{"id":10353,"date":"2021-04-19T02:52:49","date_gmt":"2021-04-19T06:52:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=10353"},"modified":"2021-04-19T02:52:49","modified_gmt":"2021-04-19T06:52:49","slug":"indian-country-nearly-locked-out-of-u-s-supreme-court-hearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/04\/19\/indian-country-nearly-locked-out-of-u-s-supreme-court-hearing\/","title":{"rendered":"Indian Country nearly locked out of U.S. Supreme Court hearing"},"content":{"rendered":"\"jonathannez\"\r\n
President Jonathan Nez of the Navajo Nation, seated, takes part in a gaming compact signing ceremony in Phoenix, Arizona, on April 15, 2021. The Navajo Nation is part of CARES Act litigation before the U.S. Supreme Court. Photo: Navajo Nation Office of President and Vice President<\/figcaption>\r\n
Indian Country nearly locked out of U.S. Supreme Court hearing<\/div>\r\n
Infighting among tribal attorneys led to game of chance<\/div>\r\n
Monday, April 19, 2021<\/div>\r\n
By Acee Agoyo<\/div>\r\n
Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n• Indianz.Com on Clubhouse: Supreme Court COVID-19 CARES Act Case \ud83c\udfa7\ud83d\udc42 \ud83d\uddde<\/a>\r\n<\/strong>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nA long-running dispute over COVID-19 relief<\/a> for tribal governments is finally before the nation’s highest court<\/a> but Indian Country almost lost out on the chance to present their side due to infighting among attorneys involved in the case.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nWith the coronavirus still having disproportionate impacts on American Indians and Alaska Natives, tribes remain united on the central issue in the matter. They contend that $8 billion from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act<\/a>, also known as the CARES Act<\/a> was intended for sovereign Indian nations, rather than for-profit Alaska Native corporations<\/a> (ANCs).\r\n

<\/p>\r\nYet on the eve of oral arguments in Yellen v. Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation<\/em><\/a> and Alaska Native Village Corporation Association v. Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation<\/em><\/a>, attorneys representing the dozen-plus tribal plaintiffs were still at odds over who was going to present the case. The disagreement became so bitter that one tribal leader warned that the U.S. Supreme Court<\/a> was going to hear arguments on Monday morning without even bothering to let Indian Country have its say.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“These types of divide and conquer tactics are nothing new to Indian Country,” Chairman Luke Duncan of the Ute Tribe<\/a>, one of the tribal plaintiffs, wrote in an open letter<\/a>.\r\n

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<\/p>\r\nThe infighting played out in motions submitted to the nation’s highest court. The Ute Tribe on March 31 asked to share argument<\/a> with the lead attorney for the lawsuit that was filed first in federal court.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nBut attorneys for these other tribal plaintiffs didn’t think that would have been a good use of the 30 minutes allotted for Indian Country’s side of the case on Monday. In a response to the Ute Tribe’s motion<\/a>, they characterized the sharing of argument time as a distraction to the central issue before the justices — whether ANCs are entitled to the COVID-19 funds.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n“In the view of the undersigned sixteen respondents, divided argument is not necessary,” attorneys for 16 tribes told the Supreme Court<\/a> on April 7.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nSoon enough, however, it became clear to Indian legal experts that the lack of agreement among the tribal plaintiffs was in fact threatening their ability to be heard. Last week, some of them feared that the Supreme Court might even cancel the hearing altogether, and just decide the case on the briefs.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n Chairman Duncan’s letter, which accused the venerated Native American Rights Fund<\/a> of undermining the sovereignty of Indian nations, wasn’t helping either, they concluded.\r\n

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