Tlingit and Haida’s effort to make land parcel ‘Indian Country’ gets Trump-era setback

Appeals court sends case back to lower court for reconsideration due to Interior Department now opposing tribal efforts after supporting them under Biden

A 787-square-foot lot on Capitol Avenue that the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska is seeking to place into federal trust. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent)

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

A years-long battle to make a small downtown land parcel "Indian Country," and thus largely under the jurisdiction of tribal law, is facing yet more legal skirmishing due to the Trump administration reversing the Biden administration’s support of such agreements.

Sovereignty rights for the 787-square-foot vacant lot are being sought by its owner, the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, which in early 2023 announced a deed putting the land into federal trust status had been signed. But since then the tribe has run into legal difficulties with its agreement for that land as well as the federal government’s broader acceptance of such deals in Alaska.

 A federal district court judge ruled in June 2024 that Alaska tribes may put land into federal trust, effectively giving them "Indian Country" status. But the judge also declared there were flaws in Tlingit and Haida’s application and invalidated the 2023 agreement, allowing for the possibility of a corrected application.

In February of this year, Interior Solicitor William Doffermyre formally withdrew the Biden-era policy and reinstated a Trump administration ban on taking land into trust for Alaska Native communities. That meant Tlingit and Haida would have no opportunity for a new application.

The matter was sent back to district court on Monday by a three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which cited the Interior Department’s position change. The lower court is being asked to determine if and how the shift affects findings when the case was originally argued.

“The Ninth Circuit did not decide whether the Secretary of the Interior has authority to take land into trust for federally recognized Tribes in Alaska," Tlingit and Haida President Chalyee Éesh Richard Peterson told the Juneau Independent in a prepared statement Tuesday. "Instead, the court returned the case to the district court for further consideration following the Department of the Interior’s change in position. The court expressly stated that it was not taking a position on the merits of any issue."

"Tlingit & Haida remains committed to defending the rights of Alaska Tribal Nations to restore and protect lands for the benefit of their citizens. We will continue evaluating the decision with our legal counsel and participating fully as the case proceeds.”

A map shows plots of downtown land in what is referred to as the "Juneau Indian Village." The plot in yellow is what the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska is seeking to place into federal trust status. (City and Borough of Juneau image)

The tribe, which owns numerous parcels of land in what is sometimes referred to as the "Juneau Indian Village," has sought for decades to put portions into federal trust, which would keep the land from being taxed or sold by city and state governments.

Tlingit and Haida says the effort is similar to an agreement reached in 2017 by the Craig Tribal Association, which became the first modern Alaska Native land approved for federal trust status, aside from Metlakatla, the only federally recognized Indian reservation in the state.

The State of Alaska, under Gov. Mike Dunleavy, originated the legal challenge to the 2023 agreement, arguing 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act prohibits the federal government from creating new trust land in Alaska.

District Court Judge Sharon Gleason ruled mostly against the state in 2024, seemingly clearing the way for land trust agreements that had the support of Biden’s Interior Department. An appeal of that ruling resulted in Monday’s decision by the appellate panel, which noted under the Trump administration "the Department is now operating under a Solicitor Opinion’s recommendation not to accept any land-in-trust applications in Alaska."

"Given the Department’s change in position on appeal, we conclude appellate review is premature and remand without reaching the merits of the State’s or Tribe’s claims on appeal," the panel’s order states.

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.