Case No. 17-387 | Wash.
In Upper Skagit Indian Tribe v. Lundgren, the Court will consider the issue of whether the exercise of in rem jurisdiction overrides the sovereign immunity of an Indian tribe.
This case began as a land dispute in the state of Washington between the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe and two individuals, Sharline and Ray Lundgren. The disputed parcel of land was initially occupied by the Tribe, but was conveyed to the United States in 1855 as part of the Treaty of Point Elliott. The Tribe once again took possession of the land when it purchased the property in 2013.
Following the purchase, the Tribe conducted a survey of the land and discovered that its boundaries had been marked incorrectly. Thereafter, the Tribe told the Lundgrens, the owners of an adjacent parcel of land, of its desire to remove a fence that was erected according to the prior incorrect understanding of the property’s boundaries.
The Lundgrens responded by filing suit against the Tribe, claiming that they were the rightful owners of part of the Tribe’s land by adverse possession. The Tribe attempted to have the case dismissed by asserting sovereign immunity. The Tribe’s motion was denied by the Washington Superior Court, a ruling that was affirmed on appeal by the Washington Supreme Court.
In their appeal to the Court, the Tribe asserts that the Washington Supreme Court was incorrect in finding an exception to tribal sovereign immunity in cases involving in rem jurisdiction, stating that such a holding rests on an incorrect understanding of the precedent set by the Court in County of Yakima v. Confederated Tribes & Bands of Yakima Indian Nation, 502 U.S. 251 (1992). In response, the Lundgrens argue that sovereign immunity should not apply in in rem cases because such cases involve the exercise of jurisdiction over land rather than a person or entity.
The outcome of this case could, of course, have important implications for Indian tribes who, like the Upper Skagit Tribe in this case, want to expand their territory and regain possession of land that was once theirs.