Pit River Home & Agricultural Cooperative Ass'n v. United States

Opinion by Judge BRUNETTI.

OVERVIEW

This lawsuit involves a dispute over which group of Indians are the beneficial owners of a certain piece of property. In the late 1930s, the United States purchased property, called the XL Ranch, in trust for the Pit River Indian Tribe in anticipation of its designation as a recognized tribe. In the early 1940s, the United States granted occupancy rights in the XL Ranch under a revokable assignment to the Pit River Home and Agricultural Cooperative Association (the “Association”), a small group of Pit River Indians. The Association remained on the property until 1977, when the XL Ranch was turned over to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (the “BIA”) to manage until the Secretary of the Interior (the “Secretary”) determined the composition of the Pit River Indian Tribe and hence the permanent beneficiary of the property. In 1987, the Secretary, after a multitude of court and administrative proceedings, designated the Pit River Tribal Council (the “Council”) as the governing body of the Pit River Indian Tribe, the permanent beneficiary of the XL Ranch.

Although the litigation below was extensive and drawn out, the main issue that survives on appeal…