Mashpee Tribe v. James G. Watt

We have examined the record in this case and the prior case, Mashpee Tribe v. Town of Mashpee, 447 F.Supp. 940, 950 (D.Mass.1978), aff’d sub nom. Mashpee Tribe v. New Seabury Corp., 592 F.2d 575 (1st Cir.), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 866, 100 S.Ct. 138, 62 L.Ed.2d 90 (1979), with care, and we have reached three conclusions. First, the decision in the prior case rested on the tribe’s inability to prove an essential element of its substantive claim, its continued tribal identity; the dismissal order therefore was a judgment on the merits rather than a dismissal for lack of subject matter…