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Page 128
406 U.S. 128
92 S.Ct. 1456 31 L.Ed.2d 741 AFFILIATED UTE CITIZENS OF the State
of UTAH et al., Petitioners,
v.
UNITED STATES et al.
No. 7078.
Argued Oct. 18, 1971.
Decided April 24, 1972.
Rehearing Denied June 12, 1972.
See 407 U.S. 916, 92 S.Ct.
2430.
Syllabus
The Ute Partition Act was
designed to provide for the partition and
distribution of the tribe's assets between
the mixed-blood and full-blood members; for
termination of federal supervision over the
trust and restricted property of
mixed-bloods; and for a development program
for the full-bloods with a view toward
terminating federal supervision of them. In
addition to cash and land, the tribe owned
oil, gas, and mineral rights (principally
oil shale deposits underlying the
reservation) and unadjudicated and
unliquidated claims against the Government.
The Act provided that upon publication of
the final membership rolls, the tribal
business committee (representing the
full-bloods) and the mixed-bloods'
'authorized representatives' were to start
dividing assets that could be practicably
distributed, based upon the relative number
of persons in each group, with a further
plan to be prepared for distributing the
mixed-bloods' assets to individual members.
After each mixed-blood had received his
distributive share, federal restrictions
were to be removed except as to the
remaining interest in tribal property. The
assets not practicably distributable were to
be jointly managed by the committee and the
mixed-bloods' representatives. Under the
Act, the mixed-bloods, by way of selecting
their representatives, organized the
Affiliated Ute Citizens (AUC) as an
unincorporated association, which, as
authorized by the statute, created the Ute
Distribution Corp. (UDC) to manage (jointly
with the committee) the oil, gas, and
mineral rights and unad-judicated or
unliquidated claims against the Government
as part of the plan for distributing assets
to individual mixed-bloods. UDC issued 10
shares of its stock in the name of each
mixed-blood and made an agreement with First
Security Bank of Utah (the bank) for the
bank to become the UDC stock transfer agent,
the bank to hold the stock certificates and
issue receipts to the shareholders. Under
UDC's articles, a mixed-blood shareholder
desiring to dispose of his stock prior to
August 27, 1964, had to give first-refusal
rights to tribe members absent which no
stock sale was valid. A sale could be made
to a non-
Page 129
member only if no member accepted the
offer, and the price could be no lower than
that offered to members. The UDC
certificates were to bear a stamp revealing
these conditions, along with a caveat that
the certificates did not represent ordinary
corporate shares; that the stock's future
value could not be determined; and that the
stock should be retained for the
shareholder's benefit. Upon the sale to a
nonmember, the seller was to furnish an
affidavit to the reservation superintendent
stating the amount he received. The federal
trust relationship involving the divided
assets contemplated by the Act was
terminated by proclamation of the Secretary
of the Interior effective August 27, 1961.
Auc Case. AUC, acting for itself and its 490
mixed-blood members, in April 1968 sued the
United States for a pro rate distribution to
the individual members of the mixed-bloods'
27% of the mineral estate underlying the
reservation and for a determination that AUC
and not UDC was entitled to manage that
property jointly with the committee.
Jurisdiction was asserted under 25 U.S.C. §
345 and 28 U.S.C. §§ 1399 and 2409. The
District Court granted the Government's
motion to dismiss, and the Court of Appeals
affirmed. Reyos Case. In February 1965, a
group of mixed-bloods (12 of whom were
selected as 'bellwether plaintiffs' for
initial trial purposes) sued the bank, two
bank employees (Gale and Haslem) and (under
the Tort Claims Act) the United States,
charging violations of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 and the SEC's Rule
10b5, which prohibits 'any device, scheme,
or artifice to defraud' in connection with
securities transactions. The claimed
violations involved plaintiffs' sales of UDC
shares in 1963 and 1964 (some made before
and some after August 27). The District
Court, inter alia, found that mixed-bloods
had sold 1,387 shares of UDC stock to
nonmembers, Haslem buying 50 shares (after
August 27, 1964) and Gale 63 (44 before that
date and 19 after). The 12 plaintiffs sold
120 shares, Gale buying 10 and Haslem six.
Thirty-two other whites bought shares from
mixed-bloods during the 19631964 period. In
19641965 mixed-bloods sold shares at $300
to $700 per share, while the price range on
transfer between whites was $500 to $700.
