Leo Williams v. William P. Clark, Secretary of the Interior, United States of America

NELSON, Circuit Judge:

Leo Williams, a member of the Quileute Tribe of Indians, appeals the district court’s affirmance of a decision by the Interior Board of Indian Appeals (IBIA). The IBIA decision reversed the Administrative Law Judge’s (AU) ruling that Williams is an eligible devisee of land on the Quinault Indian Reservation. We reverse the district court’s decision and reinstate the AU’s decision ordering distribution of the Quinault Reservation land under the will of Williams’s deceased cousin, Joseph Willessi.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Joseph Willessi, a member of the Quileute Tribe, executed a will in which he devised land on the Quinault Reservation to Williams. The property is part of the Indian lands held in trust by the United States. After Willessi died, his heirs contested the will. On February 10, 1972, the AU approved it and ordered distribution. The IBIA ordered a rehearing. On January 6, 1977, the AU again approved the will and ordered distribution.

On April 5, 1978, the Bureau of Indian Affairs petitioned the AU to reopen the estate proceedings. The BIA alleged for the first time that section 4 of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, 25 U.S.C. §§…