Rhode Island appeals land-into-trust ruling

Friday, October 19, 2007  

The state of Rhode Island is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a land-into-trust case that is being watched by tribes nationwide.

In July, the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Bureau of Indian Affairs can place 31 acres in trust for the Narragansett Tribe. The tribe is like any other tribe and can follow the Indian Reorganization Act, which authorized the land-into-trust process, the court said.

The state argues that the BIA can't acquire the land because the tribe wasn't recognized at the time the IRA was passed in 1934. But even if the land is placed in trust, the state says it should have jurisdiction because Congress settled the tribe's land claim and established an 1,800-acre reservation that falls under state jurisdiction.

The National Congress of American Indians, the Native American Rights Fund and tribes nationwide filed briefs when the case was in the 1st Circuit. They supported the Narragansett Tribe's right to follow the land-into-trust process.

The Supreme Court refused to hear a similar case when the state of Connecticut tried to bar the BIA from acquiring land for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. The tribe was not recognized at the time of the IRA and fell under a land claims settlement act that placed its reservation under state jurisdiction.

Get the Story:
Indian land ruling appealed to high court (The Providence Journal 10/19)
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Land-into-Trust Decision:
Carcieri v. Kempthorne (July 20, 2007)

Earlier 1st Circuit Decision:
Carcieri v. Norton (February 9, 2005)

Relevant Documents:
Carcieri v. Norton Briefs, Opinions (NARF-NCAI Tribal Supreme Court Project

Relevant Laws:
Rhode Island Indian Claims Settlement Act (US Code)

Relevant Links:
Narragansett Tribe - http://www.narragansett-tribe.org
Tribal Supreme Court Project - http://www.narf.org/sct/index.html

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