LILLIAN MCCOVEY SHERMOEN; CAROL LEIGH MCCONNELL AMMON; LESLIE AMMON; ELSIE MCCOVEY BACON; GAYLON ROBERT BACON; JOSEPH K. BACON; RAYMOND E. BACON; GEORGE CLIFFORD BAILEY, SR.; ETHEL MAE BLAKE; CLARANN C. (RAGAIN) BRAY; MARY L. CARROLL; ORA COLLINS; DENNIS COSTA; JOANNE BARBARA WILDER COSTA; BARNEY ALVA CURTICE; FRANK BENJAMIN DOWD; GERALD IESHH DOWD; KATHY NOREEN DOWD; ROCKY TWA-GAH DOWD; VENOLA DOWD; OLLIE ROBERTS SORRELL FOSEIDE; EILEEN RENEE (RAGAIN) GEORGE; FRANK GIST; BONITA BACON GREEN; JANICE MARIE GREENE; EARL GRIFFITH; COLLEEN GUIDO; DOROTHY HARRIET WILLIAMS HABERMAN; RICHARD LEE HABERMAN; MARY LOUISE HALL; EVALINA HOFFMAN; LINDA LEE HOFFMAN; VIRGINIA HOWERTON; MARTIN KINDER; RACHEL LOUISE KNIGHT; PAULINE ROGERS KOTHMAN; AXEL RODERICK LINDGREN; MARILYN KAY LUNSFORD; ARDITH EVELYN MCCONNELL; HOWARD DUANE MCCONNELL; MICHAEL MCCONNELL; ROBERT BRIAN MCCONNELL; ALLEN MCCOVEY, SR.; BEATRICE VIOLET MCCOVEY; DARRELL MCCOVEY; FRANK LYNN MCCOVEY; JAMES L. MCCOVEY; LOREN GERHAD MCCOVEY; VADA NORMA JOHN MCCOVEY; VLAYN DENE HARVILL MCCOVEY; DAVID EDGAR MCLAUGHLIN; THELMA WILMA MCLAUGHLIN; GERTRUDE VIOLA MOLLIER; CAROL GRIFFITH MOON; EDWARD MICHAEL MOORE; LENA ISLE NICHOLSON; DAVID O'NEILL; ELLEN J. O'NEILL; HERBERT LINCOLN O'NEILL; BARBARA D. ORCUTT; LAWRENCE E. ORCUTT; BERNICE JEAN ROUBIDOUX; DARLENE MARIE ROUBIDOUX; PEGGY JOYCE SANDERSON; JOHN DENTON SIMPSON, II; VIVIAN KAY SIMPSON; ALBERTA SYLVIA; MARIA EILEEN TRIPP; GEORGIANA TRULL; LENA CLEVELAND WILDER; and THE COAST INDIAN COMMUNITY OF YUROK INDIANS OF THE RESIGHINI RANCHERIA, a federally recognized tribe, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR, BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS; MANUEL LUJAN, Secretary of the Interior; EDDIE BROWN, Assistant Secretary of the Interior/Indian Affairs; RONALD M. JAEGER, Area Director, Sacramento Area Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs; and KAROLE OVERBERG, Superintendant, Northern California Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Defendants-Appellees, DALE RISLING, SR.; ROBERT D. HOSTLER; CLIFFORD LYLE MARSHALL; and JOHN M. SCOTT, Intervenor Defendants-Appellees., 982 F.2d 1312
Summary
Appellants, 70 individual Native Americans and a community of Yurok Indians, sued appellees, the United States, the Department of the Interior, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, seeking injunctive relief and a declaration that the Hoopa-Yurok Settlement Act (Act), 25 U.S.C.S. §§ 1300i-1300i-11, violated their constitutional rights. The Act recognized the Hoopa Valley Tribe and the Yurok Tribe, and designated reservations for each in northern California. The district court dismissed the action with prejudice pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 19(b), ruling that the absent Hoopa Valley and Yurok tribes were indispensable parties and immune from suit. The court affirmed on appeal. First, the absent tribes had an indisputable interest in the outcome of appellants' suit, and the United States could not adequately represent their interests since there was a potential conflict of interest between the United States and the tribes. Second, application of the public rights exception to the joinder ...