Wampum

From the SCOTUSBlog:

In the Rhode Island land dispute case, the Court will be ruling on whether, after Congress extinguished a tribe's title and interests to land, the Secretary of Interior may nevertheless create "Indian country" status and place disputed land in trust for the tribe's benefit. The Secretary in 1998 approved the Narragansett Indian Tribe's application to have a 31-acre parcel of land owned by the tribe and located in Charlestown, R.I., to be taken into trust for the tribe.

The three cases are expected to go over for argument to the Term starting on Oct. 6.

This case has very serious implications: Scores of tribes were declared "extinct" in the last 300 years, only to be "re-recognized" either by the BIA or Congress.

More from the AP (via Indianz.com):

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court agreed Monday to resolve a dispute over the federal government's ability to take land into trust for American Indian tribes.

Indian rights groups fear that the case involving the Narragansett Tribe in Rhode Island could undermine tribal land across the country. The justices will hear the case in the fall.

The state argued that a 1934 federal law prevents the government from taking land into trust for tribes recognized after the law took effect, unless Congress specifically authorized it. The Narragansetts became a federally recognized tribe in 1983.

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston rejected the state's claim.

At issue is whether a 31-acre lot in Charlestown purchased by the Narragansetts should be subject to Rhode Island law, including a prohibition on casino gambling, or whether the parcel should be governed by tribal and federal law.

The dispute dates to 1991, when the Narragansetts purchased the land to build an elderly housing complex, which remains incomplete.

The state objected when the tribe asked the U.S. Department of the Interior to take the land into federal trust, which would place it largely under tribal and federal control.

Update for our POA readers: The SCOTUS refused Blanchard v. Morton School District:

It denied review of a claim that parents be allowed to sue for damages under an 1867 civil rights law to enforce their right to a free public education for their disabled child.