Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakima Nation v. County of Yakima and Dale A. Gray, Yakima County Treasurer

Yakima County appeals from the district court’s summary judgment in favor of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakima Nation (Yakima Nation). Pursuant to section 6 of the General Allotment Act of 1887, 24 Stat. 388 , 25 U.S.C. § 349 (General Allotment Act), the County claims power to impose and levy taxes on fee patented land owned by members of the Yakima Nation and located within their reservation. We have jurisdiction over this timely appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand to the district court for further proceedings.

I

The policy behind the General Allotment Act and similar allotment acts was “the gradual extinction of Indian reservations and Indian titles” through a process of steady assimilation. Draper v. United States, 164 U.S. 240, 246 , 17 S.Ct. 107, 109 , 41 L.Ed. 419 (1896). In particular, the General Allotment Act was designed to provide for the “ ‘breaking up, as rapidly as possible, of all the tribal organizations and for the allotment of lands to the Indians in severalty, in order that they may possess them individually and proceed to qualify themselves for the duties and responsibilities of citizenship.’ ”…