William Forest Big Spring Sr. v. The United States of America, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Melba Josephine Arnoux Woodhouse v. The United States of America, Bureau of Indian Affairs

767 F.2d 614 William Forest BIG SPRING Sr., Plaintiff/Appellant, v. The UNITED STATES of America, BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, et al., Defendants/Appellees. Melba Josephine Arnoux WOODHOUSE, Plaintiff/Appellant, v. The UNITED STATES of America, BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, et al., Defendants/Appellees. Nos. 84-4141, 84-4170. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted June 6, 1985. Decided July 31, 1985. John P. Moore, Cut Bank, Mont., for plaintiff/appellant. Philip Roy, Browning, Mont., William B. Lazarus, Washington, D.C., for defendants/appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Montana. Before CHOY, HUG, and BOOCHEVER, Circuit Judges. BOOCHEVER, Circuit Judge: 1 Big Spring and Woodhouse, Blackfeet Indians (plaintiffs), appeal the dismissal of their claims that the mineral rights to their federal land allotments were wrongfully reserved for the Blackfeet Tribe by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Because the district court did not have jurisdiction over the defendants, the United States and the Tribe, we affirm the dismissal. FACTS 2 The General Allotment Act of 1887, 25 U.S.C. Secs. 331-358 (1982), established procedures for…