Akiachak Native Community v. United States Department of the Interior

Dissenting opinion filed by Circuit Judge BROWN.

TATEL, Circuit Judge:

In 1971, after decades of conflict, the United States finally settled land claims staked by descendants of Alaskan aboriginal tribes. The U.S. Department of Interi- or had long interpreted this settlement to bar it from taking land into trust for Indian tribes in Alaska. In this case, several Alaska Native tribes sued the Department, challenging the regulation implementing *102that prohibition. After the district court held that Interior’s interpretation was contrary to law, the Department, following notice and comment, revised…