We Are Proud Partners of the ACLU

In 2013, we were honored to collaborate with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in defense of tribal sovereignty before the Washington State Supreme Court in State v. Clark, and in defense of indigenous prisoners' religious freedoms from California to Geneva, Switzerland. We look forward to again locking arms with the ACLU, in defense of what is right.

Dear Gabriel,

Just a quick thanks for all you did during 2013 to support the ACLU's mission.

I always tell people that our organization has a very special group of supporters. And, once again, you proved it. We ended the year with a dramatic and urgently needed show of financial support.

And thanks to you, we are able to begin the new year picking up on the energy and momentum you helped create over the last 12 months. With your ongoing help, we will keep driving freedom forward.

You're the best,

Anthony D. Romero Executive Director, ACLU

Tribal Disenrollment Defense Lawyers

We are proud to represent the Nooksack 306 and the Grand Ronde descendants of Chief Tumulth, as well as other American Indian citizens facing disenrollment. We do not prosecute disenrollment actions; we defend against them. Our sworn duty is to ensure that fundamental human rights and guaranteed civil rights are honored during any disenrollment actions. Too frequently, they are not.

Our work on behalf of the Nooksack 306 is featured here on Turtle Talk, and our work for the Chief Tumulth descendants can be found here.

Galanda Broadman is an American Indian owned firm dedicated to advancing tribal legal rights and Indian business interests. The firm represents tribal governments, businesses and members in critical litigation, business and regulatory matters, especially in the areas of Indian Treaty rights, tribal sovereignty, taxation, commerce, personal injury, and human/civil rights.

There is no more critical a legal situation to an American Indian than a disenrollment action. Legal counsel is almost certainly required. If you facing disenrollment, call the firm's Managing Partner Gabe Galanda to see if we can help.

Good Tidings We Bring To You

Pictured: Tribal lawyers Anthony Broadman, Ryan Dreveskracht, Joe Sexton, Scott Wheat (Choctaw), Gabe Galanda (Round Valley)

Gabe Galanda Publishes on Legal History of Washington Tribal-State Relations

Gabe Galanda has published an article, "Galanda Washington Tribal-State Relations Bar Bulletin," in this month's King County Bar Bulletin, which is themed, "polarity." Dedicating the piece "to those Washington Indians who fought the fish wars and to the tribal lawyers who won the Boldt Decision," he recaps modern Indian legal history in Washington and concludes with criticism that the Washington Supreme Court's three most recent Indian law decisions are regressive.

Polarity accurately describes the historic legal relationship between the State of Washington and those Tribal Governments indigenous to our state. Tribal sovereignty, i.e., “the right of reservation Indians to make their own laws and be ruled by them,” has always been antipodal to state sovereignty as a matter of Anglo-American jurisprudence. So much so, that by the late 1800s nascent states were deemed the Tribes’ “deadliest enemies” by none other than the U.S. Supreme Court. And over the ensuing century, tribal and state governments waged a zero-sum battle over who would regulate Indian Country.

But today, in what is the era of Indian self-determination as a matter of both federal policy and tribal behavior, tribal/state opposition is waning. As noted by leading Indian law scholar, Professor Matthew T. Fletcher:

States and tribes are beginning to smooth over the rough edges of federal Indian law — jurisdictional confusion, historical animosity between states and Indian tribes, competition between sovereigns for tax revenue, economic development opportunities, and regulatory authority — through cooperative agreements. In effect, a new political relationship is springing up all over the nation between states, local units of government, and Indian tribes.

Washington tribal/state relations and the new political relationship between our state’s sovereigns are indeed evolving. Still, based on the Washington Supreme Court’s three most recent three Indian law decisions, more progress is required to achieve tribal/state congruity throughout official state policy. In particular, the increasingly cooperative relationship between the Tribes and State must be better appreciated when the Court next evaluates regulatory power or adjudicatory jurisdiction in Washington Indian Country.