Gale and Haslem received various commissions
for their services in connection with
transfers of UDC stock from mixed-bloods to
nonmembers, solicited contracts for open
purchases of UDC stock on bank premises
during business hours, and prepared the
necessary affidavits and other papers,
using, at best, 'informal' procedures. The
District Court
Page 130
concluded that the Government had reason
to know of the sales to non-Indians and
failed to perform its duty to the
mixed-bloods to discourage and prevent the
sales; that Gale and Haslem had devised a
scheme to acquire for themselves and others
UDC shares at less than their fair value;
and that the bank had notice of the
employees' improper activities. The court
found that each of the defendants (with
certain exceptions applicable to the
Government) was liable to each of the 12
plaintiffs, and assessed damages by using a
$1,500-per-share value for the UDC stock as
of the times of the sales. The court reached
that figure after taking account of the oil
shale deposits underlying the reservation,
along with gas, coal, and other minerals;
petitioners' remaining interests in an
Indian Claims Commission award;
unadjudicated claims against the Government;
the specific prices for UDC share sales by
mixed-bloods to whites; the fact that
mixed-bloods (who were under heavy selling
pressure) were not so well informed about
the stock's potential value as were whites;
the influence of Gale's and Haslem's
improper activities on selling prices;
opinion evidence as to worth above $700 per
share; and other factors. The measure of
damages for each seller, the court held, was
the difference between the fair value of the
UDC shares at the time of sale and the fair
value of what the seller received. The Court
of Appeals reversed in substantial part,
holding that after the 1961 termination the
Government owed petitioners no duty in
connection with the UDC stock sales; that
Gale and Haslem were liable only where they
personally purchased shares for their own
accounts or for resale to an undisclosed
principal at a higher price, but not in
other instances, where their actions were
held to be only ministerial; and that the
bank's liability did not extend beyond
Gale's and Haslem's. The District Court's
valuation of the UDC stock was held to lack
record support, and the proper measure of
damages was held to be 'the profit made by
the defendant on resale' or, absent a
resale, 'the prevailing market price at the
time of the purchase from the plaintiffs.' A
petition for certiorari covering both the
AUC case and the Reyos case was granted.
Held:
The AUC Case
1. The AUC case was properly
dismissed for want of jurisdiction as an
unconsented suit against the United States.
Pp. 141143.
(a) Though under 25 U.S.C. §
345, the Government has consented to suits
to enforce an Indian's right to an allotment
of land, the AUC's claimed interest in the
mineral estate has not been made subject to
an allotment. Pp. 142143.
Page 131
(b) Title 28 U.S.C. §§ 1399 and
2409 are inapplicable, since those
provisions confer jurisdiction with respect
to partition suits where the United States
is a tenant in common or a joint tenant,
which is not the situation here. P. 143.
2. The UDC and not the AUC is
entitled to manage jointly with the
full-bloods the oil, gas, and mineral rights
underlying the reservation. P. 143144.
The Reyos Case
3. The Ute Partition Act and
the 1961 termination proclamation ended
federal supervision over the trust and the
mixed-bloods' restricted property, including
the UDC shares, and the right of first
refusal specified in the UDC corporate
articles created no duty on the Government's
part to the terminated mixed-bloods seeking
to sell their shares. Pp. 149150.
4. The Court of Appeals
correctly determined that Gale and Haslem
violated Rule 10b5 by making misstatements
of material fact, namely, that the
prevailing market price of the UDC shares
was the figure at which their purchases were
made, but the court erred in holding that
there was no violation of the Rule unless
the record disclosed evidence of reliance on
the misrepresentations. All that is
necessary is that the facts withheld be
material in the sense that a reasonable
investor might have considered them
important in the making of his decision. Pp.
150154.
5. The bank's liability is
coextensive with that of Gale and Haslem. P.
154.
6. The correct measure of
damages under § 28 of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 is the difference
between the fair value of what the
mixed-blood seller received for his stock
and what he would have received had there
been no fraudulent conduct (except where the
defendant received more than the seller's
actual loss, in which case the defendant's
profit is the amount of damages). Pp.
154155.
7. The District Court's
valuation of $1,500 per UDC share has
adequate record support. Pp. 155156.
10 Cir., 431 F.2d 1349,
affirmed; 10 Cir., 431 F.2d 1337, affirmed
in part, reversed in part.
Page 132
Parker M. Nielson, Salt Lake
City, Utah, for petitioners.
A. Raymond Randolph, for
respondent United States, pro hac vice, by
special leave of Court.
Marvin J. Bertoch, Salt Lake
City, Utah, for respondents First Security
Bank of Utah, N.A., and others.
Mr. Justice BLACKMUN delivered
the opinion of the Court.
These two consolidated cases
center in the Ute Indian Supervision
Termination Act of August 27, 1954
(hereafter Partition Act), 68 Stat. 868, as
amended, 70 Stat. 936 and 76 Stat. 597, 25
U.S.C. §§ 677677aa; the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934, 48 Stat. 881, as amended, §§
3(a)(4) and (5), 10(b) and 15(c)(1), 15
U.S.C. §§ 78c(a)(4) and (5), 78j(b) and
78o(c)(1); the emergence of Affiliated Ute
Citizens of the State of Utah (AUC), an
unincorporated association, and of Ute
Distribution Corp. (UDC), a Utah
corporation; and the alleged victimization
of Indian shareholders in their sales of UDC
shares.
