Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-5_09-cv-02502/USCOURTS-cand-5_09-cv-02502-13/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 440
Nature of Suit: Other Civil Rights
Cause of Action: 28:1331 Fed. Question

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Case No.: 5:09-cv-02502-EJD

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT; DENYING 

PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

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United States District Court

Northern District of California

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

SAN JOSE DIVISION

THE MISHEWAL WAPPO TRIBE OF 

ALEXANDER VALLEY,

Plaintiff,

v.

SALLY JEWELL, in her capacity as 

Secretary of the Interior, et al.,

Defendants.

Case No. 5:09-cv-02502-EJD 

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS’

MOTION FOR SUMMARY 

JUDGMENT; DENYING PLAINTIFF’S 

MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Re: Dkt. Nos. 185, 186

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 “rancherias,” throughout the state for use by 

California Indians.1 Fifty years later, Congress enacted another law, the California Rancheria Act 

of 1958 (“CRA”), which authorized the Secretary to dissolve the same rancherias it had previously 

authorized. 

 

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Since much of the relevant legal authority from this time period used the terms “Indian” or 

“Indians” when referring to the native people of North America, these terms will be used in a 

similar manner in this Order to avoid confusion. The court recognizes that these terms are no 

longer used by some Native American communities, and means no disrespect. 

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Case No.: 5:09-cv-02502-EJD

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT; DENYING 

PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

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At issue in this action is the termination and distribution of one of those rancherias, the 

Alexander Valley Rancheria (the “Rancheria”), which, when it existed, was located in Sonoma 

County. Plaintiff The Mishewal Wappo Tribe of Alexander Valley (“Plaintiff”) alleges in this 

action against Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Assistant Secretary of the Interior Kevin 

Washburn2(“the “Federal Defendants”) that the process utilized by the Secretary to terminate the 

Rancheria between 1959 and 1961 was inconsistent with the CRA and therefore unlawful. The 

Federal Defendants disagree. 

Federal jurisdiction arises pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331. Presently before the court are two 

Motions for Summary Judgment, one filed by Plaintiff and one filed by the Federal Defendants. 

See Docket Item Nos. 185, 186. The court has carefully considered these motions and the oral 

presentations of counsel in conjunction with the extensive historical record provided. Of the

parties’ arguments, one made by the Federal Defendants’ provides for complete resolution. 

Accordingly, for the reasons explained below, the court finds that Plaintiff’s claims are barred by 

the applicable statute of limitations. The Federal Defendants’ motion will therefore be granted 

and Plaintiff’s motion will be denied. 

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Creation of the Alexander Valley Rancheria

Pursuant to the Indian Appropriations Act of 1906, Pub. L. No. 59-258, 34 Stat. 325, 333, 

the Secretary purchased two parcels of land in 1908 and 1913 located in the Alexander Valley of 

Sonoma County, California. See AR, MWT-AVR-2012-000001-004, MWT-AVR-2012-000005-

008, MWT-AVR-2012-000009-011. These parcels, totaling 54 acres together, were designated 

under the Indian Appropriations Act for the benefit of California Indians who wished to live there

and eventually became known as the Alexander Valley Rancheria. 

Until its distribution, legal title and ownership of the Rancheria’s land was vested in the 

 

2 Although they did not hold their respective positions when this action was commenced, 

Secretary Jewell and Assistant Secretary Washburn are automatically substituted as defendants in 

place of their predecessors. See Fed. R. Civ. Proc. 25(d). 

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Case No.: 5:09-cv-02502-EJD

ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT; DENYING 

PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

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United States. See Decl. of David B. Glazer (“Glazer Decl.”), Docket Item No. 185, at Ex. 2. Use 

of the Rancheria was designated through a somewhat informal “assignment” or “allotment”

system, such that a right of use terminated upon abandonment of possession. Id. As a result, 

“Indians occasionally moved onto the property without any assignment, occupying a parcel 

abandoned or never assigned.” Id. One observer wrote in a letter to the Commissioner of Indian 

Affairs on March 27, 1917, that Rancheria the “is not occupied regularly by the Indians as a home 

. . . .” See AR, MWT-AVR-2012-000309. Five families lived there at the time. Id. 

B. The Wappo Indians Vote to Organize

After the California rancherias had been established, Congress enacted the Indian 

Reorganization Act (“IRA”), 25 U.S.C. §§ 461 et seq., in 1934. Under the IRA, an Indian tribe 

was permitted to “organize for its common welfare” and adopt a constitution and bylaws. 25 

U.S.C. § 476(a) (1934) (amended 1988). Any decision to organize as a tribe had to be “ratified by 

a majority vote of the adult members of the tribe or tribes at a special election authorized and 

called by the Secretary” and thereafter “approved by the Secretary.” Id. 

On May 20, 1935, the Wappo Indians living on the Alexander Valley Rancheria submitted 

a list of fifteen residents who they proposed could vote to organize under the IRA. See AR, 

MWT-AVR-2012-000053. The Sacramento Indian Agency approved fourteen of those voters on 

June 5, 1935. See AR, MWT-AVR-2012-000054. Although not directly explained in the record, 

the one unapproved voter, James Adams, was presumably excluded because he was designated as 

a “non-Indian.” See AR, MWT-AVR-2012-000053. 