Gabriel "Gabe" Galanda is a partner at Galanda Broadman PLLC, of Seattle, an American Indian owned law firm. He is an enrolled member of the Round Valley Indian Tribes of Covelo, California. Gabe can be reached at 206.300.7801 or gabe@galandabroadman.com.

Gabe Galanda To Again Co-Chair Northwest Gaming Law Summit

On Thursday-Friday, December 12 and 13, United States, Washington State and Native Nations leaders will meet to discuss various emerging legal, regulatory, political and economic issues impacting the Indian gaming industry, at the 11th Annual Northwest Gaming Law Summit in Seattle. “Just as Indian gaming has grown exponentially over the last decade, so has the Summit,” said conference co-chair Gabe Galanda, an Indian lawyer and partner at Galanda Broadman in Seattle. “We are proud that we have become the most authoritative gaming law educational seminar in the country.” This year’s lineup of speakers include:

• New National Indian Gaming Commission Chairman Jonodev Chaudhuri • National Indian Gaming Commissioner Daniel Little • New Washington State Gambling Commission Executive Director David Trujillo • New Washington State Gambling Commission Commissioner Christopher Stearns • Washington Indian Gaming Association Chairman Ron Allen • Cowlitz Tribal Council Vice Chairman Phil Harju • Tulalip Tribal Board of Directors Secretary Glen Gobin

Those hot topics that will be discussed include:

• iGaming in Indian Country • Social Gaming • Fee-to-Trust Transactions for Gaming Development • The U.S. Supreme Court’s pending Bay Mills case • Indian gaming commercial financing trends amidst the Great Recession

Gabriel "Gabe" Galanda is a partner at Galanda Broadman PLLC, of Seattle, an American Indian owned law firm. He is an enrolled member of the Round Valley Indian Tribes of Covelo, California. Gabe can be reached at 206.300.7801 or gabe@galandabroadman.com.

Law360 Quotes Gabe Galanda Re Bay Mills Imbroglio

Gabe Galanda is featured along with several leading Indian lawyers and scholars in a Law360 article about Bay Mills, just days prior to oral argument before the Supreme Court. In "Bay Mills Hinges On High Court's Loyalty To Precedent," Gabe is quoted as follows:

Several Indian law experts, however, do not believe the Bay Mills tribe — which was urged to drop its case to avoid the Supreme Court — stands a good chance, and they are concerned that the current court will use the case as an opportunity to veer sharply from the Kiowa ruling.

That's because in the Kiowa decision, the justices affirmed the tribal sovereign immunity doctrine, but they also had some less-than-encouraging words about the doctrine and asked Congress to look into making changes at the lawmaking level. Congress held several hearings after the ruling, but ultimately decided to take no action, experts note.

"In the Kiowa case, a prior Supreme Court made it very clear that they were uncomfortable about tribal sovereign immunity. ... I believe the court will now take occasion to do what it wanted to do in the late 1990s and abrogate tribal sovereign immunity," said Gabriel S. Galanda 
of Galanda Broadman PLLC.

*** [O]thers, however, are hoping that the high court ultimately rules that the state can find remedies under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The National Indian Gaming Commission, however, has so far declined to step in with a closure order that would officially shut down the Bay Mills casino for operating illegally on nontribal land. And the U.S. Department of Justice has likewise declined to step in and provide a remedy for Michigan.

"The absence of a federal remedy from the NIGC or DOJ to date will cause the justices to create the remedy for the state of Michigan, and it will be a remedy Indian country will not like," Galanda said, adding the case threatens to upset the delicate balance between state and tribal sovereign immunity. ***

As the case moves to arguments, attorneys rooting for both sides will be watching to see how broadly the sovereign immunity arguments are introduced, according to Rand. And while many believe, as Galanda points out, that the facts are not sympathetic for Indian country and that the tribe will be hard-pressed to win its case, other hold out hope.

Gabriel "Gabe" Galanda is a partner at Galanda Broadman PLLC, of Seattle, an American Indian owned law firm. He is an enrolled member of the Round Valley Indian Tribes of Covelo, California. Gabe can be reached at 206.300.7801 or gabe@galandabroadman.com.

