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.
