35 Tribe Motion for Summary J
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Case 4:14-cv-40013-TSH Document 35 Filed 06/10/16 Page 1 of 55 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS The Nipmuc Nation, Plaintiff, v. Civil Action No. 4:14-cv-40013 Secretary S.M.R. Jewell, The United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Federal Acknowledgment, and the United States of America, Defendants. MEMORANDUM OF LAW IN SUPPORT OF PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT 35609954.1 Case 4:14-cv-40013-TSH Document 35 Filed 06/10/16 Page 2 of 55 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 1 II. HISTORY OF SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND NATIVE AMERICANS ....................... 2 III. PROCEDURAL HISTORY OF THE NIPMUC NATION PETITION ............................ 5 IV. LEGAL STANDARD ........................................................................................................ 8 A. Review of Defendants’ Actions under the Administrative Procedure Act ............ 8 B. Federal Acknowledgment .................................................................................... 10 V. ARGUMENT ................................................................................................................... 12 A. Defendants Usurped the Nipmuc Nation’s Right to Define Itself by Imposing its Own Definition of Plaintiff and then Found that Plaintiff Failed to Satisfy the Acknowledgment Criteria Based on Defendants’ Definition ............................................................................................................. 12 1. Plaintiff exercised its fundamental right to define itself as “the Nipmuc Indian people .............................................................................. 12 2. Defendants ignored Plaintiff’s definition of itself and imposed an identity tied only to the Hassanamisco Band of the Nipmuc Nation ....... 13 3. Plaintiff repeatedly pled with Defendants to use the self-ascribed definition of the petitioning entity – the Nipmuc Nation – and not to focus solely on Hassanamisco ............................................................. 15 4. Defendants’ fixation on Hassanamisco infected their analysis of the evidence when determining that Plaintiff failed four acknowledgment criteria. ......................................................................... 16 i. Criterion (a) – External Identification .......................................... 16 ii. Criterion (b) – Community .......................................................... 19 iii. Criterion (c) – Political Influence ................................................ 20 iv. Criterion (e) – Descent ................................................................. 21 B. Defendants Gave Advice to the Nipmuc Nation at the Technical Assistance Meeting on how to Strengthen Their Petition for Acknowledgment, and then Issued a Final Determination Against Acknowledgment that Failed to Consider Plaintiff’s Evidence Submitted in Accordance with Such Advice ......................................................................... 24 1. Descent from Mary (Curliss) Vickers ...................................................... 24 2. Connecticut Nipmuc Indians.................................................................... 26 3. Proof of actual interaction between individuals....................................... 27 4. Minimum percentage of descent from an historic Indian tribe ................ 28 -i- Case 4:14-cv-40013-TSH Document 35 Filed 06/10/16 Page 3 of 55 5. No further site visits, interviews with tribal leaders or assistance meetings with new personnel for Defendants evaluating Plaintiff’s petition for the Final Determination ........................................................ 30 C. Defendants Reversed the Positive Proposed Finding Without Any Statutory Authority and Without Any New Evidence to Justify Such a Reversal................................................................................................................ 31 1. Defendants Were Not Authorized to Reverse a Proposed Finding Duly Issued and Signed by the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs ......... 31 2. Reversing the Proposed Finding When No New Evidence Was Considered And No Explanation for the Reversal Was Provided Was Arbitrary and Capricious ................................................................. 35 D. Defendants Have Failed to Follow Agency Precedent and Failed to Evaluate the Proper Factors Articulated in the Regulations ................................ 40 1. Defendants Improperly Required That All Bands of Plaintiff Be Externally Identified to Satisfy 25 C.F.R. 83.7(a .................................... 40 2. Defendants Disregarded Prior Precedent and Provided No Intelligible Analysis for Doing So in Evaluating Whether Plaintiff Satisfied 25 C.F.R. 83.7(b ........................................................................ 42 3. Defendants Have Not Considered the Proper Factors in Evaluating Criterion 25 C.F.R. 83.7(c ....................................................................... 45 VI. REQUEST FOR HEARING ............................................................................................ 48 VII. CONCLUSION AND REQUEST FOR RELIEF ............................................................ 48 -ii- Case 4:14-cv-40013-TSH Document 35 Filed 06/10/16 Page 4 of 55 TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Page(s) Cases Atkinson Lines, Inc. v. United States, 381 F. Supp. 39 (S.D. Ohio 1974) .............................................................................................9 Bowen v. Am. Hosp. Assoc., 476 U.S. 610 (1986) .................................................................................................................36 Cherokee Intermarriage Cases, 203 U.S. 76 (1906) ...................................................................................................................12 Contractors Transp. Corp. v. United States, 537 F.2d 1160 (4th Cir. 1976) .................................................................................................10 Dubois v. United States Dep’t of Agric., 102 F.3d 1273 (1st Cir. 1996) ..........................................................................................8, 9, 36 Food Mktg. Inst. v. Interstate Commerce Com., 190 U.S. App. D.C. 388, 587 F.2d 1285 (1978) ......................................................................10 Great Basin Mine Watch v. Hankins, 456 F.3d 955 (9th Cir. 2006) ...............................................................................................2, 10 Greene v. Babbitt, 64 F.3d 1266 (9th Cir. 1995) ...................................................................................................33 J. Andrew Lange, Inc. v. FAA, 208 F.3d 389 (2d Cir. 2000).......................................................................................................8 Motor Vehicle Mfrs. Ass’n v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 463 U.S. 29 (1983) .....................................................................................................................9 Roff v. Burney, 168 U.S. 218 (1897) .................................................................................................................12 Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez, 436 U.S. 49 (1978) ...................................................................................................................12 SEC v. Chenery Corp., 332 U.S. 194 (1947) ...................................................................................................................9 United States v. Dist. Council, 880 F. Supp. 1051 (S.D.N.Y. 1995)...........................................................................................9 35609954.1 -iii- Case 4:14-cv-40013-TSH Document 35 Filed 06/10/16 Page 5 of 55 Statutes 5 U.S.C. § 706 ..................................................................................................................................8 25 U.S.C. § 479a ............................................................................................................................11 25 U.S.C. § 479a-1(a) ....................................................................................................................11 Rules 25 C.F.R. § 83 ............................................................................................................5, 8, 12, 38, 48 25 C.F.R. § 83.4(c).........................................................................................................................13 25 C.F.R. § 83.6(e)-(g)...................................................................................................................48 25 C.F.R. § 83.7 .......................................................................................................................10, 11 25 C.F.R. § 83.7(a).......................................................................................................17, 18, 40, 41 25 C.F.R. § 83.7(b) ............................................................................................................37, 42, 44 25 C.F.R. § 83.7(c).............................................................................................................38, 45, 47 25 C.F.R. § 83.7(c)(1)(i) ................................................................................................................46 25 C.F.R. § 83.7(c)(1)(ii) ...............................................................................................................46 25 C.F.R. § 83.7(c)(2)(i) ................................................................................................................46