Bay Mills Musings

My criticisms of the entire Bay Mills situation is mentioned in today in an article titled, "Supreme Problem: One Tribe Pressured to Waive Sovereignty for Good of the Whole." Here are a few musings about this unfortunate predicament: Bay Mills now poses a choice of the lesser of two evils for all of Indian Country. The first evil is federal enforcement authority, specifically the power of the NIGC to regulate Indian gaming beyond Indian lands. The second evil is states' rights, particularly the state right to remedy unlawful Indian gaming.

With Indian Country's political elite in the Beltway not being earnest or forthright about the matter at hand, that fateful choice will now be made for us by the notoriously anti-tribal and pro-state Supreme Court. There is no question that the Justices will assault tribal sovereignty and immunity, in favor of enforceable states' rights in Indian Country.

The court will somehow violently upset the delicate balance of state and tribal sovereignty that was set in 1990s when state and tribal sovereign immunity were affirmed in the Seminole and Citizen Band of Potawatomi decisions. The balance of power under IGRA that results from those decisions, will be tilted sharply towards states.

The court will almost certainly craft a ruling that usher states into Indian casinos and all of Indian gaming, if not all of Indian Country a la Nevada v. Hicks. Justice Scalia in particular, who openly disdains gaming and adores states rights, could use the atrocious facts of Bay Mills to finally sound the death knell for tribal sovereign immunity.

Indian Country should be afraid--very, very afraid.

Gabriel "Gabe" Galanda is a partner at Galanda Broadman PLLC, of Seattle, an American Indian owned law firm. He is an enrolled member of the Round Valley Indian Tribes of Covelo, California. Gabe can be reached at 206.300.7801 or gabe@galandabroadman.com.

Galanda Broadman Adds Two More Tribal Lawyers

Galanda Broadman has deepened its bench by adding two lawyers experienced in advancing the interests of powerful tribal governments. Scott Wheat, an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation and the current general counsel for the Spokane Tribe of Indians, joins the firm as Of Counsel.

Joe Sexton also joins the firm as Of Counsel after serving as an associate in-house counsel for the Yakama Nation.

“We’re thrilled to add Scott and Joe to our squad,” said Gabe Galanda, the firm’s managing partner.  “Not only are both of these guys excellent tribal lawyers, but they have the high ethics and character necessary to do first-rate legal work in Indian Country.”

Scott has worked for tribal governments for over a decade.  He has extensive litigation experience in tribal, state and federal courts, having litigated controversies involving gaming, taxation, Treaty fishing rights, natural resource protection, land use, federal recognition, and ancient land claims.

Joe practice focuses on complex land and environmental issues, multi-party litigation involving tribal sovereignty issues, torts and contract disputes.  At Yakama, he assisted with fish habitat restoration work, the protection of archaeological and cultural resources, and the establishment of a tribal motor vehicle licensing program.  Joe served in the United States Marine Corps and was deployed to Kuwait and Iraq in 2003.

Scott is a graduate of Seattle University School of Law (magna cum laude), and The Evergreen State College.  Joe graduated from the University of Arizona College of Law, and The Citadel.

Galanda Broadman was recently named to the 2014 Edition of U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms,” in the arena of Native American Law.  The firm, which styles itself  “An Indian Country Law Firm,” is dedicated to advancing tribal legal rights and Indian business interests.  With offices in Seattle, Washington and Bend, Oregon, the firm represents tribal governments, businesses and members in critical litigation, business and regulatory matters, especially in matters of Indian Treaty rights, tribal sovereignty and taxation.

Interior's Indian Land Buy-Back Plan: More Sketchy By the Day

Consider the highlights--or lowlights--of Interior's latest "plan" for Indian land "buy back." First, "the program will exclude reservations east of the Mississippi and in Alaska" according to Interior's appraisers. In addition, Western states with high concentrations of Indian lands, most notably California, are not on Interior's priority list for federal buy back funding.

