Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-90-07036/USCOURTS-ca10-90-07036-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 440
Nature of Suit: Other Civil Rights
Cause of Action: 

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UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS F I L E D 

United States Court of Appeals TENTH CIRCUIT ,-,.,,th Gr-mit 

MARY JANE HESKETT LUMAN, 

Plaintiff-Appellant, 

vs. 

DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR; 

BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS; 

JACK CHANEY, (BIA); TOM 

WILLIAMS, Choctaw Nation; 

HOLLIS E. ROBERTS, Chief of 

Choctaw Nation; BIA LAND, 

TITLE & REALTY PROPERTY 

MANAGEMENT, 

Defendants-Appellees. 

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No. 90-7036 

DEC ... 6 1990 

ROBERT L. HOECKER 

Clerk 

(D.C. No. 89-597) 

(E.D. Okla.) 

ORDER AND JUDGMENT* 

Before -ANDERSON, BALDOCK and EBEL, Circuit Judges.** 

Plaintiff-appellant, Mary Jane Heskett Luman appeals prose 

from the district court's dismissal of her action pursuant to 28 

u.s.c. S 2401(a). Plaintiff filed this action on November 27, 

1989 seeking funds from a 1949 per capita payment by the United 

* This order and judgment has no precedential value and shall 

not be cited, or used by any court within the Tenth Circuit, 

except for purposes of establishing the doctrines of the law of 

the case, res judicata, or collateral estoppel. 10th Cir. R. 

36.3. 

** After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel 

has determined unanimously that oral argument would not materially 

assist the determination of this appeal. See Fed. R. App. P. 

34(a); 10th Cir. R. 34.1.9. The cause therefore is ordered 

submitted without oral argument. 

Appellate Case: 90-7036 Document: 010110097216 Date Filed: 12/06/1990 Page: 1 
States government to members of the Choctaw Nation which she 

claims is owed to her and has been wrongfully withheld. Plaintiff 

has been seeking recovery of these funds since 1970. 

"[E]very civil action connnended 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); 

Stubbs v. United States, 620 F.2d 775, 784 (10th Cir. 1980). This 

six-year statute applies to actions by Indians against the United 

States as well as actions by non-Indians. See Nicholas v. Rysavy, 

809 F.2d 1317, 1326-31 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 848 

(1987); Big Spring v. United States Bureau of Indian Affairs, 767 

F.2d 614, 616-17 (9th Cir. 1985), cert. denied, 478 U.S. 1035 

(1986); Christensen v. United States, 755 F.2d 706, 707-08 (9th 

Cir. 1985), cert. denied, 476 U.S. 1181 (1986). 

Here, plaintiff seeks damages from the United States 

government from an event which is alleged to have occurred in 

1949. Even if plaintiff belatedly discovered this cause of 

action, it is undisputed that she has been seeking recovery from 

the government since at least 1970. Thus, plaintiff knew or 

should have known of her claim against the United States in 1970 

at the latest and the action accrued as of that date at the 

latest. See Knapp v. United States, 636 F.2d 279, 282 (10th Cir. 

1980). Because plaintiff did not file until nineteen years later, 

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Appellate Case: 90-7036 Document: 010110097216 Date Filed: 12/06/1990 Page: 2 
the district court properly dismissed her claim pursuant to 28 

u.s.c. § 2401(a). 

AFFIRMED. 

Entered for the Court 

Bobby R. Baldock 

Circuit Judge 

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Appellate Case: 90-7036 Document: 010110097216 Date Filed: 12/06/1990 Page: 3