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<br />oil3318 <br /> <br />definitely, as one Secretarial Order has now stood un- <br />challenged for over ten years. <br />The State Parties argue that such analysis would <br />depart from the practice of the prior Master who took <br />evidence on the issue of the boundaries.,oa Such an as- <br />sertion ignores the prior Master's finding that a land <br />department survey was conclusive and not subject. to <br />collateral attack when the issue of a reservation <br />boundary is collaterally in issue.'o, The current Secre- <br />tarial Orders will control his subordinates' actions. If <br />all parties before the prior Master had admi~ted the <br />existence of such orders delimiting a ReservatIOn to a <br />specified number of acres, his ~alysis would. have <br />made unnecessary the taking of eVldence on-the Issue. <br />Neither the power of the Secretary or of the courts <br />to make boundary determinations nor the Court's i~- <br />tent to have these determinations made by such decl- <br />sionmakers if possible, is diminished by the State Par- <br />ties' conte~tion that they did not have their "day in <br />court" before these decisio~akers. I am aware of no <br />claim to land in any of the disputed areas by any of <br />the State Parties. Their interest lies only to the extent <br />that if some other party - or they themselves as ag- <br />grieved persons or intervenors in proceedings else- <br />where now pending or commenced - should success- <br />fully contest the boundaries' as now. fi~ed by <br />Secretarial Order or the title to the land WIthin these <br />boundaries, the allotments of water now ?ought on. be- <br />half of the Tribes would be reduced. Title questions <br />are different from those boundary issues discussed <br />sbove. See Borax Consolidated Ltd v. City of LOB An- <br />geles, 296 U.S, 10, 16-21 (1935); United States v. State <br /> <br />Investment Co., 264 U.S. 206 (1924). But the private <br />contestants for title do not present a new problem to <br />this case. This concern can be met by the inclusion in <br />the final decree of the Court of a provision that would <br />reduce the allotment now sought on behalf of the <br />Tribes pro tanto for lands found to be practicably irri- <br />gable which subsequent litigation determines not to be <br />Indian land. The Court previously adopted this <br />method to provide for land associated with the Fort <br />Mojave Reservation and determined to have been con- <br />veyed to California and to the Southern Pacific Rail- <br />road. See 376 U.S. at 345. This procedure, having once <br />gained the Court's approval, provides a common senae <br />solution to the problem of accounting for whatever <br />land within the Interior Department's boundaries ulti- <br />mately may be determined to belong to non-Indiana.'" <br />Such a solution would additionally accommodate any <br />future changes in the boundaries. <br />In sum, I agree with the position put forward by <br />the United States that: <br /> <br />It would be wholly arbitrary to consider the <br />Reservation boundaries as they were uD/ferstood ' <br />in 1964 to be sufficiently "determined" to sup- <br />port a specific water allocation calculated on <br />acreage - albeit no court judgment has ever <br />vindicated the survey - but to deny compara- <br />ble affect [sic] to subsequent dependent surveys <br />of the boundaries because no court had ap- <br />proved them.''' <br /> <br />103. I d. at 30. <br />104. SPECIAL MAS1'E!I's REPORT at 283-87. <br /> <br />105. I note that Wille private litigation continl1ell regardinl thaa' <br />Rasarvationa. See. e.g.. United Stateo Y. Aranson. No. 77-~ (9th Cir. <br />Mar. 30. 1981). withdrawn (Apr. 17. 1981). <br />106. Motion of t.ba United Stetea for Modillcation of Decree and Sup- <br />porting Memorandum 13-14 (Dee. 1978). <br /> <br />74 <br /> <br />75 <br />