Second, according to Interior's latest plan, "once fair market value determinations have been made, the Department will mail offer packages to individuals with ownership interests in those valued tracts and seek to acquire those interests that individuals are willing to sell."

In other words, Interior expresses no intention of consulting in person with individual Indian landowners to ensure they understand the proposed purchase and sale transaction. That despite a clear ruling in Cobell v. Norton, 225 F.R.D. 41, 45 (D.D.C. 2004) that such sales "require communication between individual Indian trust-land owners and agents of Interior.” Mass mailings are simply not the communication or consultation that is required to cause Indians to fully understand the consequences of signing boilerplate papers that will cause them to cede their ancestral lands.

Third, nowhere in the plan does Interior "respond to concerns about the conflict of interest it will face during either voluntary or forced sale—meaning how it will simultaneously fulfill its trust responsibility to both a tribal government buyer and a tribal member seller."

Indeed: "On the issue of fair market value alone, that conflict cannot be avoided. Even a willing member seller will want the purchase price to be as high as possible, while both the tribal buyer and Interior will want the price to be lower, in the interest of spreading as far as possible the $1.55 billion allocated for land consolidation." So much for the federal trust responsibility owed to tribal members, or the so-called "lessons learned" from Cobell.

Finally, Interior continues to feign that "the Buy-Back Program is strictly voluntary." It is not. As Buried towards the end of the plan is this cryptic disclaimer: "Under the terms of the Settlement and the Claims Resolution Act of 2010, all sales are voluntary...The Department has no control over the prerogatives of sovereign tribal nations to exercise whatever rights they may have regarding the purchase of land outside of the confines of the Buy-Back Program."

In more meaningful words, under 25 U.S.C. 2204 tribes have the right to force the sale of their members' land interests. "Make no mistake about it: while Interior’s plan now disclaims that it will facilitate forced sales under 25 U.S.C. 2204, the buy back program will catalyze controversial intra-tribal forced sales." It is sketchy to feign or suggest that it won't.

Gabriel "Gabe" Galanda is a partner at Galanda Broadman PLLC, of Seattle, an American Indian owned law firm. He is an enrolled member of the Round Valley Indian Tribes of Covelo, California. Gabe can be reached at 206.300.7801 or gabe@galandabroadman.com.

Round Valley Lawyer Gabe Galanda Named Indian Country "Visionary"

Richard Walker of the Indian Country Today Media Network published an article titled, "5 Visionaries Who See a Brighter Future for Indian Country," naming Gabe Galanda as one of "five people are rocking the world with their forward thinking, innovation and commitment to social justice."

3. Gabe Galanda, Round Valley Indian Tribes: Paving the Red Road to Recovery for Inmates

The efforts of this Seattle-based lawyer are helping Native Americans in prison to walk the red road to recovery. Galanda formed the nonprofit organization Huy (pronounced “Hoyt”) essentially meaning “I’ll see you later.” (Coast Salish people do not have a word for “goodbye.”) In Washington state, Huy won changes in policies that blocked Native American inmates’ access to traditional religious practices and sacred items.

Huy is lobbying for similar changes nationwide. The organization asked the U.N. Human Rights Committee for an inquiry into restrictions upon Native inmates’ religious freedoms, and appeared as a friend of the court in support of those freedoms. Galanda argues that restricting such freedoms violates federal, state and international law. For some Native inmates, walking the red road while behind bars is the only road to rehabilitation and survival.

“Today’s powwow, everything that we do is to give back, to show our kids and our families that we’re going to work on getting back to those ways, getting back to spirituality and things that matter,” inmate Seymour Ruben told the Cheney Free Press during an August 1 powwow at Airway Heights Corrections Center.

Gabriel "Gabe" Galanda is a partner at Galanda Broadman PLLC, of Seattle, an American Indian owned law firm.  He is an enrolled member of the Round Valley Indian Tribes of Covelo, California.  Gabe can be reached at 206.300.7801 or gabe@galandabroadman.com.