Buck Austin v. Cecil D. Andrus, Secretary of the Interior

Members of the Navajo Indian tribe forced to relocate because of mining activities on their reservation appeal from orders dismissing their complaint and granting the federal defendants summary judgment on the issue whether plaintiffs are entitled to assistance as “displaced persons” within the meaning of the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real People Acquisition Policies Act of 1970 (Relocation Act), 84 Stat. 1894 , 42 U.S.C. § 4601 et seq. Jurisdiction in this court rests on 28 U.S.C. § 1291 .

Because the displacement did not result from a written order to vacate or acquisition by a federal agency or state agency receiving federal financial assistance, we affirm the judgment of the district court and hold that plaintiffs are not entitled to assistance as “displaced persons” within the meaning of the Relocation Act, 42 U.S.C. § 4601 (6).

FACTS

In 1950 Congress enacted the Navajo Hopi Rehabilitation Act, 25 U.S.C. § 631 et seq. which provided funds for surveys and studies of coal and other resources on the Navajo and Hopi reservations. The Act authorized the Secretary of the Interior to approve leases of restricted land by the tribes, associations of persons from the tribes,…