Tiffany Aguayo v. S.M.R. Jewell

This appeal analyzes whether the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) acted arbitrarily and capriciously when it concluded that, according to tribal law, it had no authority to intervene in a tribal membership dispute, in which more than 150 people were disenrolled from the Pala Band of Mission Indians (Pala Band or Band). We conclude that it did not, and affirm the decision of the district court.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The Pala Band is a federally-recognized Indian tribe located in northern San Diego County. The Secretary of the Interior created the Pala Reservation in the late nineteenth century, pursuant to the Mission Indian Relief Act of 1891. See Escondido Mut. Water Co. v. Fed. Energy Regulatory Comm’n, 692 F.2d 1223, 1225 (9th Cir. 1982), rev’d in part on other grounds by Escondido Mut. Water Co. v. La Jolla Band of Mission Indians, 466 U.S. 765 , 104 S.Ct. 2105 , 80 L.Ed.2d 753 (1984).

In 1934, Congress passed the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA). Indian Reorganization Act, ch. 576, 48 Stat. 984 (1934) (codified as amended at 25 U.S.C. §§ 461-479 ). The IRA granted each Indian tribe “the right to organize for its common welfare, and ... adopt an appropriate…