Page 133
I
Background
The Ute Partition Act1
pertained to the Ute Indian Tribe of the
Uintah and Ouray Reservation in Utah. At the
time of the Act's adoption the tribe had a
membership of about 1,765,2
consisting of 439 mixed-bloods3
Page 134
and 1,326 full-bloods. Section 1 of the
Act stated its purpose, namely 'to provide
for the partition and distribution of the
assets of the . .. Tribe . . . between the
mixed-blood and full-blood members thereof;
for the termination of Federal supervision
over the trust, and restricted property, of
the mixed-blood members of said tribe; and
for a development program for the full-blood
members thereof, to assist them in preparing
for termination of Federal supervision over
their property.' 25 U.S.C. § 677. The
thenestimated value of the cash, accounts
receivable, and land owned by the tribe was
$20,702,885.4 The tribe possessed
additional assets consisting of oil, gas,
and mineral rights (principally oil shale
deposits underlying the reservation), and
unadjudicated and unliquidated claims
against the United States.
Section 8 of the Act, 25 U.S.C.
§ 677g, called for the preparation of the
rolls of full-blood members and mixed-blood
members, and for the finality of those
rolls. Section 5, as amended, 25 U.S.C. §
677d, provided that upon the publication of
the final rolls 'the tribe shall thereafter
consist exclusively of full-blood members,'
and that mixed-blood members 'shall have no
interest therein except as otherwise
provided' in the Act.
Section 10, 25 U.S.C. § 677i,
stated that when the final membership rolls
had been published, the tribal business
committee, representing the full-bloods, and
the 'authorized representatives' of the
mixed-bloods were to 'commence a division of
the assets of the tribe that are then
susceptible to equitable and practicable
Page 135
distribution.' This was to be based 'upon
the relative number of persons comprising
the final membership roll of each group.'5
Upon the adoption of a plan of division, the
mixed-bloods were to prepare a further plan
for the distribution of their group's assets
to the individual members. § 13 of the Act,
25 U.S.C. § 677l. After each mixed-blood had
received his distributive share, directly or
in whole or in part through the device of a
corporation or other entity in which he had
an interest, federal restrictions were to be
removed except as to any remaining interest
in tribal property, that is, the
unadjudicated or unliquidated claims against
the United States, gas, oil, and mineral
rights, and other tribal assets not
susceptible of equitable and practicable
distribution. § 16, 25 U.S.C. § 677o. The
Secretary of the Interior then was to issue
a proclamation 'declaring that the Federal
trust relationship to such individual is
terminated.' § 23, 25 U.S.C. § 677v. Those
assets, such as the mineral estate, excepted
from the division plans, were to be 'managed
jointly by the Tribal Business Committee and
the authorized representatives of the
mixed-blood group.' § 10, 25 U.S.C. § 677i.
Section 6 of the Act, 25 U.S.C.
§ 677e, authorized the mixed-bloods to
organize, to adopt a constitution and
bylaws, and to provide, by that
constitution, for the selection of
authorized representatives with power 'to
take any action that is required by (the
Act) to be taken by the mixed-blood members
as a group.'
&160; Pursuant to this grant of
power the mixed-bloods, in 1956, organized
AUC as an unincorporated association. AUC's
constitution, Art. V, § 1(b), empowered its
board
Page 136
of directors to delegate to corporations
organized in accordance with the Act 'such
powers and authority as may be necessary or
desirable in the accomplishment of the
objects and purposes for which said
corporations may be so organiIed.'
UDC was incorporated in 1958
with the stated purpose 'to manage jointly
with the Tribal Business Committee of the
full-blood members of the Ute Indian Tribe .
. . all unadjudicated or unliquidated claims
against the United States, all gas, oil, and
mineral rights of every kind, and all other
assets not susceptible to equitable and
practicable distribution to which the
mixed-blood members of the said tribe . . .
are now, or may hereafGer become entitled .
. . and to receive the proceeds therefrom
and to distribute the same to the
stockholders of this corporation . . ..'
