Opinion
No. 17-16321
12-11-2018
CALIFORNIA VALLEY MIWOK TRIBE et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. RYAN K. ZINKE, in his official capacity as U.S. Secretary of Interior; et al., Defendants-Appellees, CALIFORNIA VALLEY MIWOK TRIBE et al., Intervenor-Defendants-Appellees.
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
D.C. No. 2:16-cv-01345-WBS-CKD MEMORANDUM Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California
William B. Shubb, District Judge, Presiding Argued and Submitted November 15, 2018 San Francisco, California Before: GRABER, THACKER, and BENNETT, Circuit Judges.
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
The Honorable Stephanie Dawn Thacker, Circuit Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, sitting by designation.
Plaintiff California Valley Miwok Tribe ("Tribe"), represented by the Burley Council, appeals from summary judgment entered in favor of Defendants the California Valley Miwok Tribe, represented by the Dixie Council, and the United States. The district court held that the 2015 Decision ("Decision") by the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs ("Assistant Secretary") did not violate the Administrative Procedure Act ("APA"). Reviewing de novo, Chemehuevi Indian Tribe v. Jewell, 767 F.3d 900, 903 (9th Cir. 2014), we affirm.
The district court correctly held that the Decision did not violate the APA. Tribal membership is a matter to be determined by the tribe, Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez, 436 U.S. 49, 72 n.32 (1978), but the Department of the Interior also has the responsibility to ensure that organized tribes are representative of potential membership, Aguayo v. Jewell, 827 F.3d 1213, 1226 (9th Cir. 2016). The Decision comported with that responsibility.
We assume, without deciding, that issue preclusion does not bar our consideration of these issues on the merits. --------
The Assistant Secretary recounted the Tribe's long litigation history but did not rely on those earlier court holdings to reach a decision. Instead, the Assistant Secretary independently examined the facts and the law, before determining that the Tribe was not reorganized, that its membership is not limited to five individuals, and that the United States does not recognize leadership of the tribal government. The Decision was not arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with the law, and therefore did not violate the APA. Aguayo, 827 F.3d at 1226.
AFFIRMED.