On June 10, 1935, the Sacramento Indian Agency received returns from the Wappo 

Indians’ IRA vote. See AR, MWT-AVR-2012-000359. All fourteen voters were in favor of 

organization. Id. By 1940, 44 of the 49 individuals living on the Rancheria were identified as 

members of the Wappo tribe, many of whom were children. See AR, MWT-AVR-2012-000069-

072. 

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C. Termination of the Alexander Valley Rancheria

Congress enacted the CRA in 1958, which called for the distribution of lands and assets 

previously designated as rancherias or reservations after the completion of designated 

improvements. See Act of Aug. 18, 1958, Pub. L. No. 85-67, 72 Stat. 619. The CRA directed the 

Secretary to prepare a plan for distribution in consultation with interested Indians, notify all other 

interested Indians of the proposed distribution, and then submit the plan to a referendum of “of the 

adult Indians who will participate in the distribution of the property.” Id. at § 2. 

In May, 1959, the Secretary conditionally approved a plan for the distribution of the 

Alexander Valley Rancheria, and finally approved the plan without objection in September, 1959. 

See AR, MWT-AVR-2012-000196. The plan was then submitted to a referendum as required by 

the CRA. See AR, MWT-AVR-2012-000221, MWT-AVR-2012-000458, MWT-AVR-2012-

000464. It was approved by unanimous vote and the Rancheria’s land and assets were distributed 

between two families in 1961. See AR, MWT-AVR-2012-000255-256, MWT-AVR-2012-

000257-258, MWT-AVR-2012-000259-261, MWT-AVR-2012-000262-264. Notice of the 

Rancheria’s termination was then published in the Federal Register on August 1, 1961. See

Property of California Rancherias and of Individual Members Thereof, Termination of Federal 

Supervision, 26 Fed. Reg. 6875-76 (Aug. 1, 1961); MWT-AVR-2012-000280. 

D. Litigation Challenging Rancheria Terminations

On July 12, 1979, a class action lawsuit, Tillie Hardwick, was filed in this district

challenging the termination of 36 California Rancherias. See Tillie Hardwick v. United States, 

No. 79-1710 (N.D. Cal.). That action was eventually resolved in December, 1983, through a 

stipulated judgment which restored seventeen class-member tribes to their former tribal status. 

See Glazer Decl., at Ex. 5. Claims asserted by persons who received assets from twelve other 

terminated rancherias were dismissed without prejudice. Id. 

In 1985, it was discovered that potential class members with claims arising from the 

termination of the Alexander Valley Rancheria were inadvertently omitted from the Tillie 

Hardwick class notice which issued prior to entry of the stipulated judgment. Id. at Ex. 8. The 

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ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT; DENYING 

PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

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court therefore ordered on September 5, 1985, that notice be given to these potential class 

members. Id. On December 23, 1985, the court dismissed without prejudice claims arising from 

the termination of the Alexander Valley Rancheria. Id. at Ex. 7. 

E. The Instant Action

Plaintiff initiated this case on June 5, 2009, as “an American Indian Tribe consisting of 

Indian members and their descendants, and/or their Indian successors in interest, for whose benefit 

the United States acquired and created the Mishewal Wappo Tribe of Alexander Valley.” See

Compl., Docket Item No. 1, at ¶ 5. Plaintiff filed an Amended Complaint on May 10, 2010. See

Docket Item No. 49. It asserts five causes of action: (1) breach of fiduciary duty, (2) agency 

action unlawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed under the Administrative Procedure Act

(“APA”), 5 USC §§ 701 et seq., (3) failure to conclude a matter within a reasonable time under the 

APA, (4) arbitrary and capricious action under the APA, and (4) violation of possessory rights. 

The Federal Defendants filed an Answer to the Amended Complaint on March 21, 2012. See

Docket Item No. 167. 

Several California cities and counties sought to intervene as parties to this case, claiming 

an interest in Plaintiff’s request for the restoration of trust lands within their jurisdictions. See

Docket Item Nos. 38 (Sonoma County), 41 (Napa County), 44 (Lake County), 68 (City of

American Canyon and American Canyon Fire Protection District), 75 (City of Napa), 86 (City of 

St. Helena). Judge James Ware permitted the Counties of Napa and Sonoma participate as 

intervenors on May 24, 2010. See Docket Item No. 52. All other requests were denied. See

Docket Item No. 128. 

After the case was reassigned to the undersigned, the court heard a Motion to Dismiss filed 

by the Counties of Napa and Sonoma. See Docket Item No. 145. Plaintiff and the Federal 

Defendants opposed the motion. It was denied on October 24, 2011, and the Counties of Napa 

and Sonoma were eventually removed as intervenors on September 28, 2012. See Docket Item 

Nos. 150, 172. These summary judgment motions followed. 

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ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT; DENYING 

PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

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II. LEGAL STANDARD

A motion for summary judgment should be granted if “there is no genuine dispute as to 

any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a); 

Addisu v. Fred Meyer, Inc., 198 F.3d 1130, 1134 (9th Cir. 2000). The moving party bears the 

initial burden of informing the court of the basis for the motion and identifying the portions of the 

pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, admissions, or affidavits that demonstrate the 

absence of a triable issue of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323 (1986). If 

the moving party meets this initial burden, the burden then shifts to the non-moving party to go 

beyond the pleadings and designate specific materials in the record to show that there is a 

genuinely disputed fact. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c); Celotex, 477 U.S. at 324. The court must draw all 

reasonable inferences in favor of the party against whom summary judgment is sought. 

Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S. Ct. 1348, 89 L. Ed. 

2d 538 (1986).

However, the mere suggestion that facts are in controversy, as well as conclusory or 

speculative testimony in affidavits and moving papers, is not sufficient to defeat summary 

judgment. See Thornhill Publ’g Co. v. GTE Corp., 594 F.2d 730, 738 (9th Cir. 1979). Instead, 

the non-moving party must come forward with admissible evidence to satisfy the burden. Fed. R. 

Civ. P. 56(c); see Hal Roach Studios, Inc. v. Feiner & Co., Inc., 896 F.2d 1542, 1550 (9th Cir. 

1990).

A genuine issue for trial exists if the non-moving party presents evidence from which a 

reasonable jury, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to that party, could resolve the 

material issue in his or her favor. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248-49 (1986); 

Barlow v. Ground, 943 F.2d 1132, 1134-36 (9th Cir. 1991). Conversely, summary judgment must 

be granted where a party “fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an 

element essential to that party’s case, on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial.” 

Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322.

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III. DISCUSSION

The Federal Defendants support their motion with a series of arguments. Only one 

requires discussion because its application is dispositive.

A. The Statute of Limitations 

The Federal Defendants argue that Plaintiff’s claims are barred by the six-year statute of 

limitations described in 28 U.S.C. § 2401(a) for claims against the government. The court agrees.3 

As a sovereign, the United States “is immune from suit unless it has expressly waived such 

immunity and consented to be sued.”4 Gilbert v. DaGrossa, 756 F.2d 1455, 1458 (9th Cir. 1985). 

Any waiver of sovereign immunity must be “unequivocally expressed,” and will be strictly 

construed in favor of the sovereign. United States v. Nordic Vill. Inc., 503 U.S. 30, 34 (1992). “A 

statute of limitations requiring that a suit against the Government be brought within a certain time 

period” is a type of temporally-defined waiver. United States v. Dalm, 494 U.S. 596, 609 (1990). 

Although such time limitations should not be construed “unduly restrictively,” their interpretation 

should remain contained within the scope of the waiver intended by Congress. Id. (citing Block v. 

North Dakota ex rel. Bd. of Univ. & School Lands, 461 U.S. 273, 287 (1983)). 

Subject to exceptions not applicable here, “every civil action commenced against the 

United States shall be barred unless the complaint is filed within six years after the right of action 

first accrues.” 28 U.S.C. § 2401(a). This catch-all statute of limitations for claims against the 

Government “‘applies to all civil actions whether legal, equitable or mixed.’” Nesovic v. United 

States, 71 F.3d 776, 778 (9th Cir. 1995) (quoting Spannaus v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 824 F.2d 52, 

55 (D.C. Cir. 1987)). Its reach therefore encompasses Plaintiff’s claims for breach of fiduciary 

 

3

The court previously discussed the statute of limitations in connection with the Motion to 

Dismiss filed by then-intervenors Counties of Napa and Sonoma. See Docket Item No. 150. 

There, the court determined that § 2401(a) was not a jurisdictional limitation and denied the 

Counties’ motion based on the statute because they did not have standing to raise it. Unlike the 

Counties, the Federal Defendants do have standing to raise § 2401(a).

4 Agencies and agency officials are covered by sovereign immunity. Hodge v. Dalton, 107 F.3d 

705, 707 (9th Cir. 1997) (“The doctrine of sovereign immunity applies to federal agencies and 

federal officials acting within their official capacities.”). 

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duty and violation of possessory rights, as well as those brought under the APA. Wind River 

Mining Corp. v. United States, 946 F.2d 710, 713 (9th Cir. 1991). 

In applying the statute of limitations, the Federal Defendants contend that all of Plaintiff’s 

claims stem from a common allegation; specifically, that the process implemented by the 

Secretary to terminate the Alexander Valley Rancheria was procedurally defective and thereby 

unlawful. Based on that, the Federal Defendants argue that Plaintiff’s claims actually accrued for 

the purposes of § 2401(a) when notice of the Rancheria’s termination was published in the Federal 

Register on August 1, 1961. As a result, the Federal Defendants believe that Plaintiff should have 

presented its challenge within six years of the publication, or no later than 1967. 

A close review of Plaintiff’s claims demonstrates why the Government’s characterization 

is correct. Consistent with the Government’s argument, each claim depends on the allegation that 

the process instituted by the Secretary to terminate the Alexander Valley Rancheria did not 

conform to the requirements of the CRA, such that the Rancheria was improperly terminated. 