The formation of UDC was part
of the plan formulated by the mixed-bloods
for the distribution of assets to the
individual members of their group. By a
resolution adopted by a 425 vote at a
special meeting at which a quorum was
present and voting, AUC approved the
articles of UDC. The Secretary al@o approved
them. In January 1959 the AUC directors by a
unanimous vote (5o) irrevocably delegated
authority to UDCand, indeed, to two other
Utah corporations of the mixed-bloods,
Antelope-Sheep Range Company and Rock Creek
Cattle Range Company, see § 13 of the Act,
25 U.S.C. § 677l(3)to accomplish the
purposes for which they were formedG then
issued 10 shares of its capital stock in the
name of each mixed-blood Ute, a total of
4,900 shares. UDC and First Security Bank of
ftah, N.A. (the bank), executed a written
agreement dated December 31, 1958, by which
the bank became transfer agent for UDC
stock. UDC apparently also decided at this
time not to deliver the certificates for its
Page 137
shares to the shareholders but, instead,
to deposit them with the bank; the bank was
then to issue receipts to the respective
shareholders. Counsel advised the bank that
this was 'because of some rather unfavorable
experiences had in the Indian service with
the loss of Ealuable instruments.'
UDC's articles provided that if
a mixed-blood shareholder determined to sell
or dispose of his UDC stock at any time
prior to August 27, 1964, that is, within 10
years from the date of the Partition Act, he
was first to offer it to members of the
tribe, both mixed-blood and full-blood, in a
form approved by the Secretary; that no sale
of stock prior to that date was valid unless
and until that offer was made; and thaG if
the offer was not accepted by any member of
the tribe, the sale to a nonmember could
then be made but at a price no lower than
that offered to the members.6 The
articles further provided that all UDC stock
certificates should have stamped thereon a
prescribed legend referring to those sale
conditions.7 The certificates so
issued bore that legend. In addition, each
certificate had on its face, in red
lettering, a warning that the certificate
did not represent stock in an ordinary
bFsiness corporation, that its future value
or return could not be determined, and that
the stock should not be sold or encumbered
by its owner,
Page 138
but should be retained and preserved for
the benefit of the shareholder and his
family.8
The UDC shareholders were
advised of the substance of this warning on
several occasions after the stock had been
issued. UDC's president testified that many
respondVd by saying that their shares were
their business and that they could do as
they pleased with them.
In August 1960 the Secretary
promulgated regulations setting forth the
procedure a mixed-blood should follow before
effecting a pre-August 27, 1964, sale of his
stock to an outsider. 25 Fed.Reg. 7620; 25
CFR §§ 243.1243.12 (1962). These prescribed
for the sale of the stock essentially the
same procedure required under § 15 of the
Act, 25 U.S.C. § 677n, for a mixed-blood's
disposal of his interest in real property.
25 CFR § 243.12 (1962). The seller first
notified the superintendent of the
reservation of the price and terms on which
his offer was made. 25 CFR § 243.5 (1962).
The superintendent then notified UDC and the
business committee of the tribe and posted
notices about the reservation. 25 CFR §
243.6 (1962). If no member accepted the
offer, the superintendent so informed the
offeror, who was then free to sell 'at any
time within six months thereafter to any
person at the same or greater price and upon
the same terms and conditions
Page 139
upon which it was offered to the
members.' 25 CFR § 243.8 (1962). Upon the
sale to a nonmember, the seller furnished an
affidavit to the superintendent stating the
amount he had received. The superintendent
prepared a certificate that the stock had
first been offered to members and sent the
certificate to the bank. The bank attached
it to the stock book.
The termination proclamation,
contemplated by § 23 of the Act, 25 U.S.C. §
677v, was issued and published by the
Secretary effective at midnight August 27,
1961. 26 Fed.Reg. 8042. This, of course, did
not purport to terminate the trust status of
the undivided assets.
Menominee Tribe v. United States, 391 U.S.
404, 88 S.Ct. 1705, 20 L.Ed.2d 697 (1968).
II
The present Litigation
A. The AUC Case. In April 1968
AUC, on its own behalf and as representative
of its 490 mixed-blood members, instituted
suit against the United States seeking (1)
pro rata distribution to the individual
members of the 27.16186%9 of the
mineral estate underlying the reservation,
and (2) a determination that AUC and not UDC
is entitled to manage that property jointly
with the business committee of the
full-bloods. Jurisdiction was asserted under
25 U.S.C. § 345 (authorizing an action
against the United States for an Indian
allotment claim, see n. 11, infra), and
under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1399 and 2409
(authorizing a partition action where the
United States is a tenant in common or a
joint tenant).
The United States moved to
dismiss the complaint for want of subject
matter jurisdiction and for failure to
Page 140
state a claim. The District Court granted
this motion on both grounds. The Tenth
Circuit affirmed. 431 F.2d 1349 (1970).
B. The Reyos Case. In February
1965 Anita R. Reyos and 84 other
mixed-bloods sued the bank, two of the
bank's employee-officers, John B. Gale and
Verl Haslem, and certain automobile dealers,10
charging violations of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 and of Rule 10b5 of
the Securities and Exchange Commission. By
subsequent amendment to the complaint the
United States was added as a party
defendant. Jurisdiction was asserted under
28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1346(b).
