Wilton Miwok Rancheria Federal Recognition - Elk Grove and Sacramento County Challenge Status

Elk Grove and Sacramento County filed legal documents last month petitioning to reopen and intervene in the lawsuit between the Wilton Miwok Rancheria tribe and the federal government claiming that the case was filed with the wrong court.

They claim that the correct court is the district court for the Eastern District of California, which includes Sacramento, Fresno, Yosemite, Redding and other areas. The petition also states that the tribe purposely moved the case to the wrong district to try and hide the lawsuit from those who might oppose their effort to obtain federal recognition.

The documents say that because the lawsuit was filed in the wrong court the city and county weren’t included and thus not allowed the chance to protect their “taxing and regulatory interests”.

Paul Hahn, Sacramento County’s municipal services administrator, said the city and county are “not trying to fight (the Miwok) recognition as a tribe, adding that “the process was flawed.”

Hahn said Sacramento County wants to continue to have authority over the development in the Wilton Miwok area so that the county’s general plan can be followed.

The Wilton Miwok Tribal responded by saying was said that the Elk Grove and Sacramento County would have been included in the process in a couple years after the tribe had established an official government.

Co-Chair Mary Tarango stated that, “It wasn’t timely. This was a federal process. It had nothing to do with the city and county.”

In response to the “wrong court” allegations, Tarango said the court where the Wilton Miwok’s case was filed is the same court that in the late 1970s handled a 34-tribe case involving the Wilton tribe known as Tillie Hardwick v. United States, and called the Elk Grove and Sacramento County’s arguments “all untrue, premature, half-baked and uneducated.”

She said the true intent of the motions filed by Elk Grove and Sacramento County is not just about them being involved in discussions, but more about trying to take away the tribes federal recognition.

The Miwok were granted federal recognition last June but Elk Grove and Sacramento County claim that not only did the court not have jurisdiction to grant them federal status, but that, according to US Code, the 6 year statute of limitations for the tribe to apply for recognition has long since expired.

According to the motions filed with the court, the Miwok tribe lost federal recognition in 1964 under the California Rancheria Act and that since they challenged the act in 1979, the latest they could have filed for federal recognition would have been in 1985.

“The tribes’ challenge to their termination under the Rancheria Act was subject to the six-year statute of limitations in (U.S. code),” the documents say.

The motions filed with the court say at this point, the only way the Miwok tribe can be given federal recognition is if Congress approves it.