1
(Slip Opinion)
OCTOBER TERM, 2008
Syllabus
NOTE: Where it is feasible, a syllabus (headnote) will be released, as is
being done in connection with this case, at the time the opinion is issued.
The syllabus constitutes no part of the opinion of the Court but has been
prepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the reader.
See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321, 337.
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
Syllabus
CARCIERI, GOVERNOR OF RHODE ISLAND, ET AL. v.
SALAZAR, SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, ET AL.
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR
THE FIRST CIRCUIT
No. 07–526. Argued November 3, 2008—Decided February 24, 2009
The Indian Reorganization Act (IRA), enacted in 1934, authorizes the
Secretary of Interior, a respondent here, to acquire land and hold it
in trust “for the purpose of providing land for Indians,” 25 U. S. C.
§465, and defines “Indian” to “include all persons of Indian descent
who are members of any recognized tribe now under Federal jurisdic-
tion,” §479. The Narragansett Tribe was placed under the Colony of
Rhode Island’s formal guardianship in 1709. It agreed to relinquish
its tribal authority and sell all but two acres of its remaining reserva-
tion land in 1880, but then began trying to regain its land and tribal
status. From 1927 to 1937, federal authorities declined to give it as-
sistance because they considered the Tribe to be under state, not fed-
eral jurisdiction. In a 1978 agreement settling a dispute between the
Tribe and Rhode Island, the Tribe received title to 1,800 acres of land
in petitioner Charlestown in exchange for relinquishing claims to
state land based on aboriginal title; and it agreed that the land would
be subject to state law. The Tribe gained formal recognition from the
Federal Government in 1983, and the Secretary of Interior accepted a
deed of trust to the 1,800 acres in 1988. Subsequently, a dispute
arose over whether the Tribe’s plans to build housing on an addi-
tional 31 acres of land