Smith v. Parker, No. 14-1642 (8th Cir. 2014)
Annotate this CaseIn 2006, the Secretary of the Interior approved amendments to Title 8 of the Omaha Tribal Code, which modified the tribe's Beverage Control Ordinance and allowed the tribal government to impose a 10 percent sales tax on the purchase of alcohol from any licensee on tribal land. The Omaha Tribe attempted to enforce this alcohol tax on establishments in or near Pender engaged in the sale of alcoholic beverages. Those establishments and the village claimed that they were not located within the boundaries of the Reservation and not subject to the tax. The district court denied declaratory and injunctive relief. The Omaha Tribal Court as well and the district court determined that Pender and the areas at issue are located on Omaha tribal land. The Eighth Circuit affirmed, holding that Congress did not intend to "diminish" the boundaries of the Omaha Indian Reservation in Nebraska when it enacted an 1882 Act that ratified an agreement for the sale of Omaha tribal lands to non-Indian settlers.
Court Description: Civil case - Indian law. The district court carefully reviewed all of the relevant materials and factor in evaluating the 1882 Act ratifying an agreement for the sale of Omaha tribal lands to non-Indian settlers and in determining the Act did not diminish the Omaha reservation; nor did the court err in determining that the parcels of land in question are located on Omaha tribal land.
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