The parties selected 12
'bellwether plaintiffs' from among the 85
for purposes of initial trial. These
plaintiffs had sold UDC shares to various
nonmembers including the defendants Gale and
Haslem. The sales took place after the
proclamation of termination of the federal
trust relationship.
The District Court held the
bank and the two officer defendants liable
for damages to each of the 12 plaintiffs. It
also ruled that the United States possessed,
and did not fulfill, a duty to prevent the
sales and thus, under the Federal Tort
Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 26712680, was
liable for damages with respect to sales
that had taken place before August 27, 1964.
It also ruled, however, that the United
States was not liable with respect to sales
after that date or to two plaintiffs whom
the court found to be contributorily
negligent. The court determined that the
fair value of the UDC stock at the times of
the plaintiffs' sales was $1,500 per share.
The damages against the two individuals and
the bank were fixed in the aggregate of
$129,519.56. Damages against the United
States were fixed in the aggregate at
Page 141
$77,947.35. Judgment was entered
accordingly under Fed.Rule Civ.Proc. 54(b).
The several defendants appealed
and the 12 plaintiffs whose cases were tried
cross-appealed. The Tenth Circuit reversed
and remanded. 431 F.2d 1337 (1970).
C. On the petition of AUC and
the 12 plaintiffs this Court granted
certiorari in both cases because of the
importance of the issues for Indians whose
federal supervision is in the course of
termination. 402 U.S. 905, 91 S.Ct. 1372, 28
L.Ed.2d 645 (1971).
III
The AUC Case
The two cases, although
different, have their roots in the formation
of UDC, and it is not inappropriate that the
cases were consolidated and are here
together.
A. As hereinabove noted, AUC in
its litigation seeks two things: outright
distribution of the mixed-bloods' percentage
of the mineral estate, and a determination
that AUC is entitled to participate in
management with the business committee of
the full-bloods.
There is, and can be, no
dispute that the United States holds title
to the land, including the mineral interest,
constituting the Uintah and Ouray
Reservation. Prior to the 1954 Act all
members of the tribe were the beneficial
owners of that mineral interest. The
division of the interest between the
full-bloods, on the one hand, and the
mixed-bloods, on the other, came about by
reason of the Act and of the procedures set
in motion by the Act. To the extent,
therefore, that AUC, by its suit, seeks
distribution to the individual mixed-bloods
whom it purports to represent, it is
necessarily a suit against the United
States.
The United States, of course,
may not be sued without its consent.
United States v. Sherwood, 312 U.S. 584,
586, 61 S.Ct. 767, 769, 85 L.Ed. 1058 (1941).
This long-established principle has been
Page 142
applied in actions for the possession or
conveyance of real estate.
Malone v. Bowdoin, 369 U.S. 643, 82 S.Ct.
980, 8 L.Ed.2d 168 (1962). It has been
applied to Indian lands the title to which
the United States holds in trust.
Minnesota v. United States, 305 U.S. 382, 59
S.Ct. 292, 83 L.Ed. 235 (1939);
Oregon v. Hitchcock, 202 U.S. 60, 70, 26
S.Ct. 568, 570, 50 L.Ed. 935 (1906). It
has been applied, specifically, in a suit by
an Indian who has a beneficial interest in
land.
Naganab v. Hitchcock, 202 U.S. 473, 26 S.Ct.
667, 50 L.Ed. 1113 (1906). Naganab,
therefore, controls the distribution aspect
of the AUC case unless the United States has
consented to be sued.
The consent, it is claimed,
exists in 25 U.S.C. § 345.11
This, however, is an allotment statute.
Allotment is a term of art in Indian law.
U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Federal Indian
Law 774 (1958). It means a selection of
specific land awarded to an individual
allottee from a common holding.
Reynolds v. United States, 174 F. 212 (CA8
1909). See the Act of February 8, 1887,
24 Stat. 388, as amended, 25 U.S.C. §§
331334. Section 345 authorizes, and
provides governmental consent for only
actions for allotment.
First Moon v. White Tail, 270 U.S. 243, 46
S.Ct. 246, 70 L.Ed. 565 (1926);
Harkins v. United States, 375 F.2d 239 (CA10
1967);
United States v. Preston, 352 F.2d 352, 355
(CA9 1965).
Arenas v. United States, 322 U.S. 419, 64
S.Ct. 1090, 88 L.Ed. 1363 (1944).
Although the interest in the
mineral estate that AUC seeks to have
conveyed pro rata to the individual mixed-
Page 143
bloods perhaps could be made the subject
of an allotment, it has never been so
subjected. Neither is it appurtenant to an
allotment. The interest relates to the
tribal land of the reservation. It remains
tribal property. Further, § 10 of the 1954
Act, 25 U.S.C. § 677i, itself contemplates
and provides specifically for the
nonallocation of that interest.
