.S.C. §§ 1300d, et seq.), Congress implemented a plan for the distribution of the fund. The Distribution Act provided, inter alia, that a portion of the fund, specifically 25.0225% thereof, was to be set aside for distribution to Sisseton and Wahpeton Mississippi Sioux Tribe lineal descendants, i.e., persons who are not eligible for membership in any of the plaintiff tribes, but who can trace their lineal ancestry to someone who once was a tribal member. 25 U.S.C. §§ 1300d-3(b), 1300d-4(a). The Distribution Act further directed the Secretary of the Interior to prepare a lineal descendancy roll and to distribute, on a per capita basis, the funds allocated to lineal descendants whose names were included on the roll. 25 U.S.C. §§ 1300d-3(b), 1300d-4(c).

The plaintiff Tribes challenge the validity of that portion of the Distribution Act which directs the distribution of a part of the judgment fund to the lineal descendants of the Sisseton and Wahpeton Mississippi Sioux Tribe. The essence of the Tribes' position lies in their assertion that where there exists an Indian tribe that represents the interests of the aboriginal tribe who owned the lands, the taking of which by the United States necessitated the entry of a judgment for monetary compensation by the Indian Claims Commission, only those tribes and their members are constitutionally or legally entitled to share in an award of the Indian Claims Commission providing compensation for the wrong done to the aboriginal tribe. The Tribes' submit any act of Congress implemented to effectuate the distribution of a fund created to satisfy a judgment of the Indian Claims Commission must comport with the strictures of the fifth amendment to the United States Constitution. In that regard, the Tribes submit the fifth amendment is violated if the Distribution Act cannot be tied rationally to the fulfillment of Congress' unique obligation toward the Indians. Specifically, the Tribes assert that a judgment fund distribution law violates the fifth amendment when it authorizes distribution of the fund to persons whose lineal ancestors had severed their relations with the Tribes or to persons who themselves are not members of, or closely affiliated with, the Tribes holding a beneficial interest in the judgment fund. With respect to the judgment fund at issue in this action, the Tribes contend that the "lineal descendants" certified by the defendants as entitled to share in the distribution of the judgment fund are (1) persons who do not have a Sisseton and Wahpeton Sioux lineal ancestor; (2) persons who have a Sisseton and Wahpeton Sioux lineal ancestor who severed relations with the Sisseton and Wahpeton Sioux Tribes; and (3) persons who are not members of, and have no close affiliation with, any of the plaintiff Tribes.

Having considered the arguments advanced by the parties in light of the record, the court is convinced the plaintiff Tribes' claims are time barred.

II.

The United States contends the plaintiff Tribes' claims are barred by 28 U.S.C. § 2401(a), the general statute of limitations applicable to civil actions against the United States. Section 2401(a) provides, in pertinent part, that "every civil action commenced against the United States shall be barred unless the complaint is filed within six years after the right of action first accrues." Regardless of whether the claims of the plaintiff Tribes are founded in contract, or in tort, their claims necessarily accrued, the United States submits, on October 25, 1972, the date the Distribution Act at issue was passed by Congress. In view of the fact the present complaint was not filed until April 27, 1987, the United States asserts the plaintiff Tribes are precluded by...