Kialegee Tribal Town v. Zinke
Kialegee Tribal Town v. Zinke
Opinion of the Court
This suit arises from Plaintiff Kialegee Tribal Town's request that this Court grant declaratory and injunctive relief in its favor in connection with its claims that Plaintiff is a successor to the Creek Nation, and as such, has treaty-protected rights of shared jurisdiction over land within the boundaries of the historic Creek Nation reservation. Pending before this Court is Federal Defendants' Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Amended Complaint, brought by Ryan K. Zinke, in his official capacity as Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior; John Tahsuda, III, in his official capacity as Acting Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs; and the United States Department of the Interior ("Interior") (collectively, the "Federal Defendants"). Federal Defendants have moved to dismiss Plaintiff's Amended Complaint pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 12(b)(1), for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, and Rule 12(b)(6), for failure to state a claim.
After reviewing the parties' submissions,
I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
A. History of the Creek Nation and Kialegee Trial Town
Plaintiff Kialegee Tribal Town ("Plaintiff" or "Kialegee") is "an Indian Tribe that is federally-recognized pursuant to the provisions of the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act of June 26, 1936,
To put this argument in historic context, the Court looks briefly at the history of the Creek Nation. The Creek Nation, "historically and traditionally, is actually a confederacy of autonomous tribal towns, or Talwa, each with its own political organization and leadership." Harjo v. Andrus ,
After the ratification of the United States Constitution in 1788, the United States entered into a treaty with the Creeks on June 29, 1796 (the "1796 Treaty"), and one of the signatories to the 1796 Treaty is the Kialegee. See Am. Compl., Ex. A [1796 Treaty]. In March 1814, General Andrew Jackson led a force that killed more than 1,000 Creeks in Alabama during the Red Stick War, and that controversy was concluded by the Treaty of Fort Jackson (also known as the "Treaty With The Creeks, 1814"), which involved the Creeks' ceding 22 million acres of land in the Southeast United States to the United States. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 21-22; see also Am. Compl. Ex. B [Treaty With The Creeks, 1814]. Two signatories to the Treaty of Fort Jackson are identified as "Kialijee," designating the Kialegee people from the Kialijee Creek, "which was part of the Creek Confederacy as it existed in Alabama prior to removal." Am. Compl. ¶¶ 22-23.
"In the 1820's, the federal government adopted a policy to forcibly remove the Five Civilized Tribes [which included the Creek Nation] from the southeastern United States and relocate them west of the Mississippi River, in what is today Oklahoma."
By means of the Treaty With The Creeks, 1832 ("Treaty of 1832"), the Creeks ceded their homelands in the eastern United States in exchange for lands in the western United States. See
On October 12, 1867, the Creeks adopted a constitution and a code of laws for the "Muskogee Nation" (which differs from the present Muskogee Nation). Am. Compl. ¶ 36. "In 1893, Congress created the Dawes Commission to negotiate with the Five Civilized Tribes" to extinguish tribal land title and develop an allotment plan." Indian Country ,
B. The Kialegee Tribal Town
In 1934, Congress passed the Indian Reorganization Act ("IRA") of 1934, ch. 576,
In 1936, Congress passed the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act of 1936 ("OIWA"), which allowed "any recognized tribe or band of Indians residing in Oklahoma .... to organize for its common welfare and to adopt a constitution and bylaws, under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe." Am. Compl. ¶ 40, n. 7. Plaintiff Kialegee is a federally recognized Indian tribe, organized under Section 3 of the OIWA, which first received federal recognition in 1936, and is governed in accordance with a constitution *261and bylaws that were approved by the Assistant Secretary of the Interior, on April 14, 1941, and ratified by the town members on June 12, 1941. Am. Compl. ¶ 41; see Oklahoma v. Hobia ,
C. The Lawsuit
Plaintiff filed its initial Complaint on August 17, 2017, against the Federal Defendants and the Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission ("NIGC"). Plaintiff sought a declaratory judgment that it exercises concurrent jurisdiction over the Creek Reservation in Oklahoma with all Creek tribes, and an injunction that all lands within the Creek Reservation are Plaintiff's "Indian lands" for purposes of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act ("IGRA"). Compl., ECF No. 1, ¶¶ 38, 40, 42, 44. More specifically, Plaintiff referred to the construction of a restaurant facility known as the Red Creek Dance Hall and Restaurant, located on an Indian allotment within the Creek Reservation in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, where the allotment was owned by Bim Stephen Bruner, an enrolled member of Kialegee (the "Bruner Allotment"). Compl., ECF No. 1, ¶ 8. Plaintiff indicated further that "Defendant [had] publicly declared their intention to take administrative and legal steps to oppose the Kialegee development of the Bruner allotment." Compl., ECF No. 1, ¶ 17.
