## Facts

- The Joint Tribal Council of the Passamaquoddy Tribe and tribal officials asserted that historical land conveyances in Maine impaired tribal land rights.
- The Tribe sought a declaratory judgment that the Indian Nonintercourse Act (25 U.S.C. § 177) applied to it and required federal protection of its land interests.
- Federal defendants included the Secretary of the Interior, the Attorney General, and the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maine.
- The State of Maine intervened as a defendant, contending that the Tribe’s dealings had been primarily with the State rather than the federal government.
- The district court found the Passamaquoddy to be a “tribe of Indians” within the meaning of the Act, ruled that the Act created a trust relationship, and declared federal officials had a duty to take appropriate action, including litigation, to protect the Tribe’s land claims.
- Federal defendants appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether the Indian Nonintercourse Act applies to the Passamaquoddy Tribe despite the Tribe’s lack of formal federal recognition and Maine’s historical role as its principal governmental contact.
2. If the Act applies, whether it creates a federal trust relationship obligating federal officials to act to protect tribal land rights, including by pursuing litigation when appropriate.

## Decision

- The First Circuit affirmed the declaratory judgment for the Tribe.
- The court held that the Passamaquoddy are a “tribe of Indians” covered by the Nonintercourse Act, which by its terms protects “any tribe of Indians” without conditioning coverage on administrative recognition.
- The court held that the Act establishes a federal trust relationship concerning tribal land, and Maine could not terminate or supplant that relationship through state practice or legislation.
- The court concluded federal officials must recognize the trust responsibility and may not refuse to act solely because the Tribe was not treated as federally recognized.
- The court upheld relief requiring federal officials to consider and, where appropriate, initiate litigation to vindicate tribal land rights allegedly affected by conveyances lacking federal consent.

## Legal Principles

- The Nonintercourse Act’s protections apply based on the existence of an Indian tribe, not on whether the group appears on an Interior Department recognition list.
- A state’s historical supervision of an Indian group, and federal inaction, do not extinguish duties imposed by federal statute regarding tribal land alienation.
- By restricting alienation of tribal lands absent federal approval, the Nonintercourse Act imposes a guardianship-like federal obligation to protect tribal land interests.
- Federal authority and responsibility in Indian affairs are not displaced by unilateral state action when Congress has legislated protections for tribal property rights.

## Conclusion

The First Circuit held that the Passamaquoddy fall within the Nonintercourse Act’s protection and that the statute creates a federal trust responsibility requiring federal officials to take appropriate steps, including considering litigation, to protect the Tribe’s land rights notwithstanding Maine’s past role and the Tribe’s prior lack of formal federal recognition.


Joint Tribal Council of Passamaquoddy Tribe v. Morton, 528 F.2d 370 (1st Cir. 1975)