Looking at the first claim, Plaintiff asserts that the Government breached its general duty as a 

fiduciary of Indian tribes by failing to provide proper notice of the meeting at which the Alexander 

Valley Rancheria distribution plan was approved, by failing to confirm that those voting for the 

distribution plan “were in fact members” of Plaintiff, by continuously failing to include Plaintiff 

on the list of federally recognized tribes, and by failing to include Plaintiff in the Department of 

the Interior’s annual budget submission to Congress. See Seminole Nation v. United States, 316 

U.S. 286, 296-97 (1942) (holding that the Government, in dealings with Indian tribes, must 

conduct itself “with moral obligations of the highest responsibility and trust” and will be “judges 

by the most exacting fiduciary standards.”). As Plaintiff’s own allegations demonstrate, this 

breach of fiduciary duty claim is dependent upon a determination that the Alexander Valley 

Rancheria was improperly terminated and distributed between 1959 and 1961. See Am. Compl., 

at ¶ 78 (“The purported termination of the Tribe was not lawfully effectuated in conformance with 

the requirements of the California Rancheria Act, thereby rendering the Tribe’s purported 

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ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT; DENYING 

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termination and distribution of assets void and of no legal effect.”). Indeed, the distribution 

meeting directly challenged in this claim occurred in 1959, and the later alleged breaches - the 

failure to include Plaintiff in the list of recognized tribes and failure to account for it in the budget 

- cannot stand unless the termination was unlawful. 

The same is true of the APA claims. Under 5 U.S.C. § 706, Plaintiff asserts in the second 

and fourth claims that its exclusion from the tribal recognition list constitutes agency action that is 

arbitrary, capricious, and “unlawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed.” Plaintiff avers in the 

third claim that the same failure to include it on the list of recognized tribes violates the APA’s 

requirement that agency proceedings conclude within a reasonable time. See 5 U.S.C. § 555(b) 

(“With due regard for the convenience and necessity of the parties or their representatives and 

within a reasonable time, each agency shall proceed to conclude a matter presented to it.”). But 

again, Plaintiff’s allegations demonstrate that the viability of its claims depends on the central 

question of whether or not the Rancheria was properly terminated. See Am. Compl., at ¶ 94 

(“Upon information and belief which is likely to have evidentiary support after a reasonably 

opportunity for further investigation or discovery, the Secretary currently recognizes that the 

Tribe’s purported termination was unlawful . . . .”); ¶ 99 (“[T]he Secretary has recognized since at 

least 1987 that the Tribe’s purported termination was unlawful . . . .”); ¶ 105.

Similarly, the fifth claim relies on the improper termination of the Rancheria as a necessary 

predicate. There, Plaintiff asserts that the Government violated its possessory rights to use and 

occupy land within the historical location of the Rancheria. In order to maintain that assertion, 

however, Plaintiff must also allege that the Secretary “failed to comply with the California 

Rancheria Act, negotiated and approved an inadequate Distribution Plan, and failed to fulfill the 

terms of the Distribution Plan” since, absent such non-compliance, Plaintiff has no present 

possessory rights for the Government to violate. See Am. Compl., at ¶ 111. 

Since Plaintiff’s claims each rely on one common alleged injury - termination of the 

Rancheria - the critical inquiry becomes when that injury “first accrued” under § 2401(a). See

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Hopland Band of Pomo Indians v. United States, 855 F.2d 1573, 1578 (Fed. Cir. 1988) (holding 

that causes of action stemming from the same factual allegation share an accrual date for 

application of the statute of limitations). Generally, a claim subject to the § 2401(a) limitations 

period first accrues when the plaintiff comes into possession “of the critical facts that he has been 

hurt and who has inflicted the injury.” United States v. Kubrick, 444 U.S. 111, 122 (1979); Acri 

v. Int’l Ass’n of Machinists & Aerospace Workers, 781 F.2d 1393, 1396 (9th Cir. 1986) (“Under 

federal law a cause of action accrues when the plaintiff is aware of the wrong and can successfully 

bring a cause of action.”). Stated another way, “[t]he moment at which a cause of action first 

accrues within the meaning of Section 2401(a) is when ‘the person challenging the agency action 

can institute and maintain a suit in court.’” Muwekma Ohlone Tribe v. Salazar, 813 F. Supp. 2d 

170, 190-91 (D.D.C. 2011) (quoting Spannaus, 824 F.2d at 56). 

On this issue, the relevant facts are undisputed. The CRA specifically designated the 

Alexander Valley Rancheria within a list of those that were to be terminated and distributed 

according to the Act’s provisions. Act of Aug. 18, 1958, Pub. L. No. 85-67, 72 Stat. 619. 

Pursuant to Section 2(a) of the CRA,5the Sacramento Area Director of the Bureau of Indian 

Affairs (“BIA”) created a plan for the distribution of Rancheria assets “after consultation with the 

Indians of the Alexander Valley Rancheria.” See AR, MWT-AVR-2012-000196-200. The plan 

primarily proposed that the Rancheria’s assets be distributed between two families, the Adams 

family and the McCloud family, who were “recognized as the people of the rancheria who hold 

formal assignments and are entitled to share in the distribution of the property.” Id. The 

Commissioner of the BIA conditionally approved the plan on or about May 21, 1959, and a 

general notice was posted in July, 1959, pursuant to Section 2(b) of the CRA.6 See AR, MWT-

 

5

“The Indians who hold formal or information assignments on each reservation or rancheria, or 

the Indians of such reservation or rancheria, or the Secretary of the Interior after consultation with 

such Indians, shall prepare a plan for distributing to individual Indians the assets of the reservation 

or rancheria . . .” Act of Aug. 18, 1958, Pub. L. No. 85-67, 72 Stat. 619, at § 2(a). 

