How Doth Bob Kelly Disenroll Thee? Let Me Count the Stays

Bob Kelly has written the Nooksack 306, announcing that the interim "Tribal Council officially removed your name from the roll book of currently enrolled members of the Nooksack Indian Tribe." 

The 306 have been "officially" disenrolled, without any notice or due process whatsoever.

This time there wasn't even a 1-800 disenrollment hotline to call.  

The 306 can now only seek "reconsideration."  Fait accompli.

Kelly cites a recently "ratified and reaffirmed" council resolution from 2016, which was, and remains, invalidated by the United States. 

With grand delusion, he also cites "the movement against the concept of disenrollment to turn the Tribal Court system into a constitutional court"--in other words, the cries of indigenous peoples for normative due process and equal protection at law.  Huh? 

Anyway, a federally invalidated tribal council resolution cannot be tribally "ratified and reaffirmed," especially by an interim council that lacks a constitutional quorum.

Crucially, the Kelly Faction stands in further violation of each of the following ten federal administrative stays and related Tribal Court and Court of Appeals injunctions.  It is hard to fathom how anybody could be more enjoined than the Kelly Faction at the moment. 

• St. Germain v. Acting N.W. Reg’l Dir., 17 IBIA No.16-022 (Bd. of Indian App. 2016) (Appealing “whether the Superintendent and Regional Director approved the Tribe’s proposed amend to Title 63 in accordance with the administrative rules, procedures, and laws that direct BIA decision making.”); 

• 43 C.F.R. § 4.314(a) (2004) (“No decision of an administrative law judge, Indian probate judge, or BIA official that at the time of its rendition is subject to appeal to the Board, will be considered final . . . .”); 

• 25 C.F.R. § 2.6(a) (1989) (“No decision, which at the time of its rendition is subject to appeal to a superior authority in the Department, shall be considered final . . . .”); 

• 25 C.F.R. § 2.6(b) (1989) (“Decisions made by officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs shall be effective when the time for filing a notice of appeal has expired and no notice of appeal has been filed.”); 

• Order at 2, Michelle Roberts, et al., v. Robert Kelly, et al., No. 2013-CI-CL-003 and Belmont, et al, v. Kelly, et al., No. 2014-CI-CL-007, (Nooksack Tribal Ct. Feb. 26, 2015) ("the Parties shall maintain the status quo . . . until a decision approving Title 63 becomes final for the Department of the Interior pursuant to 25 C.F.R. § 2.6."); 

• Opinion at 9, Michelle Roberts, et al., v. Robert Kelly, et al., No. 2013- CI-CL-003 (Nooksack Tribal App. Ct. Mar. 18, 2014) (“[T]hese procedures were not properly adopted in accordance with the strict requirements of the Nooksack Constitution, and any procedural rules governing disenrollment proceedings must be adopted by ordinance and the ordinance approved by the Secretary of the Interior as provided for in the Nooksack Constitution.”); 

• Decision and Order Granting Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction, Belmont et al, v. Kelly, et al., No. 214-CI-CL-007 (Nooksack Tribal Ct. June 12, 2014) (granting Plaintiff’s motion for preliminary injunction holding “[t]his approach appears to be an attempt to circumvent the very clear holdings of the Court of Appeals that disenrollment procedures . . . must be approved by the Secretary of the Interior . . . .”); 

• Order Enjoining Disenrollment Proceedings, Michelle Roberts, et al., v. Robert Kelly, et al., No. 2013-CI-CL-003 (Nooksack Tribal Ct. Mar. 31, 2014) (Court “hereby issues a permanent injunction against the Defendants enjoining them from undertaking disenrollment proceedings . . . .”); 

• Second Order Granting Request to Join April 15, 2016, Motion and Be Subject to June 28, 2016, Order, Belmont, et al, v. Kelly, et al., No. 2014-CI-CL-007 (Nooksack Tribal App. Ct. Sept. 28, 2016) (order granting Formal Indications to 127 more plaintiffs regarding Nooksack Tribal Court June 28, Order); and 

• Order Granting Requests to Join April 15, 2016, Motion and Be Subject to June 28, 2016, Order, Belmont, et al, v. Kelly, et al., No. 2014-CI-CL-007 (Nooksack Tribal App. Ct. Sept. 21, 2016) (order granting Formal Indications to 17 plaintiffs regarding Nooksack Tribal Court June 28, 2016 Order). 

The 306 could also seek contempt of court from the Nooksack Tribal Court.  But with fake judge Ray Dodge still holding his finger down on the scales of justice in Deming, that isn't an option.

Still, the 306 belong, and intend to stay right where they belong: at Nooksack and in Deming.

Gabriel S. Galanda is the managing lawyer of Galanda Broadman, PLLC, in Seattle. Gabe is a descendant of the Nomlaki and Concow Tribes, belonging to the Round Valley Indian Tribes of Northern California.  He can be reached at (206) 300-7801 or gabe@galandabroadman.com.

Galanda Broadman Adds Professor Robert Hershey As Of Counsel

Professor Robert Hershey will serve as Of Counsel with Galanda Broadman and bring decades of Indian country legal experience to the growing firm.  

