A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals last week heard arguments from both sides in the case of the Mishewal Wappo Tribe of Alexander Valley in California’s wine country. The 345-member tribe seeks federal recognition.
The tribe lost a 2015 case against the then Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, but it is appealing that case to the higher court. The tribe claims that it wrongly lost federal status 50 years ago. The court is expected to announce its decision in coming months.
Officials of Napa County are also watching the case with interest since, if the tribe prevails, it would attempt to buy land and put it into trust, which would exempt it from agricultural laws that prevent just about anything except wine growing from operating in the county.
Commenting on its interest in the casino, Napa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Alfredo Pedroza said last week, “We have a history of welcoming people and being inclusive. I don’t think that’s a question.”
The County is not allowed to participate in the hearing. In 2012 the judge in the case removed the County from participating due to its interest in whether the tribe is allowed to build a casino in Napa.
The case revolves around the California Rancheria Act of 1958, which allowed for reservation (Rancheria) land to be divided among members of tribes in return for them voting to terminate their tribal relationships with the federal government. Normally reservation land is held in common, with no individual tribal member “owning,” the land.
The tribe claims the federal government legally applied the law to the tribe and its Rancheria in the Alexander Valley, when those living on the land voted for termination. The tribe claims the law was not lawfully applied.
The federal attorneys also argue that the tribe waited 40 years past the normal statute of limitations to sue. The U.S. won on that point in 2015.
However, the point came up again last week when the judges were quizzing the attorneys in the case. Judge Ronald Gould asked, “How long could the tribe wait to bring this lawsuit? Could it sit back for 100 years. Or 50 years? If you think the statue hasn’t started to run, how long could this be deferred?”
The attorney for the tribe replied that as long as the tribe has contact with the Bureau of Indian Affairs that the lawsuit could be deferred.