6

 “General notice shall be given of the contents of a plan prepared pursuant to subsection (a) of 

this section and approved by the Secretary, and any Indian who feels that he is unfairly treated in 

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AVR-2012-000215, MWT-AVR-2012-000217, MWT-AVR-2012-000491. No objections were 

received, and the Commissioner of the BIA finally approved the plan on or about September 2, 

1959. See AR, MWT-AVR-2012-000218, MWT-AVR-2012-000219. The plan was then 

submitted to a referendum of the Indians who were to “participate in the distribution of the 

property” as required by Section 2(b) of the CRA, and a majority of those voting- specifically 

James Adams and William McCloud - approved the plan. See AR, MWT-AVR-2012-000221, 

MWT-AVR-2012-000458, MWT-AVR-2012-000464. Grant deeds to Adams and McCloud were 

thereafter recorded in Sonoma County on February 23, 1961, as required by Section 2(c) of the 

CRA,7and copies of the deeds were sent to them on March 14, 1961. See AR, MWT-AVR-2012-

000255-256, MWT-AVR-2012-000257-258, MWT-AVR-2012-000259-261, MWT-AVR-2012-

000262-264. Adams and McCloud each signed acknowledgements of receipt for the deeds on 

March 15, 1961. See AR, MWT-AVR-2012-000267, MWT-AVR-2012-000268. Notice of the 

formal termination of the Alexander Valley Rancheria was then published in the Federal Register 

on August 1, 1961. See Property of California Rancherias and of Individual Members Thereof, 

Termination of Federal Supervision, 26 Fed. Reg. 6875-76 (Aug. 1, 1961); MWT-AVR-2012-

000280. 

This record demonstrates that Plaintiff’s claims first accrued no later than 1961 since, by 

then, it had come into possession of the critical facts necessary to institute a suit in court. See

Kubrick, 444 U.S. at 122; Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, 813 F. Supp. 2d at 190-91 (D.D.C. 2011). As 

noted above, Plaintiff contends that the Rancheria’s termination was contrary to the terms of the 

CRA and in violation of the Government’s fiduciary duty because it did not properly notice the 

meeting concerning distribution Rancheria assets, did not verify the tribal membership of those 

 

the proposed distribution of the property shall be given an opportunity to present his views and 

arguments for the consideration of the Secretary.” Id. at § 2(b).

 

7

“Any grantee under the provisions of this section shall receive an unrestricted title to the property 

conveyed, and the conveyance shall be recorded in the appropriate county office.” Id. at § 2(c). 

 

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ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT; DENYING 

PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

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who voted for termination, and did not create and fulfill a qualifying distribution plan. All of 

these alleged violations were fully knowable by the time notice of the Rancheria’s final 

termination was published in the Federal Register on August 1, 1961, such that Plaintiff could 

have initiated a lawsuit challenging the termination within the subsequent six years. This 

conclusion is only reinforced by the CRA’s terms, which unambiguously established the 

Secretary’s duties in creating a distribution plan and included the completion of certain 

infrastructure improvements before distribution.

8

 In reality, any non-compliance with these 

particular duties prior to termination of the Rancheria would have been fairly obvious in 1961. 

Thus, unless Plaintiff can successfully support an argument showing otherwise or foreclosing 

application of the statute of limitations, the present claims are untimely under § 2401(a). 

B. Responses to the Statute of Limitations

In its pleadings, Plaintiff focuses on certain language in Section 2(a) of the CRA and 

suggests that the statute of limitations should not apply to its claims. Specifically, Plaintiff 

contends that while its members were not present on the Rancheria during the process that led its 

termination, the Secretary should have sought them out before the distribution plan was created 

and put to a vote because they qualified for notice as “Indians of” the Rancheria. Without notice 

to its members, Plaintiff infers that those individuals must have been unaware of the termination 

process and could not have known of the injury. This argument is misplaced, however, when it 

comes to operation of the statute of limitations. “[S]tatutes of limitations are to be applied against 

the claims of Indian tribes in the same manner as against any other litigant seeking legal redress or 

relief from the government.” Hopland, 855 F.2d at 1576; Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe v. 

United States, 895 F.2d 588, 592 (9th Cir. 1990) (“Indian Tribes are not exempt from statutes of 

 

8

“Before making the conveyances authorized by this Act on any rancheria or reservation, the 

Secretary of the Interior is directed . . . [t]o complete any construction or improvement required to 

bring Indian Bureau roads serving the rancherias or reservations up to adequate standards for 

similar roads . . . . [and] to install or rehabilitate such irrigation or domestic water systems as he 

and the Indians affected agree, within a reasonable time, should be completed by the United 

States.” Id. at § 3(b), (c). 

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PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

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limitations governing actions against the United States.”). Assuming, arguendo, that Plaintiff’s 

members qualified as “Indians of” the Rancheria under Section 2(a) of the CRA, lack of notice to 

them does not excuse the untimeliness of the present claims because “[a]ctual knowledge of 

government action . . . is not required for a statutory period to commence.” Shiny Rock Mining 

Corp. v. United States, 906 F.2d 1362, 1364 (9th Cir. 1990). Instead, “‘[p]ublication in the 

Federal Register is legally sufficient notice to all interested or affected persons regardless of actual 

knowledge or hardship resulting from ignorance.’” Id. (quoting Friends of Sierra R.R., Inc. v. 

