Frank’s Landing Indian Community v. National Indian Gaming Commission

Federal recognition of an Indian tribe means that the United States government formally recognizes a particular Indian group’s tribal status. The United States Secretary of the Interior (the secretary) annually publishes a list of federally recognized tribes. The Frank’s Landing Indian Community (the community) (plaintiff) was not a federally recognized tribe, but the federal Frank’s Landing Act provided that the community was “recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians.” In 1988, Congress enacted the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), which established a framework for regulating class I, class II, and class III gaming on Indian lands. Under IGRA, any Indian tribe that wanted to conduct class II gaming had to submit a proposed ordinance regulating such gaming to the National Indian Gaming Commission (the commission) (defendant) for approval. IGRA defined Indian tribe as any Indian group that was “recognized as eligible by the [s]ecretary for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians” and recognized as having self-governance powers. In 1994, Congress amended the Frank’s Landing Act to provide that the community was “recognized as eligible” for special federal programs and services based on their Indian status and was recognized as self-governing. The amendment also provided that, notwithstanding any other provision of law, the community could not engage in IGRA class III gaming. Congress stated that the amendment was not intended to federally recognize the community as a tribe, and the community never otherwise obtained federal recognition. In 2014, the community submitted a class II gaming ordinance to the commission for approval under IGRA. However, the commission declined to review the ordinance based on the determination that the community was not an Indian tribe for IGRA purposes because it was not a federally recognized tribe that appeared on the secretary’s annual list. The community sued the commission and various federal officials in federal court. The district court ruled against the community, and the community appealed.