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7 Great Plains Nat. Resources J. 233 (2002-2003)
Navajo Nation v. United States: Determining When Native American Tribes Can Sue the United States within a Trust Relationship

handle is hein.journals/gpnat7 and id is 239 raw text is: NA VAJO NATION V. UNITED STATES: DETERMINING WHEN NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBES CAN SUE THE UNITED STATES WITHIN A TRUST RELATIONSHIP JESSE COOKt I. Introduction .................................................................................................. 233 II. Facts and Procedure ..................................................................................... 234 A . E v en ts ................................................................................................... 2 34 B. The United States Court of Federal Claims .......................................... 235 C. United States Court of Appeals - Federal Circuit ................................ 236 Il . B ackground .................................................................................................. 236 A. The Tucker Act and Indian Tucker Act ................................................ 236 B. The Indian M ineral Leasing Act ........................................................... 237 C . The M itchell A nalysis .......................................................................... 238 IV . A n alysis ........................................................................................................ 2 39 V . C onclusion ................................................................................................... 243 I. INTRODUCTION Navajo Nation v. United States (Navajo Nation) examines the circumstances under which an Indian Nation can recover monetary damages from the government for the breach of a fiduciary duty. The United States Court of Appeals held that when Native American resources are controlled by the United States, the government owes that Indian Nation the duties of a fiduciary.2 It further held that an injured beneficiary has a fundamental right to bring suit against its trustee, for any damages that resulted from a breach of that fiduciary duty.3 This decision by the Court of Appeals, allows the tribes to recover monetary damages for a governmental breach of implied responsibilities. Prior to this decision, courts had consistently held that for a Native American tribe to recover monetary damages, it was necessary to demonstrate that the government had breached a specific duty owed to the tribe. With the government managing over 50 million acres of land for the Native American tribes, the decision of the Court of Appeals t Jesse Cook, B.A., German, Arizona State University, 2000; Juris Doctorate Candidate, May 2004, University of South Dakota School of Law. 1. Navajo Nation v. United States, 263 F.3d 1325 (Fed. Cir. 2001), cert. granted, 70 U.S.L.W. 3741 (U.S. June 3, 2002) (NO. 01.1375). 2. Id. at 1329. 3. Id. at 1333. 4. United States v. Mitchell, 463 U.S. 206, 224 (1983); Brown v. United States, 86 F.3d 1554, 1563 (Fed. Cir. 1996); Pawnee v. United States, 830 F. 2d 187, 192 (Fed. Cir. 1987); Navajo Nation v. United States, 46 Fed.C1. 217, 236 (2000).

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