In its Amended Complaint, for which a motion to amend was filed, unopposed, and leave to file was granted, Plaintiff deliberately removed the Chairman of the NIGC as a defendant and deleted several of the specific references to the Bruner allotment, seeming to focus instead on a more general request that this Court enforce Plaintiff's "rights" under historical treaties.
II. LEGAL STANDARD
A. Subject Matter Jurisdiction under Rule 12(b)(1)
A court must dismiss a case pursuant to Federal Rule 12(b)(1) when it lacks subject matter jurisdiction. In determining whether there is jurisdiction, the Court may "consider the complaint supplemented by undisputed facts evidenced in the record, or the complaint supplemented by undisputed facts plus the court's resolution of disputed facts." Coalition for Underground Expansion v. Mineta ,
In reviewing a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1), courts must accept as true all factual allegations in the complaint and construe the complaint liberally, granting plaintiff the benefit of all inferences that can be drawn from the facts alleged. See Leatherman v. Tarrant Cty. Narcotics Intelligence & Coordination Unit ,
B. Failure to State a Claim under Rule 12(b)(6)
Pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), a party may move to dismiss a complaint on grounds *263that it "fail[s] to state a claim upon which relief can be granted." Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). A complaint is not sufficient if it "tenders 'naked assertion[s]' devoid of 'further factual enhancement.' " Ashcroft v. Iqbal ,
When considering a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, courts may consider "the facts alleged in the complaint, documents attached as exhibits or incorporated by reference in the complaint" or "documents upon which the plaintiff's complaint necessarily relies even if the document is produced not by the plaintiff in the complaint but by the defendant in a motion to dismiss." Ward v. District of Columbia Dep't of Youth Rehab. Servs. ,
III. ANALYSIS
When bringing a lawsuit against the United States, a plaintiff must identify: (1) a source of subject matter jurisdiction; (2) a waiver of sovereign immunity; and (3) a cause of action. United American, Inc. v. N.B.C.-U.S.A. Housing, Inc. Twenty Seven ,
A. Subject Matter Jurisdiction
There is no disagreement among the parties in this case that Plaintiff relies upon 28 § 1331, the federal question jurisdictional statute, and
Plaintiff relies further on
*264Twin Cities Chippewa Tribal Council v. Minnesota Chippewa Tribe ,
Accordingly, Plaintiff has established a source for this Court's subject matter jurisdiction, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Sections 1131 and 1362, which is uncontested by the Federal Defendants. The Court now turns to the issue of Federal Defendants' immunity from suit and whether Plaintiff has demonstrated a basis for waiving that immunity.
B. Waiver of Sovereign Immunity
There is no dispute that the United States is immune from suit unless it consents to be sued. United States v. Sherwood ,
Although Plaintiff affirmatively states that its cause of action is not based upon the Administrative Procedure Act (the "APA"), Plaintiff relies upon Section 702 of the APA to support a waiver of sovereign immunity. That Section provides that:
A person suffering legal wrong because of agency action, or adversely affected or aggrieved by agency action within the meaning of a relevant statute, is entitled to judicial review thereof. An action in a court of the United States seeking relief other than money damages and stating a claim that an agency or an officer or employee thereof acted or failed to act in an official capacity or under color of legal authority shall not be dismissed nor relief therein be denied on the ground that it is against the United States or that the United States is an indispensable party. The United States may be named as a defendant in any such action, and a judgment or decree may be entered against the United States: Provided , That any mandatory or injunctive decree shall specify the Federal officer or officers (by name or by title), and their successors in office, personally responsible for compliance. Nothing herein (1) affects other limitations on judicial review or the power or duty of the court to dismiss any action or deny relief on any other appropriate legal or equitable ground; or (2) confers authority to grant relief if any other statute that grants consent to suit expressly or impliedly forbids the relief which is sought.