Interstate Commerce Comm’n, 881 F.2d 663, 667-68 (9th Cir. 1989)). Here, the notice published 

in the Federal Register was adequate to apprise a reasonable person of the termination and 

distribution of the Alexander Valley Rancheria.9 See Friends of Sierra R.R., Inc., 881 F.2d at 668. 

It also lists the name of the individuals to whom the Rancheria lands were distributed and 

indicates that the Indian statuses of those individuals would terminate as a result. See 26 Fed. 

Reg. 6875. Thus, if it is true as Plaintiff alleges that James Adams was not entitled to vote on 

distribution or receive any portion of the Rancheria’s assets as a “non-Indian”, or if Plaintiff

believes it should have been included in the process from the commencement as a group of 

“Indians of” the Rancheria, those errors were disclosed to all interested parties through the 1961 

Federal Register notice. 

Plaintiff also argues against application of the statute of limitations based on its theory that 

the Government continues to owe it a fiduciary duty. Citing Manchester Band of Pomo Indians, 

Inc. v. United States, Plaintiff asserts that the failure to properly terminate it as a tribe renders the 

Government’s duty ongoing and precludes commencement of the statutory period. 363 F. Supp. 

1238, 1249 (N.D. Cal. 1973) (“[W]here, as here, there is a fiduciary relationship between the 

 

9

The Federal Register notice unambiguously states, in pertinent part, that “the Indians named 

under the Rancherias listed below are no longer entitled to any of the services performed by the 

United States” and that “[t]itle to the lands on these Rancherias has passed from the United States 

Government under the distribution plan of each Rancheria.” See 26 Fed. Reg. 6875. The 

Alexander Valley Rancheria is thereafter listed as the first rancheria subject to the notice. Id. 

 

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parties, the universal rule is that a statute of limitation does not begin to run where there is a 

fiduciary relationship between the parties until the relationship is repudiated. (internal quotations 

omitted)). This argument is unpersuasive because it conflates two distinct issues: (1) one that 

relates to Indian lands, which in the instant context can be described as the alleged improper 

distribution of rancheria assets and termination of the trust relationship with individual Indians, 

and (2) one that relates to collective Indian status, which can be described as the alleged improper 

termination of a federally-recognized Indian tribe. The two do not always overlap, and as the 

Amended Complaint makes clear, all of Plaintiff’s claims arise from the former issue rather than 

the latter. While Plaintiff attempts to use alleged lapses in the rancheria termination process to 

simultaneously protest its purported termination as a tribe and seek relief related that type of 

injury, doing so cannot be reconciled with the plain terms of the legislation addressing these 

matters. Indeed, the enactments which authorized the creation and then termination of 

California’s rancherias, the Indian Appropriations Act and the CRA, do not reference and have no 

apparent connection to the one which permitted tribal organization, the IRA, outside of general 

subject matter. Perhaps for that reason, the CRA did not purport to terminate tribes; to the 

contrary, only the statuses of the individual Indians who received a distribution of assets had their 

relationships with the Government disrupted.10 Telling of this important distinction is the 1961 

Federal Register Notice which nowhere indicates that tribal termination would result from the 

distribution of the Rancheria. Also telling is one of Plaintiff’s own items of evidence, which 

explains that while tribal acknowledgment or re-acknowledgment may depend on Plaintiff’s 

relationship to the Rancheria, this relationship is significant to the issue only insofar as any of 

 

10

 “After the assets of a rancheria or reservation have been distributed pursuant to this Act, the 

Indians who receive any part of such assets, and the dependent members of their immediate 

families, shall not be entitled to any of the services performed by the United States for Indians 

because of their status as Indians, all statutes of the United States for Indians because of their 

status as Indians shall be inapplicable to them, and the laws of the several States shall apply to 

them in the same manner as they apply to other citizens or persons within their jurisdiction.” Act 

of Aug. 18, 1958, Pub. L. No. 85-67, 72 Stat. 619, at § 10(b). 

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Plaintiff’s members had their individual statuses terminated by Section 10(b) of the CRA when the 

Rancheria was distributed. See Decl. of Joseph L. Kitto, Docket Item No. 186, at Ex. 7.11 

Thus, termination of the Alexander Valley Rancheria did not equate to the termination of 

Plaintiff’s status as a federally-recognized tribe.12 Consequently, any continuing fiduciary duty 

owed to Plaintiff by the Government on the distinct issue of termination of its tribal status is 

external to whether the statute of limitations accrued on the instant claims challenging the 

Rancheria’s termination, or the effect of it, under the CRA. Manchester Band13 has questionable 

 

11 On March 18, 1996, the Tribal Government Services division of the BIA wrote in response to 

information submitted by John M. Trippo that “[t]he process your group uses to seek 

acknowledgement may depend on your group’s relationship to the Alexander Valley Rancheria,”

but expressed the significance of this relationship in terms of terminated individuals that may be 

included in Plaintiff’s membership. The writer explained that individual termination could be 

determinative of tribal recognition because the “regulations governing acknowledgement, in 

section 83.7(g), require that, in order to be acknowledged, ‘Neither the petitioner not its members 

are the subject of congressional legislation that has expressly terminated or forbidden the Federal 

relationship.’” This explanation is consistent with the CRA, and emphasizes the fact that it only 

operated to terminate individual status, not tribal status. 