We therefore readily conclude
that § 345 has no application here. Neither
do 28 U.S.C. §§ 1399 and 2409 afford a basis
for jurisdiction; they have application only
to partition suits where the United States
is a tenant in common or a joint tenant.
That is not this situation.
The AUC action, therefore, was
properly dismissed for want of jurisdiction.
B. AUC's prayer for a
determination as to management rights
deserves a further word.
The Ute Partition Act was the
result of proposals initiated by the tribe
itself. See H.R.Rep.No.2493, 83d Cong., 2d
Sess., 2 (1954); S.Rep.No.1632, 83d Cong.,
2d Sess., 7 (1954). The tribe also drafted
the Act. Id., at 3 and 7, respectively. It
provided for organization by the
mixed-bloods and 'for the selection of
authorized representatives' with power to
take any action the Act required to be taken
by the mixed-bloods as a group. § 6, 25
U.S.C. § 677e. AUC was formed in 1956 and
was the product of this organizational
power. Its constitution and bylaws authorize
the delegation of necessary or desirable
power or authority to corporations formed by
the mixed-bloods. UDC was formed by
mixed-bloods in 1958 specifically to manage
mineral rights and unadjudicated claims
against the United States jointly with the
business committee. AUC approved UDC's
articles and by resolution delegated
authority to UDC to act in accord with those
articles.
These steps were taken pursuant
to the Partition Act.
Page 144
UDC's formation and structure were
contemplated by the Act, and AUC itself
created and breathed life and vigor into
UDC. All this was within Congress' power.
United States v. Waller, 243 U.S. 452, 246,
37 S.Ct. 430, 433, 61 L.Ed. 843 (1917);
Tiger v. Western Investment Co., 221 U.S.
286, 31 S.Ct. 578, 55 L.Ed. 738 (1911).
UDC's legitimacy was further recognized by
its anticipatory exemption from federal
income tax, under the Act of August 2, 1956,
§ 3, 70 Stat. 936; by the freeing of its
shares from mortgage, levy, attachment, and
the like, so long as the shares remained in
the ownership of the original shareholder or
his heirs or legatees, under the Act of
September 25, 1962, 76 Stat. 597, 598; and
by the inclusion of UDC by name as an entity
to receive the trust fund resulting from the
judgment against the United States in favor
of the Confederated Bands of Ute Indians,
under the Act of August 1, 1967, 81 Stat.
164, as amended, 82 Stat. 171, 25 U.S.C. §
676a.
Clearly, it is UDC and not AUC
that is entitled to manage the oil, gas, and
mineral rights with the committee of the
full-bloods.
IV
The Reyos Case
In this case the 85 plaintiffs
sought damages for alleged violations by the
defendants, in connection with sales by the
plaintiffs of their UDC shares, of § 10(b)
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15
U.S.C. § 78j(b),12
Page 145
and of Rule 10b513
promulgated thereunder by the Securities and
Exchange Commission, 17 CFR § 240.10b5. The
sales in question were effected in 1963 and
1964; some were made before, and some were
made after, the expiration of the
Secretary's specified 10-year period
following the passage of the Ute Partition
Act.
The claims center in the facts
that the bank, by its agreement with UDC,
was the transfer agent for UDC shares; that
it had physical possession of all the stock
certificates with their specific legend of
caution and warning; that, because of the
bank's possession, a shareholder's possible
contact with, and awareness of, the legend
was minimized; that the bank handled the
documents implementing the first-refusal
procedure; and that the mixed-blood who
contemplated the sale of his shares was
compelled to deal through the bank.
The District Court made lengthy
and meticulously detailed findings of fact.
Some are not challenged by any of the
parties. Others are challenged. The
following, we conclude, are adequately
supported by the record:
1. In 1959, after the bank was
retained as transfer agent, UDC's attorney
wrote the bank advising it that UDC's
directors, by formal minute, had instructed
him
Page 146
to ask the bank 'to discourage the sale
of stock of the Ute Distribution Corporation
by any of its stockholders and to emphasize
and stress to the said stockholders the
importance of retaining said stock.' The
letter further stated, '(W)e trust you will
impress upon anyone desiring to make a
transfer that there is no possible way of
determining the true value of this stock.'
2. The bank maintained a branch
office in Roosevelt, Utah. Many mixed-bloods
resided in that area. This was, 'among other
things for the purpose of facilitating and
assisting mixed-bloods in the transfer' of
the UDC stock. Defendants Gale and Haslem
were the bank's assistant managers at
Roosevelt. They were also notaries public.
