Mishewal Wappo

Feb. 7, 2012: United States Senator Feinstein to Sec. Salazar

I write to inform you of my firm opposition to any action by the Department of the interior that would faciliatate the development of an Indian casino within the Napa Valley Agricultural Preserve.

April 1, 2011: Letter on Judicial Recogntion

Congressmen Thompson, Young and Woolsey have written a letter to Secretary Salazar: In particular, we are concerned with the possibility that this is an invited lawsuit by the Department of the Interior, after it was determined that you did not have the authority to review the merits of the tribe's claim through an administrative process. our understanding is that under a potential settlement, the government(through the Department of the Interior) will extend tribal recognition to, and acquire land in trust for the benefit of, a native American group of Wappo tribal descent who claim ties to the terminated Alexander Valley Rancheria. We are NOT AWARE of an Act of Congress that authorizes you to agree to extend tribal recognition to this legislatively terminated group or to place land in trust for their benefit.

July 16, 2010: 3 Counties Seek Motion to Dismiss

The Counties respectfully request that the Court dismiss the action filed by The Mishewal Wappo Tribe of Alexander Valley (“Plaintiff”) pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1), 12(b)(6), and 12(h)(3). Plaintiff alleges that the Secretary of the Interior’s 1959 termination of the Mishewal Wappo Tribe of Alexander Valley did not comply with the California Rancheria Act (Pub. L. No. 85-671, 72 Stat. 619), a Congressional act authorizing the termination of the Mishewal Wappo Tribe and forty other specifically enumerated California rancherias. Am. Compl. at 3, ¶ 5; 4, ¶ 12; 23, ¶ 77; 30, ¶ 110. More than five decades after the fact, Plaintiff now asks the Court to reverse the 1959 termination, bypass Congress’s exclusive authority over tribal recognition matters, and direct that Plaintiff be given immediate federal recognition, all available public lands within Plaintiff’s “historically aboriginal land,” and the right to conduct casino-style gaming on such “restored lands.”

Motion to Intervene / Mishewal Wappo v. Salazar

 

June 5, 2009: Complaint