United States v. Northern Paiute Nation

• Decision Date: 19 April 1968
• Docket Number: Appeal No. 3-66.
• Citation: 393 F.2d 786
• Parties: The UNITED STATES v. The NORTHERN PAIUTE NATION et al.
• Court: U.S. Claims Court

393 F.2d 786 (1968)

The UNITED STATES v. The NORTHERN PAIUTE NATION et al.

Appeal No. 3-66.

United States Court of Claims.

April 19, 1968.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Bernard M. Newburg, U. S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., with whom was Asst. Atty. Gen. Clyde O. Martz, for appellant.

I. S. Weissbrodt, Washington, D. C., attorney of record, for appellees, Abe W. Weissbrodt and Ruth W. Duhl, Washington, D. C., of counsel.

Robert W. Barker, Washington, D. C., filed a brief, amicus curiae for The Goshute Tribe and Western Shoshone Identifiable Group of Indians, Wilkinson, Cragun & Barker and John S. White, Washington, D. C., of counsel.

Nicholas E. Allen, Washington, D. C., for the Washoe Tribe of the States of Nevada and California, joined in the amicus curiae brief of the Goshute Tribe, George F. Wright, Elko, Nev., of counsel.

Before COWEN, Chief Judge, and LARAMORE, DURFEE, DAVIS, COLLINS, SKELTON and NICHOLS, Judges.

NICHOLS, Judge.

This case comes to us on cross-appeals from a final judgment of the Indian Claims Commission (hereinafter called the Commission.) The matters in dispute concern (1) the timeliness of one of the claims, (2) the right of the Northern Paiute Nation or of any of the tribal or individual appellees to sue on behalf of the Mono group of Northern Paiutes, (3) whether Indian title includes rights to subsurface minerals in lands formerly under Spanish and Mexican sovereignty, (4) the inclusion of mineral enhancement in the valuation of Indian title land, (5) the inclusion of improvements made in or on land before the taking date in the valuation of that land, and (6) the ultimate conclusion of the Commission on the value of the Nevada Paviotso tract. (Hereinafter appellant and cross-appellee will be called Government and the appellees and cross-appellants (petitioners before the Indian Claims Commission) will be called Indians, unless otherwise noted.)

The Indians have asserted Indian title to some 50,000,000 acres of land in Nevada, Oregon, California and Idaho. They allege these lands were taken from them by the United States without their being compensated. The Commission found that although the Northern Paiutes did not exist as a single land-owning entity in aboriginal times, the Snakes, Monos and Paviotsos did exist as three separate aboriginal groups, each holding title to separate tracts or areas, and that the United States had taken their lands from them without compensation. Dates of taking were also found by the Commission. Prior to the valuation hearing, a net settlement of $3,650,000 was reached by the parties for the "Snake tract," of Oregon, which is no longer in litigation. After the valuation hearing the Commission found in favor of the Indians: as to the "Mono tract" in the net amount of $935,000 and as to the "Paviotso tract" in the net amount of $15,790,000. The Mono tract consists of 2,506,000 acres in California and 612,000 in Nevada. The Paviotso tract consists of 10,899,726 acres in Nevada and 716,000 acres in California. The largest and most valuable part of the famous Comstock Lode, though not all, was located in the Paviotso tract, and that accounts for most of the award for that tract, as will appear.

August 13, 1951, was the last day for filing claims under Section 12 of the Indian Claims Commission Act (60 Stat. 1049). The original petition in this case was filed on December 26, 1950, and it was on behalf of the Northern Paiute Nation and its various bands. It was filed by six named present-day organized tribes and by Walter Voorhees as a member of and representative of the Northern Paiute Nation and all its members. On August 8, 1951, a timely amended petition was filed in which 17 more individual Indians joined as petitioners. Again there were designated as petitioners "The Northern Paiute Nation and the Bands Thereof * * *." Set forth were a number of causes of action, including claims for the value of certain lands located in Nevada, Idaho, Oregon and California. The petitions alleged the Northern Paiute Nation and its constituent bands had aboriginal title to the lands in issue and that the lands had been taken from them by the United States without payment of any compensation. The amended petition also alleged that the individual petitioners and the Northern Paiute Indians, enrolled as members of the six petitioning reservation organizations, comprised a substantial part of the descendants and members of the Northern Paiute Nation and its various bands, who had held Indian title to the lands in issue. Of the individual Indian petitioners, 17 are clearly Northern Paiutes and 15 are clearly members of one of the six named tribal petitioners. Each of the tribal petitioners sued in its own right, and jointly with the others, both as successors to the claims of the Northern Paiute Nation and to the claims of each and all of its bands and in a representative capacity on behalf of said Nation and the bands thereof; and the named individual Indians sued as members and representatives of all the members of such Nation and the bands thereof.