3. With respect to most of the
sales of UDC stock by the 12 plaintiffs to
nonmembers of the tribe, either Gale or
Haslem prepared and notarized the necessary
transfer papers, including signature
guarantees and the affidavits of the sellers
to the effect that they were receiving not
less than the price at which the shares had
been offered to members of the tribe. The
procedure with respect to the preparation
and execution of these affidavits was
informal at best. In at least one case the
affidavit was signed in blank; in another
Gale dissuaded the seller from reading the
affidavit before she signed it.
4. Some of the affidavits do
not accurately describe the sales to which
they relate. Although they state that the
sales were for cash, some sellers actually
received second-hand automobiles or other
tangible property. The superintendent relied
on the recitals in the affidavits in
preparing his authenticating certificates
that were transmitted to the bank as
transfer agent.
5. During 1963 and 1964
mixed-bloods sold 1,387 shares of UDC stock.
All were sold to nonmembers of the tribe.
Haslem purchased 50 of these himself (all
after August 27, 1964), and Gale purchased
63 (44
Page 147
before that date and 19 after). The 113
shares Haslem and Gale purchased constituted
8 1/3% of the total sold by mixed-bloods
during those two years. The 12 plaintiffs
sold 120 shares; of these Gale purchased 10
and Haslem purchased six.14 They
paid cash for the shares they purchased.
Thirty-two other white men bought shares
from mixed-bloods during the period.
6. In 1964 and 1965 UDC stock
was sold by mixed-bloods at prices ranging
from $300 to $700 per share. Shares were
being transferred between whites, however,
at prices from $500 to $700 per share.
7. Gale and Haslem possessed
standing orders from non-Indian buyers.
About seven of these were from outside the
State. Some of the prospective purchasers
maintained deposits at the bank for the
purpose of ready consummation of any
transaction.
8. The two men received various
commissions and gratuities for their
services in facilitating the transfer of UDC
stock from mixed-bloods to non-Indians. Gale
supplied some funds as sales advances to the
mixed-blood sellers. He and Haslem solicited
contracts for open purchases of UDC stock
and did so on bank premises and during
business hours.
9. In connection with all this,
the bank sought individual accounts from the
tribal members.
Page 148
10. The United States mails and
other instrumentalities of interstate
commerce were employed by the bank and by
Gale and Haslem in connection with the
transfer of the UDC shares.
The District Court concluded:
1. As to the United States: The
Government had reason to know that the
mixed-bloods were selling UDC shares to
non-Indians under circumstances of a
doubtful nature. It owed a duty to the
mixed-bloods to discourage and prevent those
sales. Its failure to perform that duty was
the proximate cause of the sales.
2. As to Gale and Haslem: The
two men had devised a plan or scheme to
acquire, for themselves and others, shares
in UDC from mixed-bloods. In violation of
their duty to make a fair disclosure, they
succeeded in acquiring shares from
mixed-bloods for less than fair value.
3. As to the bank: It was put
upon notice of the improper activities of
its employees, Gale and Haslem, knowingly
created the apparent authority on their
part, and was responsible for their conduct.
Its liability was joint and several with
that of Gale and Haslem.
The District Court then ruled
that each of the defendants, that is, the
United States, the bank, Gale and Haslem,
was liable to each of the 12 plaintiffs (32
transactions involving 122 shares), except
that the Government was not liable with
respect to any sale after August 27, 1964,
or with respect to sales made by plaintiffs
Workman and Oran F. Curry because of their
knowledge and contributory negligence. Using
a $1,500-per-share value for UDC stock, as
of the times of the sales, the
above-described judgments for $129,519.56
and $77,947.35 were computed and entered.
The Court of Appeals reversed
in substantial part. It held:
1. As to the United States:
There was no duty on the part of the
Government to the petitioners, in connection
Page 149
with their sales of UDC stock, that
continued after the 1961 termination. No
form of wardship or of federal trust
relationship existed with respect to the
shares after that date. Thus, damages under
the Tort Claims Act were not to be awarded.
431 F.2d, at 13401343.
2. As to Gale and Haslem: They
were liable only in those instances where
the employee personally purchased shares for
his own account or for resale to an
undisclosed principal at a higher price.
With respect to the other transactions, the
two employees performed essentially
ministerial functions related to share
transfers and their conduct was not
sufficient to incur liability. The court
remanded the case on the issue of damages,
431 F.2d, at 13451349.
3. As to the bank: There was no
violation of any duty it may have had to
plaintiffs by its contract with UDC. This
was so despite the facts that Gale and
Haslem were active in encouraging a market
for the UDC stock and that the bank may have
had some indirect benefit by way of
increased deposits. 431 F.2d, at 1343 1345.