Robert is Clinical Professor of Law Emeritus and was the founding Director and immediate past Director of Clinical Education for the Indigenous Peoples Law & Policy Program at the University of Arizona. He practices out of Tucson, Arizona.

“Galanda Broadman exemplifies a dedication and diligence toward genuine self-determination of Native American and Indigenous societies. Their attorneys have heightened and heartfelt experiences of professional advocacy,” said Robert. “I am honored to be associated with their teaching, mentoring, litigating, and fearless representation of Native rights.”

“Professor Hershey’s four decades of legal, trial, and clinical advocacy for the protection of traditional indigenous values and ways is unmatched,” said Gabe Galanda, the firm’s managing lawyer.  “We couldn’t be prouder to have him on our team.”

Robert received his law degree from the University of Arizona College of Law in 1972. He then worked as a Staff Attorney for the Fort Defiance Agency of Dinebeiina Nahilna Be Agaditahe (DNA Legal Services) on the Navajo Indian Reservation.

From 1983 to 1999, he served as Special Litigation Counsel and Law Enforcement Legal Advisor to the White Mountain Apache Tribe, and, from 1995 to 1997, as Special Counsel to the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. From 1998-2002 he was a special litigation counsel to the Gila River Indian Community.

Robert also serves, now in his twenty-ninth year, as Judge Pro Tempore for the Tohono O’odham Judiciary.  He was an Associate Justice for the Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribal Court of Appeals and a Deputy Judge Pro Tempore for the Colorado River Indian Tribes.

As a practitioner, in addition to litigating for Tribes and Native Nations, Robert has conducted seminars for tribal law enforcement agencies in matters such as tribal jurisdiction, evidence, search & seizure, game and fish legislation, juvenile diversion, jail management, victim-witness support, and use of force, including firearms. He co-wrote the Bureau of Indian Affairs Law Enforcement Policies and Procedures.

Galanda Broadman PLLC, is an American Indian-owned law firm with offices in Seattle, Spokane and Yakima, Washington and Bend, Oregon. The firm is dedicated to advancing tribal Treaty and other sovereign legal rights, and Native American civil rights and Indigenous Peoples’ human rights.  Robert is an independent attorney who will associate with the firm on a case-by-case basis.

Galanda/Dreveskracht's Disenrollment Law Review Article Named Top 100 All-Time

Ryan Dreveskracht and Gabe Galanda, at left, at Nooksack, facing off with the Tribal Police Chief

Gabe Galanda and Ryan Dreveskracht's Arizona Law Review article, "Curing the Tribal Disenrollment Epidemic: In Search of a Remedy," was recently cited as one of "the 100 most influential Indian law scholarly pieces from the last thirty years."

Professors Grant Christiensen and Melissa Tatum listed Gabe and Ryan's article as #64 of the Top 100 all-time, in their forthcoming Tulsa Law Review article, "Reading Indian Law: Evaluating Thirty Years of Indian Law Scholarship."

Gabriel S. Galanda is the managing lawyer of Galanda Broadman, PLLC, in Seattle. Gabe is a descendant of the Nomlaki and Concow Tribes, belonging to the Round Valley Indian Tribes of Northern California.  He can be reached at (206) 300-7801 or gabe@galandabroadman.com.

Ryan Dreveskracht is an attorney with Galanda Broadman, PLLC, in Seattle.  His practice includes civil rights and wrongful death litigation.  He can be reached at (206) 909-3842 or ryan@galandabroadman.com. 

New York Times Cites Gabe Galanda Re: Tribal Opioids Litigation

The New York Times quoted Gabe Galanda's scholarship in a recent article: "In Opioid Battle, Cherokee Want Their Day in Tribal Court."

The article cites a 2003 article Gabe wrote for the American Bar Association, Getting Commercial in Indian Country, in reference to Montana v. U.S., 450 U.S. 544 (1981):

Tribal courts generally do not have jurisdiction over people who are not Native Americans. The Cherokee are relying on a 1981 exception created by the Supreme Court: If a non-Indian business has a commercial, consensual relationship with the tribe, the Court said, the tribe may assert authority.

Gabriel S. Galanda is the managing lawyer of Galanda Broadman, PLLC, in Seattle. Gabe is a descendant of the Nomlaki and Concow Tribes, belonging to the Round Valley Indian Tribes of Northern California.  He can be reached at (206) 300-7801 or gabe@galandabroadman.com.

Bree Black Horse Teaches ACLU-WA How to "Get to Know Indian Country"

Yesterday Bree Black Horse taught a CLE at the Seattle, Washington chapter of the ACLU about how to approach outreach and community speaking events with local tribes; consideration of the history of Washington state tribes and reservations; and techniques for culturally competent interactions. 

Bree is an associate in the Seattle office of Galanda Broadman and an enrolled member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma.  Her practice focuses on defending individuals’ civil rights in federal, state and tribal courts. She can be reached at (206) 735-0448 or bree@galandabroadman.com.