The claimed territory, as described in the timely amended petition, extended at its southernmost point to the present town of Bishop, California. A hearing was held before the Commission on questions relating solely to the aboriginal title claims. Because of evidence adduced at that hearing showing the claimed lands to extend south from Bishop to a point below Owens Lake in California, the Commission allowed the filing of a newly amended petition (filed April 15, 1957) which, to conform to this evidence, enlarged the Indians' claim to include the area south of Bishop.

The petition of August 8, 1951, had also alleged that the Northern Paiute Nation was divided into 21 aboriginal bands, and these bands were named. Because of evidence received at the title hearing indicating that the list of 21 bands was incomplete, the Commission accepted the amended petition of April 15, 1957, with the bare allegation that the Northern Paiute Nation "was divided into various bands." The bands were not named nor was their number stated.

The Government first argued that the claim for the Mono tract, or at least that part of it which was south of Bishop, was first made in 1957, was therefore untimely and could not be made the basis for any recovery in this action. The Commission was of the opinion that:

* * * petitioners the Indians have, by that amended petition of April 15, 1957, done no more than sever the claims not presently at issue those other than the aboriginal title claims and better define the territory allegedly used and occupied in aboriginal times by the Northern Paiute Nation so as to conform with the evidence produced at the hearing. Petitioners did not thereby plead any new causes of action. 7 Ind.Cl.Comm. 322, 389

The Government did admit, however, that though the 1951 petition did not specifically claim an area south of Bishop, nor did it name a band that allegedly occupied the additional land (the Mono tract), its position would be untenable if "the subsequent extension of the claim into these new areas is not a new cause of action." The Government would also agree with the Commission's conclusion had the Northern Paiute Nation been the land holding entity. But, it said, because the Commission found the land holding entity to be the Monos or bands constituting the Monos, a group that had not, the Government alleged, instituted any action prior to the expiration of the limitations period, "the argument that the later petition can `relate back' is no longer tenable."

We have recently dealt with the issue of when a claim can be added by amendment and "relate back" to the original timely petition. See Snoqualmie Tribe of Indians, etc. v. United States, 372 F.2d 951, 959-961, 178 Ct.Cl. 570, 585-589 (1967). The question to be asked is whether the claim for the entire Mono tract was "presented" before the statute of limitations ran out on August 13, 1951. Id., 372 F.2d at 960, 178 Ct.Cl. at 586. Sufficient notice to the Government is the test, Id., 372 F.2d at 960 and 961, 178 Ct.Cl. at 587 and 588, with our inquiry focusing "on the notice given by the general fact situation set forth in the original^* pleading." Id., 372 F.2d at 960, 178 Ct.Cl. at 587 (the "aggregate of operative facts" underlying the claim for relief, Id., at footnote 5) and "the standing of the claimant * *." Id., 372 F.2d at 961, 178 Ct.Cl. at 589.

* * * the rule of relation back does not extend to amendments that add new parties or causes of action. * * But this simply states a conclusion. Each case must be tested by the "conduct, transaction, or occurrence" standard to determine whether adequate notice has been given. Id., 372 F.2d at 961, 178 Ct.Cl. at 588.

Closely intertwined with this issue, and bearing on its "standing of the claimant" aspect, is the Government's next claim that neither the Northern Paiute Nation or any of the tribal or individual petitioners is entitled to represent or file claims on behalf of the Mono group. The Government has chosen to treat this as a separate issue and we will do the same. We now state why sufficient notice had been given to the Government.

The original petition did not name the Mono band among those specifically enumerated, nor did the timely amended petition. The original was headed, however:

The Northern Paiute Nation, ex rel. Walter Voorhees; named tribes; each in its own right and each on behalf of the various bands and groups of each of them, and each on behalf of the Northern Paiute Nation and the various bands and groups making up the Northern Paiute Nation,

while the time amended petition was headed:

The Northern Paiute Nation and the bands thereof, ex rel. named individuals and tribes,

and sought relief for "the claims of the Northern Paiute Nation and claims of each and all the bands of the Northern Paiute Nation." (Emphasis supplied). The Monos were clearly a Northern Paiute "band...