Mishewal Wappo Tribe v. Jewell

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT; DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Re: Dkt. Nos. 185, 186

EDWARD J. DAVILA, District Judge

In the earlier part of the twentieth century, the United States government passed a series of laws affecting its relationship with the indigenous inhabitants of California and their descendants. One of those laws, the Indian Appropriations Act of 1906, permitted the Secretary of the Interior (the “Secretary”) to purchase parcels of land, or “rancherías,” throughout the state for use by California Indians.1 Fifty *932years later, Congress…