Shakopee Mdewakanton Fights for Trust Land

Shakopee Mdewakanton Dakota Community faces potential Carcieri-related issues as it seeks to place into trust 23 acres of farmland. According to the Shakopee Valley News, the Prior Lake City Council is considering whether it should weigh in with the federal government is support of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Dakota Community's application with the Bureau of Indian Affairs:

On one hand, some question the tribe's need for additional trust land, with nearly half of the more than 2,500 acres of tribal land now in federal trust. But other local officials, including some members of the Prior Lake City Council, also worry about disrupting their positive working relationships with the tribe.

In a February 2009 Supreme Court decision in Carcieri v. Salazar, the Court considered whether the federal government has the ability to take land into trust for American Indian tribes recognized after the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 (IRA).

In a 6-3 opinion penned by Justice Clarence Thomas, the Court held that the IRA term "now under federal jurisdiction" in §479 of the IRA unambiguously refers to those tribes that were under federal jurisdiction when the IRA was enacted in 1934. As a result of this interpretaion of this provision of the IRA, the Carcieri decision has created a great deal of legal uncertainty in Native-American land-trust law.

There have been several attempts to address the Carcieri decision in the U.S. Congress; however, the Carcieri fix remains a politically challenging prospect that is opposed by many powerful Members of Congress as well as more than a dozen states. For tribes that were recognized after 1934, a Carcieri fix is necessary.

You can download the decision and learn more about the case here. Follow this link to read the entire article, Prior Lake City Council debates land-trust response.