Ogle v. Salamatof Native Ass'n

ERA VII — Corporate Maturation & Expansion
Court Case
1999

Salamatof seeks dismissal pursuant to 43 U.S.C. § 1632(b). Docket Nos. 15 & 21. Salamatof contends that Ogle failed to commence this action within one year of the filing of the map of boundaries, and thereby lost his right to sue. Id. The motion is opposed. Docket No. 18. Ogle argues that he was not given sufficient notice of Salamatof’s actions regarding his claim to satisfy due process. Id. Both parties request oral argument. Docket Nos. 22 & 23. However, the record has been fully developed and oral argument would not be helpful. D. Ak. LR 7.1(i); see United States v. Cheely, 814 F. Supp. 1430, 1436 n.2 (D. Alaska 1992).

What Happened

In their briefs, neither party provides the Court with a map detailing the relationship between the land to which Ogle asserts his reconveyance rights and the primary location of Salamatof Native Association. Where the land in issue is in the vicinity of the village and all claimants use the village as a base of operations to get mail and supplies and travel to and from the outside, notice posted in the post office or general store may be sufficient if it is coupled with personal notice to those known to the village members. When the land in question may have no historical or geographical connection with the village, and claimants may have no reason to regularly visit the village, notices posted in the village may have no likelihood of reaching claimants. By the same token, claimants might not associate the land they claim with a village which might be far away. Of course, where the village has no past association with or even easy access to the land affected, its burden of discovering potential claimants and giving them notice is increased.9The Department of the Interior may have had an independent duty to give notice to potential 14(c) claimants, and inadequate performance of that duty may impair the finality of the map. However, the government is not a party to this case. Nonetheless, the Department of the Interior’s action is significant in that its publication and posting of notice may have accommodated for otherwise inadequate notice by Salamatof by giving actual, inquiry, or constructive notice to Ogle.10A limitations period should be tolled when an injured person has several legal remedies and he reasonably, and in good faith, pursues one. See Hinton v. Pac. Enter., 5 F.3d 391, 396 (9th Cir. 1993), cert. denied, 128 L. Ed. 2d 462, 114 S. Ct. 1833 (1994). If Ogle’s allotment claim is an alternate remedy to his reconveyance claim, perhaps Ogle’s pursuit of this claim “tolled” the 43 U.S.C. § 1632(b) limitations period. The Court expresses no opinion on that issue.

Why It Matters Today

Adds precedent that influences how ANCSA corporations, regulators, and shareholders interpret governance rights and remedies.

Related Patterns

Pattern 7: Cultural Expectations vs. Corporate Law

Related Governance Themes

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