12.01.050 Land Dispute Claim Procedures

(a) Tribal Court Jurisdiction.

(1) The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Court shall have jurisdiction over land disputes. The Tribal Court shall have the authority to award monetary damages and equitable relief, provided however, that the Tribal Council retains the sole authority to issue, revise, or rescind a Use and Occupancy Deed. The Tribal Council is bound by any Tribal Court Order regarding land disputes, and failure to obey such orders shall subject the Tribe, but not the individual Council Members acting in their official capacity, to equitable or injunctive relief, as necessary to enforce the Order.

(2) Tribal Court shall have jurisdiction over any land dispute that is commenced within six years of accrual of the injury or the date the party knew or should have known of the injury that serves as the basis of the claim. The Tribal Court has the discretion to waive the statute of limitations for good cause, such as where the party could not have known or was prevented from knowing of his or her injury.

(b) Capacity to File a Dispute. A land dispute may be filed by:

(1) Any enrolled Tribal Member;

(2) A non-member on behalf of his or her minor, mentally or physically handicapped and dependent child(ren) or family member, as long as the child(ren) or family member is/are Tribally-enrolled; or

(3) A non-member spouse who may seek a life estate after the death of his or her Member spouse.

(1) A Statement of the nature of the dispute, e.g. boundary line, title, ownership;

(2) Names of all other Interested Parties, including Claimant and Respondent and their connection to the dispute and the reason for each party's interest; and

(3) Copies of any relevant documents which may be required to address the dispute and which will inform the Court and the parties about the facts, including, but not limited to, Wills, Deeds, Use and Occupancy Deeds, Tribal Council Decisions, Surveys, Bills of Sale or any other relevant correspondence, or receipts.

(d) Public Notice.

(1) Within ten (10) days following the filing of the Claim, the Tribal Court Clerk shall publish a Notice which shall start the thirty-day (30) Public Notice Period. The Notice shall state:

PUBLIC NOTICE OF LAND DISPUTE

Any Person having any interest whatsoever or information pertaining to this matter shall have thirty (30) business days from the date of publication of this Notice to file opposing or related claims or to provide relevant information to the Court. Information and related claims should be filed no later than _________________, 20 _______.

(2) The Notice shall also contain the following information:

(A) Name and address of the Claimant;

(B) Name and address of Respondent;

(D) Claim file number;

(E) A brief description of the nature of the dispute.

(3) The Notice shall appear in at least one weekly Akwesasne community newspaper and on the Official Tribal Website at www.srmt-nsn.gov. The Public Notice shall be published for two consecutive weeks and shall also be displayed at the Tribal Community Building. The cost of the notice shall be born by the Claimant as provided for in the Court fee schedule.

(e) Confidentiality. Any material provided to the Court during this process also will be provided to all Interested Parties. However, any documentation that could be considered private or confidential, including but not limited to social security number, date of birth or other information used as identity, shall be segregated from the case file and may be viewed only by the Court, the Claimant, and the Respondent unless a release is signed by the affected party.

(f) Applicable Laws and Rules. All Tribal Laws, including those pertaining to procedures before the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Court shall govern the land dispute claims filed in Tribal Court. If there is an apparent conflict of Laws, the Tribal Court shall seek to read the Laws in a way that they will work together. But, to the extent there is a conflict, this chapter shall take precedence in relation to land and land disputes.

(g) Review of Prior Tribal Council Land Dispute Decisions.

(1) As a matter of equity, the statute of limitations will be waived and the Tribal Court shall have the authority to review any land dispute decisions made by Tribal Council between December 1, 1998 and December 3, 2009 (the original Effective Date of the prior Land Dispute Ordinance). Such review shall be de novo. This authority shall expire on June 30, 2018.

(2) As of December 3, 2009, the Tribal Council no longer had authority to resolve land disputes. If, between December 4, 2009, and the date of the adoption of this chapter, the Tribal Council took action on a land dispute despite this bar, the party seeking to file a claim regarding such action must first establish that Tribal Council actually resolved a land dispute as defined herein before a claim may be brought. The Tribal Court shall have the discretion to waive the statute of limitations regarding a land dispute in such case, but in no instance, may the Tribal Council or Tribe be named as a party except as permitted under this chapter. Tribal Court shall not entertain cases where the Tribal Council simply executed a Use and Occupancy Deed.

(h) Review of Prior Land Tribunal Cases

(1) All cases filed with but not finally resolved by the Land Dispute Tribunal under the prior Ordinance shall be transferred to the Tribal Court to be heard under this chapter. No additional filing fee shall be required. The Court shall provide written notice to each party in each pending matter.

(2) All cases that were previously filed under the prior Ordinance with the Land Dispute Tribunal that resulted in final decisions from the Land Dispute Tribunal or for which appeals have been exhausted may not be filed in, nor reheard by, the Tribal Court.

(i) Appeals. All final decisions of the Tribal Court regarding land or land disputes shall be appealable to the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe Appellate Court.