The Cahto Tribe of California could lose federal funds and its government-to-government relationship as part of an ongoing membership dispute.

On September 19, 1995, the general council voted to remove 22 members of the Sloan-Heckler from the rolls. Most are descendants of the late Chief Bill Ray.

The Cahto Tribe claimed that the Sloan-Hecklers were ineligible because they accepted money from a settlement involving the Hoopa Valley Tribe and the Yurok Tribe. However, the family did not enroll with either tribe.

After years of inaction, the Bureau of Indian Affairs got involved under a provision of the tribal constitution that states:

A person disapproved for enrollment shall be notified in writing of the reason(s) for disapproval and informed of his right to appeal to the Area Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Sacramento, California, within 30 days following receipt of the rejection notice.

The administrative process took years to resolve but the agency in March 2009 finally determined that the tribe acted improperly. That led the tribe to file a lawsuit in federal court that challenged the BIA's action and the lengthy delay in resolving the dispute.

"Although it is evident the BIA did not decide Gene Sloan’s appeals in a timely manner since the BIA did not act upon those appeals until 2009, it is also clear that Gene Sloan appealed the tribe’s decision in 1999," Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. wrote, referring to the appeal that was filed within 30 days, as required by the tribal constitution.

"Even though the BIA was slow to act on Gene Sloan’s appeals, this delay does not make the BIA’s 2009 decision arbitrary and capricious," Burrell continued.

Additionally, the judge said the federal government had authority to intervene in the dispute under the tribal constitution. "The tribe’s governing documents provide for an appeal to the BIA from adverse enrollment decisions," the decision stated.

The tribe could appeal but the BIA says the family must be put back on the rolls '“The court decision says they did not move legally,” Dale Risling, the Pacific region director of the BIA, told Capitol Weekly. “So we have to consider the actions the tribe takes from this point on. If the Sloan-Heckler family are not including, it looks like we probably wouldn’t be able to recognize the actions of the council.”

Turtle Talk has posted documents from the case, Cahto Tribe v. Dutschke.

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Cahto tribe loses disenrollment case to feds (Capitol Weekly 10/6)