Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians v. Patchak, No. 11-246; U.S. Supreme Court; opinion by Kagan, J.; dissent by Sotomayor, J.; decided June 18, 2012. On certiorari to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
The Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) authorizes the secretary of the Department of the Interior to acquire property “for the purpose of providing land to Indians.” 25 U.S.C. § 465. Petitioner Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians, an Indian tribe federally recognized in 1999, requested that the secretary take into trust on its behalf a tract of land known as the Bradley property, which the band intended to use “for gaming purposes.” The secretary took title to the Bradley property in 2009.