 

12 When contemplating this distinction, it is important to keep in mind that the various California 

rancherias were not created for the use of particular Indian tribes, and their establishment was not 

tethered to the federal recognition of any tribe. Instead, rancheria lands were purchased “for the 

use of the Indians in California now residing on reservations which do not contain land suitable 

for cultivation, and for Indians who are not now upon reservations in said state,” without any tribal 

designation. Act of June 21, 1906, Pub. L. No. 59-258, 34 Stat. 325, 333; AR, MWT-AVR-2012-

00196-200 (“The Alexander Valley Rancheria . . . was purchased for landless California 

Indians.”). Accordingly, while the IRA permitted the Indians of the Alexander Valley Rancheria 

to organize themselves into a tribe in 1935 due to a common interest in the previously-established 

rancheria, this fact did not then render the existence of the tribe dependent on that of the rancheria. 

See 25 U.S.C. § 476 (1934) (amended 1988) (authorizing either adult members of a tribe or “adult 

Indians residing on such reservation” to vote for tribal organization); 25 U.S.C. § 479 (defining 

“tribe” to include “the Indians residing on one reservation”).

Furthermore, the apparent importance of the Alexander Valley Rancheria to any tribal entity 

created as a result of the 1935 IRA vote only emphasizes the logical conclusion stated previously 

that the members of the tribe would have been aware of any errors in the rancheria termination 

process sometime before the limitations period ran in 1967. That those individuals may not have 

been aware of the significance of the Rancheria’s termination is of no moment. Kubrick, 444 U.S. 

at 122 (“Ignorance of the legal effect of an injury is not a basis to toll the statute of limitations.”). 

 

13 The district court found in Manchester Band that the plaintiff’s claims against the Government 

were not untimely under the same statute of limitations at issue here - 28 U.S.C. § 2401(a) - based 

on what it termed the “universal rule” that a statute of limitations does not begin to run between 

fiduciaries until the fiduciary relationship is terminated. The court cited Kasey v. Molybdenum 

Corp. of America, 336 F.2d 560 (9th Cir. 1964), in support of that statement. That citation, 

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persuasive value here, and the additional cases cited by Plaintiff on this topic do not compel an 

alternate conclusion because each is factually distinguishable.14 

Additionally, while not addressed by Plaintiff, the court has considered whether Plaintiff’s 

claims have yet to accrue under the holding of Wind River Mining Corp. v. United States, 946 

F.2d 710, 713 (9th Cir. 1991), or by application of the continuing violations doctrine. In Wind 

River, the Ninth Circuit held that “a substantive challenge to an agency decision alleging lack of 

agency authority may be brought within six years of the agency’s application of that decision to 

the specific challenger.” 946 F.2d at 716. Wind River does not apply here because Plaintiff’s 

challenge is procedural, not one asserting ultra vires agency action. Likewise, any argument based 

 

however, does not directly support the description of the rule as “universal,” considering the 

Kasey court was addressing only a statute of limitations provided by California law, not federal 

law, and expressly stated as much in the portion of the opinion cited in Manchester Band. 336 

F.2d at 569 (“Apparently both courts had in mind the California rule that a statute of limitations 

does not begin to run where there is a fiduciary relationship between the parties until the 

relationship is repudiated.” (emphasis added)). 

14 In Table Bluff Band of Indians v. Andrus, 532 F. Supp. 255 (N.D. Cal. 1981), the Table Bluff 

Band of Indians was the federally recognized governing body of the Table Bluff Rancheria. When 

the rancheria was terminated, the Band’s federal tribal recognition was also necessarily terminated 

because the members who received distributions lost their respective statuses as individual Indians 

according to Sections 10(b) and 11 of the CRA, the latter of which revoked the previously-adopted 

rancheria constitutions and corporate charters upon adoption of a distribution plan. Thus, when 

the Government conceded that it failed to meet all of its obligations under Section 3(c) of the 

CRA, the court could find on summary judgment that neither the Rancheria and nor the Band’s 

tribal status was properly terminated since both issues rose and fell together. In this case, unlike 

Table Bluff, the Alexander Valley Rancheria had no recognized tribal governing body and none 

was terminated along with the Rancheria. See AR, MWT-AVR-2012-00196-200 (stating, in 

reference to the Alexander Valley Rancheria, that it “do[es] not have a constitution or charter and 

no Government buildings are involved.”).

Similarly, the Government conceded in the consolidated action of Smith v. United States, 515 F. 

Supp. 56 (N.D. Cal. 1978), that the process utilized to terminate the Hopland Rancheria was 

inconsistent with its obligations under Section 3 of the CRA. There, however, the court was not 

faced with issues of tribal recognition since the lawsuit involved only “Indian people of the 

Rancheria.” Those individual Indians could properly challenge the rancheria’s termination since 

the CRA directly affected their rights. Here, in contrast, Plaintiff does not purport to represent the 

Indians whose individual statuses were terminated when the Alexander Valley Rancheria was 

distributed. To the contrary, Plaintiff’s theory is based on its exclusion from participation in the 

process. That being the case, the statuses of Plaintiff’s members would not have been terminated 

by Section 10(b) of the CRA since participation in the rancheria’s distribution was required in 

order for individual status termination to occur. 

