Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. v. Kluti Kaah Native Village

concurring:

I concur. For the reasons set forth in my concurring opinion in Alaska v. Native Village of Venetie Tribal Gov’t, No. 96-35042, slip op. 14907, 14943, - F.3d -, - (9th Cir. November 20, 1996), I do not believe that Indian country remains in most of Aaska. But, even if it does, the land involved here is not it.

Copper Center Village Council and certain officials of the Kluti Kaah Native Village of Copper Center (“Kluti Kaah”) appeal the district court’s determination that the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act extinguished Indian country in Alaska, and that Kluti Kaah Native Village therefore lacks the authority to impose its Business Activity Tax upon the owners and operator of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm. We conclude that the land at issue is not Indian country because it is subject to a federal right-of-way for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline.

BACKGROUND

This case arises from the attempt by the Kluti Kaah Native Village of Copper Center to impose its Business Activities Tax upon the owners and operator of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, which passes through land near the village.

Kluti Kaah is a group of Alaska Natives who historically have inhabited an area near Copper Center, at the confluence of the Klu-tina and Copper Rivers in the Copper River Valley. A subgroup of the Ahtna, a band of Alaska Natives who have lived in the region for nearly 2,000 years, the Native Village of Kluti Kaah emerged as a distinct group…