The federal government is asking the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reject a Wisconsin village’s bid to undo a decision placing nearly 500 acres of Oneida Nation land into federal trust, in a case with implications for tribal sovereignty in northeast Wisconsin.
The dispute centers on 21 parcels — about 499 acres — in the Village of Hobart, near Green Bay, that the U.S. Department of the Interior placed into trust for the Oneida Nation under Section 5 of the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act, according to WBAY. Trust status removes the land from local property tax rolls and limits the village’s regulatory authority over it.
Hobart sued in 2023, arguing that Section 5 of the Indian Reorganization Act is unconstitutional and that trust status for the parcels would cause the village “fiscal and geographical extinction,” per WBAY. U.S. District Judge William Griesbach ruled against Hobart in December, finding the government’s action was “not arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion.” Hobart filed its notice of appeal to the 7th Circuit on Jan. 30, according to WBAY.
In a brief filed July 16, the Department of Justice, representing the Interior Department, defended Congress’s authority to regulate tribal land matters. “Congress enacted Section 5 pursuant to its broad constitutional authority to regulate Indian affairs, and the Village’s non-delegation challenge has been rejected by every court of appeals that has considered it,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson wrote, according to Fox11 Green Bay.
Hobart’s reply brief was due Aug. 6. As of this writing, no oral arguments have been scheduled before the 7th Circuit.
The case is the latest chapter in a long-running dispute between Hobart and the Oneida Nation over jurisdiction and land status within the tribe’s historical reservation boundaries in Brown County.
