CHEROKEE NATION v. BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS et al

  1. September 26, 2024

    Judge Says DOI Didn't Satisfy Cherokee Accounting Duties

    A D.C. federal judge ruled that the U.S. government has not fulfilled its duty to provide the Cherokee Nation with a full accounting of its assets held in federal trust, handing a win to the Oklahoma-based tribe after five years of litigation.

  2. May 12, 2023

    Cherokee Nation Audit Was Resolved Decades Ago, Feds Say

    The federal government maintains it already provided a full accounting of the assets it holds in trust for the Cherokee Nation, contending that a 1996 report commissioned by the U.S. Department of the Interior satisfied its obligations to the Oklahoma tribe.

  3. April 21, 2023

    Tribe Slams Feds Over 'Inaccurate Framing' Of Audit Suit

    The Cherokee Nation is pressing a D.C. federal judge to advance its request for a full accounting of trust assets, claiming a 1996 report from the U.S. Department of the Interior does not fulfill the government's obligation to enumerate the resources it protects for Indigenous tribes.

  4. March 21, 2023

    Cherokee Nation's Trust Audit Suit Time-Barred, Feds Assert

    The U.S. Department of the Interior doubled down on its assertion that a suit brought by the Cherokee Nation for a full audit of tribal funds held in federal trust was filed more than a decade too late, urging the court to reject a D.C. federal judge's recommendation that federal officials' quick win bid be denied.

  5. February 13, 2023

    D.C. Judge Largely Sides With Tribe In Trust Audit Suit

    A 1996 report from the federal government outlining the Cherokee Nation's trust account transactions is a "woefully inadequate attempt to pass muster," a D.C. magistrate judge found, recommending the rejection of the U.S. Department of the Interior's quick win bid in the Nation's suit for a full accounting of its trust assets.

  6. October 04, 2022

    Feds Fight Delay Of Cherokee Trust Audit Ruling

    The federal government has urged a D.C. federal judge to block the Cherokee Nation's request for a full audit of tribal funds held in federal trust, saying the tribe's request for additional information fails to identify which facts are still needed.

  7. September 02, 2022

    Cherokee Continue Push For Expanded Audit Of Tribal Trust

    Newly uncovered evidence makes clear that a 1996 audit of federally held Native American trust assets was meant only as a preliminary review, the Cherokee Nation told a D.C. court, arguing that the government must conduct an expanded audit of its holdings to satisfy federal law.

  8. June 14, 2022

    Feds Seek Early Win In Cherokee Suit Seeking Audit Of Trust

    The U.S. government is asking a Washington, D.C., federal court to put a stop to the Cherokee Nation's bid for a full audit of tribal funds held in federal trust, claiming it has complied with all of its accounting responsibilities and that the Cherokee missed their chance to review those assets.

  9. September 03, 2021

    Feds Must Turn Over Contested Docs In Cherokee Trust Suit

    A D.C. federal judge has largely adopted a magistrate judge's opinion favoring the Cherokee Nation in its suit seeking a full audit of tribal funds kept in a U.S. government trust, granting the tribe discovery on its claims that don't arise under the Administrative Procedure Act.

  10. April 01, 2021

    Cherokee Nation, Feds Must Revise Trust Suit Discovery Plan

    A D.C. federal judge denied the federal government's attempt to limit the discovery scope in a Cherokee Nation suit trying to get a full audit of the tribal funds kept in a government trust, saying the U.S. has failed to provide an sufficient accounting of the revenue as is required by law.