WASHINGTON – At a hearing in front of the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston Jan. 7, 2007, an attorney for the state of Rhode Island made an interesting threat: If the court were to uphold the Interior Department’s decision to take around 32 acres of land into trust for the Narragansett Indian Tribe, state officials would tie up the land in “years and years of litigation,” Joseph S. Larissa Jr. said.

The 1st Circuit ignored the threat, and after seven months of deliberations issued a 4-2 ruling upholding Interior’s decision to take into trust the 32-acre parcel Narragansett had purchased in the late 1990s for housing for its elders.

But Larissa was right about tying up the land.

The state of Rhode Island appealed the 1st Circuit’s decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, suing the Interior Department in a case called Carcieri v. Salazar, named after Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri. Last February the high court reversed the lower court’s ruling, throwing into chaos and uncertainty the entire issue of trust lands acquired and proposed for Indian nations recognized after the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934.

Now the Supreme Court decision is up for reversal in what has come to be known as the “Carcieri fix.”

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., Senate Indian Affairs Committee chairman, introduced legislation in the Senate Sept. 24 to amend the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act.

The bill affirms the Interior secretary’s authority to take land into trust for all tribes, regardless of when they were recognized, Dorgan said in his introductory statement.

“Inaction by Congress could significantly impact development projects on Indian trust lands, including the building of homes and community centers; result in a loss of jobs in an already challenging economic environment, and create costly and unnecessary litigation,” Dorgan said.

Furthermore, if the Supreme Court decision is allowed to stand, it would create two classes of Indian tribes – a situation that “is unacceptable and is contrary to prior acts of Congress.”

In Rhode Island, where the state and local governments have ferociously opposed the Narragansett Indians for centuries, Narragansett Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas welcomed the news of Dorgan’s bill. The bill, if passed, will reaffirm the trust status of the 32-acre parcel without the nation having to endure any further “process,” Thomas said.