Opinion ID: 2519859
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Case Law Before Venetie

Text: {14} In 1990, the Tenth Circuit, reviewing a petition for writ of habeas corpus, analyzed whether the State had jurisdiction to prosecute a Navajo Indian who had been convicted of felony crimes in state court. Blatchford, 904 F.2d at 544. The issue in Blatchford was whether the offenses were committed within a dependent Indian community. The district court considered the land title; community composition and purpose; and the relationship of the community to the federal government and the Navajo nation, as well as to the state and county government, in determining that the land in question was not within a dependent Indian community. Id. at 548. The Tenth Circuit agreed with the district court's analysis and held that, even though the community was populated primarily by Indians, the land in question was not within the Navajo Reservation and was not a dependent Indian community for purposes of the Federal Major Crimes Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1153. Id. at 549. {15} In 1995, the Tenth Circuit established a multi-part test to determine what constitutes a dependent Indian community. Watchman, 52 F.3d at 1543-45. In Watchman, the Pittsburgh & Midway Coal Mining Company filed an action in federal court seeking an injunction and declaratory judgment that the Navajo nation lacked jurisdiction to impose its business activities tax on the source gains from one of its mines. Id. at 1534. The court established a multi-part test to determine whether certain land was within dependent Indian communities. Id. at 1543-45. The first part of the test required a determination of a proper community of reference. Id. at 1543-44. In determining a community of reference, a court should look to: (1) the status of the area in question as a community and (2) the relationship of the area in question to the surrounding area. Id. The Watchman court adopted the following four-part test as the second step in determining what constitutes a dependent Indian community: (1) whether the United States has retained title to the lands which it permits the Indians to occupy and authority to enact regulations and protective laws respecting this territory; (2) the nature of the area in question, the relationship of the inhabitants in the area to Indian tribes and to the federal government, and the established practice of government agencies toward the area; (3) whether there is an element of cohesiveness ... manifested either by economic pursuits in the area, common interests, or needs of the inhabitants as supplied by that locality; and (4) whether such lands have been set apart for the use, occupancy and protection of dependent Indian peoples. Id. at 1545 (internal quotations and punctuation omitted).