5 U.S.C. Section 702 (emphasis added). Kialegee contends that because it seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, as opposed to monetary damages, it may rely upon the APA for a waiver of sovereign immunity. See Bowen v. Massachusetts ,
Federal Defendants concede that "a suit need not have been brought pursuant to the APA to receive the benefit of that statute's sovereign immunity waiver; indeed, the 'APA's waiver of sovereign immunity applies to any suit whether under the APA or not.' " Z Street, Inc. v. Koskinen ,
Federal Defendants interpret Section 702 as requiring a "final agency action," but the Mackinac Tribe case makes it clear that a "final agency action" is not required. In that case, "although Defendant argue[d] that Plaintiff need[ed] to fulfill an additional requirement in order to be able to rely on the APA's sovereign immunity waiver - namely, that the agency action that Plaintiff s[ought] to challenge must be a "final" agency action ... [the Court found that] the D.C. Circuit rejected this very argument in Trudeau v. Federal Trade Comm'n ,
Federal Defendants challenge whether Plaintiff has "stat[ed] a claim" regarding any specific agency action or inaction, which is sufficient to comply with Section 702. Federal Defendants argue that "[a]lthough Plaintiff asserts that Federal Defendants have not recognized it as part of the "whole Creek Nation," Am. Compl. ¶ 2, Plaintiff fails to cite to any discrete [ ] decision made by Federal Defendants. [and] instead cites to positions it *266believes Federal Defendants will take or arguments Federal Defendants may assert." Fed. Defs.' Mem. at 20; see Am. Comp. ¶¶ 19, 39, 49, 50, 51, 64, 65, 68, 73. Plaintiff asserts however that "Kialegee [ ] "need not identify any"agency" action or inaction, as made clear under Trudeau. " Pl.'s Opp'n at 18. (emphasis added). In Trudeau , the Court of Appeals noted that "[w]hile the [second] sentence [of Section 702 ] does refer to a claim against an "agency" and hence waives immunity only when the defendant falls within that category, it does not use either the term "final agency action" or the term "agency action." "
To the extent that Plaintiff Mackinac Tribe is here seeking to proceed under the IRA, it is sufficient that its complaint alleges that the agency has failed to act where the law provides it must, and Plaintiff need not identify a final agency action in order to avail itself of APA's sovereign immunity waiver, despite Defendant's assertions to the contrary. The Court is mindful, however, that "other limitations on judicial review or the power or duty of the court to dismiss any action or deny any relief on any other appropriate legal or equitable ground" may nevertheless preclude this action.5 U.S.C. § 702 .
Assuming arguendo that Kialegee's claim in Paragraph 68 of its Amended Complaint that Federal Defendants have "repeatedly violated 25 U.S.C. § [5123](f) by blocking the Kialegee from jurisdiction on lands located within the Creek Reservation" is enough to satisfy "stating a claim" for purposes of applying Section 702 to effect a waiver of sovereign immunity, the Court next turns to whether Kialegee has identified a cause of action and stated a claim upon which relief can be granted.
C. Cause of Action
The Court of Appeals in Trudeau explained that whether Plaintiff states a claim upon which relief can be granted:
depends in part on whether there is a cause of action that permits plaintiff to invoke the power of the court to redress the violations of law that he claims that FTC has committed. See generally Davis v. Passman,442 U.S. 228 , 239-40 & n. 18,99 S.Ct. 2264 ,60 L.Ed.2d 846 (1979). It also depends on whether the allegations of [plaintiff's] complaint are legally sufficient to state the violations he claims. We consider the cause of action question [first] and the sufficiency of [plaintiff's] claims [next].
