The Bureau of Indian Affairs has approved a land-into-trust application for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians of California.

The BIA approved the application for 6.9 acres on June 13. The decision affirms that the tribe was "under federal jurisdiction" in 1934 and can follow the land-into-trust process.

Critics claimed the tribe didn't gain federal recognition until the 1960s. They cited the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Carcieri v. Salazar, which imposed the 1934 cut-off date on land-into-trust bids.

The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors will meet July 10 to consider whether to fight the BIA's decision. The application has been the subject of at least two Interior Board of Indian Appeals rulings.

Preservation of Los Olivos and Preservation of Santa Ynez, two opposition groups, previously sued when the IBIA ruled that they lacked standing to challenge the application, an issue that was at the center of the recent Supreme Court decision in Salazar v. Patchak. A federal judge ruled that the groups have standing back in April 2010.

Get the Story:
Tribe gets US approval for 7-acre annexation (The Santa Maria Times 6/27)

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