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on the continuing violations doctrine would fail because it “is not applicable in the context of an 

APA claim for judicial review.” Gros Ventre Tribe v. United States, 344 F. Supp. 2d 1221, 1229 

n.3 (D. Mont. 2004), aff’d at 469 F.3d 801 (9th Cir. 2006). It has been previously rejected under 

these exact circumstances, and the court will reject its application here. See Wilton Miwok 

Rancheria v. Salazar, Nos. C-07-02681-JF-PVT, C-07-05706-JF, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23317, at 

*16-17 n.5, 2010 WL 693420 (N.D. Cal. Feb 23, 2010) (citing Felter v. Kempthorne, 473 F.3d 

1255, 1260 (D.C. Cir. 2007)). 

Finally, the court turns to Plaintiff’s argument that the statute of limitations should be 

equitably tolled. “[T]he equitable tolling doctrine ‘enables courts to meet new situations [that] 

demand equitable intervention, and to accord all the relief necessary to correct . . . particular 

injustices.’” Wong v. Beebe, 732 F.3d 1030, 1052 (9th Cir. 2013) (quoting Holland v. Florida, 

560 U.S. 631, 650 (2010)). Generally, the proponent of equitable tolling must establish two 

elements: (1) that the proponent has been pursuing rights diligently, and (2) that some 

extraordinary circumstances stood in the way. Id. 

For the first element, Plaintiff begins with reference to Tillie Hardwick, and points out that 

the Government made a series of representations subsequent to its dismissal from that case which 

led it to believe it would be restored short of litigation. But the Tillie Hardwick action was 

initiated in 1979. Thus, what is missing from Plaintiff’s diligence presentation is any explanation 

or evidence describing the acts Plaintiffs took to pursue its rights in the eighteen year period 

between 1961 - when the Rancheria was terminated - and 1979. Although this element does not 

require an “overzealous or extreme pursuit of any and every avenue of relief,” it nonetheless does 

require “the effort that a reasonable person might be expected to deliver under his or her particular 

circumstances.” Doe v. Busby, 661 F.3d 1001, 1015 (9th Cir. 2011). Here, it is unreasonable for 

Plaintiff to have sat idly for nearly two decades when all of the facts needed to raise its claims 

were available to it long beforehand. 

As to the second element, qualifying “extraordinary circumstances” have been found in

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“situations where the claimant has actively pursued his judicial remedies by filing a defective 

pleading during the statutory period, or where the complainant has been induced or tricked by his 

adversary’s misconduct into allowing the filing deadline to pass.” O’Donnell v. Vencor Inc., 465 

F.3d 1063, 1068 (9th Cir. 2006). Plaintiff does not specifically identify the “extraordinary 

circumstances” that prevented it from bringing timely claims, and there is certainly no evidence of 

previously-filed defective pleadings or trickery on the part of the Government. To the extent 

Plaintiff relies on sporadic governmental overtures of recognition by other means for this element, 

the court has already explained why those statements came too late to justify an equitable 

intervention and do not, in any event, amount to misconduct. Contrary to Plaintiff’s position, 

there are no triable issues on whether Plaintiff is entitled to equitable tolling because, on this 

record, Plaintiff has not met its burden to produce evidence satisfying the doctrine’s the elements. 

In the end, Plaintiff’s arguments fail to counter the effect of the statute of limitations. As a 

result, the court sees no reason to depart from the conclusion that each is barred by § 2401(a). 

C. CONCLUSION

Statutes of limitation are based on a theory “that even if one has a just claim it is unjust not 

to put the adversary on notice to defend within the period of limitation and that the right to be free 

of stale claims in time comes to prevail over the right to prosecute them.” Order of R.R. 

Telegraphers v. Ry. Express Agency, Inc., 321 U.S. 342, 349 (1944). It is that theory which 

makes enforcement of the statute of limitations appropriate here. As the preceding discussion 

demonstrates, the Federal Defendants have met their burden to show an absence of triable material 

fact as to when Plaintiff’s claims first accrued. The uncontroverted evidence confirms they 

accrued no later than 1961, and Plaintiff has not demonstrated otherwise despite its burden to do 

so. 

A timely action challenging the distribution and termination of the Alexander Valley 

Rancheria under the CRA should have been filed between 1961 and 1967. Since this action was 

not commenced until forty years later, the court finds that all of the claims asserted by Plaintiff in 

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this action are untimely under 28 U.S.C. § 2401(a). On that basis, the Federal Defendants’ Motion 

for Summary Judgment will be granted and Plaintiff’s cross-motion will be denied. 

IV. ORDER

For the foregoing reasons, the Federal Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment 

(Docket Item No. 185) is GRANTED. Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Docket Item 

No. 186) is DENIED. Since this result represents a complete resolution of this case, judgment will 

be entered in favor of the Federal Defendants and the Clerk shall close this file. 

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: March 23, 2015

______________________________________

EDWARD J. DAVILA

United States District Judge

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