Trudeau ,
As a preliminary matter, Federal Defendants assert that Plaintiff's seeming reliance on either 28 U.S.C. Section 1331 or Section 1362 as a cause of action is misplaced. See Fed. Defs.' Mem. at 15-16; see also McGuirl v. United States ,
*267Furthermore, Federal Defendants dispute Plaintiff's presumed reliance on the Creek Nation treaties as a cause of action, on grounds that Plaintiff makes no attempt to show whether such treaties provide it with a private right of action. See McKesson Corp. v. Islamic Republic of Iran ,
Plaintiff affirmatively states that its cause of action is not based upon the Administrative Procedure Act. Pl.'s Opp'n at 15. Plaintiff relies instead upon the Indian Reorganization Act, 25 U.S.C. Section 5123, and asserts that, under that Act, "Kialegee specifically has a cause of action against the government of the United States if it enhances, or diminishes the privileges and immunities available to an Indian tribe relative to other federally recognized tribes." Pl.'s Opp'n at 17. Pursuant to Section 5123(f),
Departments or agencies of the United States shall not promulgate any regulation or make any decision or determination pursuant to the Act of June 18, 1934 ..., or any other Act of Congress, with respect to a federally recognized Indian tribe that classifies, enhances, or diminishes the privileges and immunities available to the Indian tribe relative to other federally recognized tribes by virtue of their status as Indian tribes.
25 U.S.C. Section 5123(f).
Federal Defendants acknowledge that "detailed factual allegations" are not necessary to withstand a 12(b)(6) motion, Twombly ,
Plaintiff indicates that it has constructed a restaurant facility known as the Embers Grill, which is located on an Indian allotment within the Creek Reservation and within the city limits of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and Plaintiff claims jurisdiction over this land, in common with the other recognized Creek tribes in Oklahoma and pursuant to "various Creek *268Treaties with the United States read in context with the Indian Canon of Construction." Am. Compl. ¶¶ 56-57. Plaintiff asserts also that "Defendants have repeatedly violated 25 U.S.C. Section [5123](f) by blocking the Kialegee from jurisdiction on lands located within the Creek Reservation," but this general assertion fails to state a claim that supports Plaintiff's request for declaratory and injunctive relief. What is missing from the Amended Complaint is any connection between Plaintiff's claim to jurisdiction over the land where the restaurant facility is located, and any actions taken by Defendant in response to such claim of jurisdiction, which violate Section 5123, or alternatively, any other actions taken by the Defendant that violate Section 5123, which are actionable by the Plaintiff. More succinctly, Plaintiff's Amended Complaint fails to provide this Court with any information about how and when the Defendants have "block[ed] the Kialegee from jurisdiction" over land with the effect that the Kialegee's privileges and immunities have been diminished relative to other federally recognized tribes. Plaintiff's allegations against Defendants - presumably relating to its cause of action pursuant to 25 U.S.C. Section 5123 - are fleshed out in somewhat more detail in the context of the briefing on Defendants' Motion to Dismiss.
In its Opposition, Plaintiff refers to three specific instances where Defendants have failed to recognize Kialegee as a Creek successor having jurisdiction over its lands: (1) a pending appeal before the Indian Board of Indian Appeals ("IBIA") of an April 26, 2017 decision by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Eastern Oklahoma Regional Director, declining to approve a resolution of the Kialegee Tribal Town Business Committee on grounds that Kialegee lacks jurisdiction over any area of Indian Country over which it could enact and apply a liquor ordinance; (2) a 1991 IBIA decision captioned Kialegee Tribal Town of Oklahoma v. Muskogee Area Dir., Bureau of Indian Affairs , 19 IBIA 296, 303 (1991), upholding a decision by the Regional Director that Plaintiff did not exercise jurisdiction over the Muscogee (Creek) Nation lands; and (3) a May 24, 2012 Memorandum regarding review by the National Indian Gaming Commission ("NIGC") of a proposed gaming facility in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma (the "proposed Site"), which concludes that the facility "does not qualify as Kialegee's Indian lands eligible for gaming because Kialegee has not established that it has legal jurisdiction over the Proposed Site for purposes of [the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act]," and expressly stating that "the Department of the Interior (DOI), Office of the Solicitor, concurs with this opinion."
