Providence, R.I.—The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to resolve a dispute over the federal government's ability to take land into trust for American Indian tribes, a move that effectively removes those lands from state and local control.
American Indian rights groups fear the case involving the Narragansett Indian Tribe could undermine the status of tribal land across the country and make it difficult for tribes to expand their control over newly acquired lands. The justices will hear the case in the fall.
At issue is whether a 31-acre lot in Charlestown purchased by the Narragansetts should be subject to Rhode Island law, including a prohibition on casino gambling, or whether the parcel should be governed by tribal and federal law. The dispute dates to 1991, when the tribe purchased the land to build a housing complex for its elderly members, which remains incomplete.
The state has argued that federal law prevents the U.S. government from taking land into trust, or largely removing land from state and local control, for tribes recognized after the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act -- unless they meet certain ancestry requirements or Congress specifically authorizes it. The Narragansetts became a federally recognized tribe in 1983.
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston rejected the state's claim in July.
Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri and town officials in Charlestown oppose the land transfer and welcomed the Supreme Court's review. They fear the Narragansetts want to build a casino on the site.
"It is simply not acceptable for any state to be stripped of its sovereignty over land within its borders by mid-level bureaucrats in Washington," Carcieri said in a written statement.
Narragansett Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas, the tribe's leader, said the Narragansetts intend to use the land for housing. In the past, he has suggested the land could also be used for gambling.
"We're trying to get people into those houses as soon as possible," Thomas said. "I've always said Carcieri and the rest of them have a colonial mentality. ... They fought us when they got off the boats and they're going to fight us to the end."
Congress passed the 1934 law to help tribes regain land that had been sold off or broken up under earlier policies. Lawyers for the state have argued that since the Narragansetts were not federally recognized before the law passed, they cannot place their land into trust unless Congress allows it.
Indian rights groups and the U.S. Department of the Interior interpret the act more broadly. They have argued it was intended to not only address past wrongs, but to set the standard for future dealings with American Indian tribes.
The tribe's housing project has languished for years. In 1999, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development issued an audit faulting the tribe for spending $3.2 million without building a single, habitable home.
The Narragansetts, whose headquarters is in southern Rhode Island, claim about 2,400 members. The impoverished tribe has tried for years to build a casino so they can benefit from an Indian gaming industry that has brought millions of dollars to tribes just over the Connecticut border.
But the Narragansetts face legal obstacles to building a casino. The tribe received 1,800 acres of land under a 1978 legal settlement that subjected the parcel to state and local control -- including a state ban on casinos. In 1996, at the behest of the late Sen. John Chafee, Congress banned the Narragansetts from applying under federal law to build a casino on that land without state approval.
Lawyers say it is less clear whether the tribe could build a casino on the 31-acre parcel if it is taken into federal trust. That land was purchased privately and was not part of the 1978 settlement.
Rhode Island voters rejected a proposed amendment to the state constitution in 2006 that would have allowed the Narragansett tribe and Las Vegas-based Harrah's Entertainment to operate a casino in West Warwick.
The case is Carcieri v. Kempthorne, 07-526.
