Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Tribal Sovereignty topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commissioners raise concern after DOI solicitor opinion on United Keetoowah Band land-into-trust
Summary
Commissioners called a late-administration Department of the Interior legal opinion that the United Keetoowah Band may take land into trust within the Cherokee Nation reservation "unprecedented" and said the opinion could threaten tribal sovereignty; they said the current administration is likely to review the opinion.
Commissioners discussed a Department of the Interior solicitoropinion issued at the end of the previous federal administration that, according to commission speakers, states the United Keetoowah Band (UKB) has authority to have 76 acres taken into trust for gaming within the Cherokee Nation reservation.
Kim, a commission member, described the opinion as issued "on the very last day of work day of the previous administration" and said it "gives the states that the depart that the UKB can have land taken into trust on the Cherokee Nation reservation take in, for gaming purposes, and that they have exclusive jurisdiction over their 76 acres of trust land in our jurisdiction." Kim called the opinion "unprecedented" and said it did not consider relevant court cases and congressional acts.
Commission members said the solicitor's opinion is binding only within the Department of the Interior, that the current administration typically reviews such late-term items, and that the opinion had not yet been implemented. Kim and other speakers described the opinion as a potential threat to Cherokee Nation sovereignty and said their office and legal teams were prepared to contest the position.
Commissioners discussed broader examples where intertribal jurisdiction disputes have affected criminal cases and law enforcement outcomes and said they would track the Department of the Interior's review and any litigation that follows.
No formal action was recorded at the meeting regarding the solicitor opinion; commissioners said they would monitor developments and coordinate with tribal legal counsel and elected leaders.