In their Reply, Defendants explain why none of these three instances is currently actionable by the Plaintiff, for the following reasons: (1) the Regional Director's April 26, 2017 decision is on appeal before the IBIA, and Plaintiff must exhaust its administrative remedies before seeking a judicial review of that decision;
This Court agrees with the Federal Defendants' analysis of these three "instances," and as such, finds that while the Plaintiff has alleged that it has a cause of action pursuant to 25 U.S.C. Section 5123, Plaintiff has not indicated any conduct by Federal Defendants that is actionable under this cause of action. A claim is facially plausible when the plaintiff pleads factual content that is more than " 'merely consistent with' a defendant's liability," which "allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged." Iqbal ,
The Court's consideration focused on the following documents:
• Fed. Defs.' Mot. to Dismiss Pl.'s Am. Compl. ("Fed. Defs.' Mot."), ECF No. 28, and the Mem. of Points and Auth. in support thereof ("Fed. Defs.' Mem."), ECF No. 28-1
• Pl.'s Opp'n to Fed. Defs.' Mot. to Dismiss ("Pl.'s Opp'n"), ECF No. 30
• Fed. Defs.' Reply in Support of Mot. to Dismiss ("Fed. Defs.' Reply"), ECF No. 31.
In an exercise of discretion, the Court finds that holding oral argument in this action would not be of assistance in rendering a decision. See LCvR 7(f).
While much of the historical background in this Memorandum Opinion derives from the Plaintiff's Amended Complaint, the Court has also referenced legislation and caselaw.
The page numbers cited herein reference the page numbers assigned by the Court's Electronic Case Filing ("ECF") system.
Plaintiff references: (1) The Creek Treaty of August 7, 1790; (2) The Creek Treaty of August 9, 1814; (3) The Creek Treaty of January 8, 1821; (4) The Creek Treaty of March 24, 1832; and (5) The Creek Treaty of February 14, 1833. Some of these treaties are discussed in more detail in this Memorandum Opinion.
Plaintiff notes that "[t]he term "Five Civilized Tribes" was used by the United States during the mid-nineteenth century to refer to the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole nations," but the word "Civilized" was disrespectful because it "meant a qualification to exist for entire races based solely on their willingness to adopt norms and values unilaterally imposed on them by non-native peoples." Am. Compl. at 10, n. 6.
Plaintiff's Complaint, dated August 17, 2017, initially focused more specifically on Defendants' opposition to the development of the Bruner allotment and Plaintiff's jurisdiction over that land, but because that issue was the subject of an April 26, 2017 decision by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which was appealed to the IBIA, and Plaintiff had not exhausted its administrative remedies, Plaintiff shifted the focus in its Amended Complaint to an alleged general violation of its rights under various treaties.
Plaintiff references 25 U.S.C. Section 476(f) in the Amended Complaint, but that section was transferred to 25 U.S.C. Section 5123(f).
Departments or agencies of the United States shall not promulgate any regulation or make any decision or determination pursuant to the Act of June 18, 1934 ..., or any other Act of Congress, with respect to a federally recognized Indian tribe that classifies, enhances, or diminishes the privileges and immunities available to the Indian tribe relative to other federally recognized tribes by virtue of their status as Indian tribes.
25 U.S.C. Section 5123(f).
Ultimately, the Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the district court dismissing plaintiff's complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted.
Attached as Exhibit E to the Amended Complaint, ECF No. 27-1, is a lengthy letter from the Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission to the Tribal Chairman of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians. The letter begins by indicating that a review has been conducted and the NIGC "continue[s] to consider the Tribe's Tallapoosa site to be Indian lands on which the Tribe may conduct gaming." Ex. E at 1. This letter is discussed in detail in Paragraph 60 of the Amended Complaint, but the Court notes that when Plaintiff amended its Complaint in this case, it no longer named The Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission as a defendant.
Plaintiff indicates that this Memorandum is part of the public record and provides a website address for the NIGC website, which contains the May 24, 2012 Memorandum. Pl.'s Opp'n at 21, n. 9.
Federal Defendants indicate that "[i]t may be that in the future, after the IBIA issues its final decision on Plaintiff's challenge to the Regional Director's April 26, 2017 decision, Plaintiff will have an action for which it may want to seek judicial review[.]" Fed. Defs' Reply at 8.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- KIALEGEE TRIBAL TOWN v. Ryan K. ZINKE, in his official capacity as Secretary of the Department of the Interior
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published