The bank, however, was liable to the extent
Gale and Haslem were liable. 431 F.2d, at
13461347.
In summary, then, the Court of
Appeals decided the Reyos case in favor of
the United States and, in large part, in
favor of the bank; held Gale and Haslem
personally liable, and the bank also, only
with respect to a few sales; and, as to
those sales, remanded the case on the issue
of damages.
We consider, in turn, the
posture of the several defendants.
A. The United States. The
proclamation of August 26, 1961, was
contemplated by § 23 of the Act, 25 U.S.C. §
677v. To the extent the nature of the
property so permitted, this marked the
fulfillment of the purpose set forth in § 1
of the Act, 25 U.S.C. § 677, namely, the
termination of federal supervision over the
trust and
Page 150
restricted property of the mixed-bloods.
It stated specifically that the mixed-blood
thereupon 'shall not be entitled to any of
the services performed for Indians because
of his status as an Indian.' This broad
reference obviously included the shares of
UDC although the undivided interests in turn
held by UDC and shared with the full-bloods
remained subject to restrictions after the
proclamation. § 16(a), 25 U.S.C. § 677o(a).
The UDC stock itself, however, was free of
restriction; as to it, federal termination
was complete. Each mixed-blood could sell
his shares as he wished and to whom he
pleased, subject thereafter only to the
restrictions imposed by UDC's own articles.
There was no remaining governmental
authority over those shares. And without
such authority there can be no liability on
the part of the United States for failure to
restrain a sale.
The petitioners' argument that
the right of first refusal created a duty on
the part of the Government does not persuade
us. This first-refusal right with respect to
UDC stock is provided for in the
corporation's articles and thus was created
by UDC itself. The corporation's action in
this respect imposed no duty on the United
States. To be sure, the first-refusal right
was undoubtedly patterned after the first
refusal provided for a period with respect
to real estate in § 15 of the Act, 25 U.S.C.
§ 677n, and the Secretary's regulations were
made applicable to the first-refusal right
in stock 'as far as practicable.' 25 CFR §
243.12(19). But this parallel created no
obligation.
B. Gale and Haslem. Section 10
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15
U.S.C. § 78j, makes it unlawful 'for any
person, directly or indirectly,' to 'employ,
in connection with the purchase or sale of
any security . . . any manipulative or
deceptive device or contrivance in
contravention' of any rule 'the Commission
may prescribe as necessary or appropriate in
the public interest
Page 151
or for the protection of investors.' One
such rule so prescribed is Rule 10b5. This
declares that, in connection with the
purchase or sale of any security, it shall
be 'unlawful for any person, directly or
indirectly,' (1) 'To employ any device,
scheme, or artifice to defraud,' (2) 'To
make any untrue statement of a material
fact' or to omit to state a material fact so
that the statements made 'in the light of
the circumstances,' are misleading, and (3)
'To engage in any act, practice, or course
of business which operates or would operate
as a fraud or deceit upon any person.'
These proscriptions, by statute
and rule, are broad and, by repeated use of
the word 'any,' are obviously meant to be
inclusive. The Court has said that the 1934
Act and its companion legislative enactments15
embrace a 'fundamental purpose . . . to
substitute a philosophy of full disclosure
for the philosophy of caveat emptor and thus
to achieve a high standard of business
ethics in the securities industry.'
SEC v. Capital Gains Research Bureau, 375
U.S. 180, 186, 84 S.Ct. 275, 280, 11 L.Ed.2d
237 (1963). In the case just cited the
Court noted that Congress intended
securities legislation enacted for the
purpose of avoiding frauds to be construed
'not technically and restrictively, but
flexibly to effectuate its remedial
purposes.' Id., at 195, 84 S.Ct., at 285.
This was recently said once again
Superintendent of Insurance v. Bankers Life
& Casualty Co., 404 U.S. 6, 12, 92 S.Ct.
165, 169, 30 L.Ed.2d 128 (1971).
In the light of the
congressional philosophy and purpose, so
clearly emphasized by the Court, we conclude
that the Court of Appeals viewed too
narrowly the activities of defendants Gale
and Haslem. We would
Page 152
agree that if the two men and the
employer bank had functioned merely as a
transfer agent, there would have been no
duty of disclosure here. But, as the Court
of Appeals itself observed, the record shows
that Gale and Haslem 'were active in
encouraging a market for the UDC stock among
non-Indians.' 431 F.2d, at 1345. They did
this by soliciting and accepting standing
orders from non-Indians. They and the bank,
as a result, received increased deposits
because of the development of this market.
The two men also received commissions and
gratuities from the expectant non-Indian
buyers. The men, and hence the bank, as the
Court found, were 'entirely familiar with
the prevailing market for the shares at all
material times.' 431 F.2d, at 1347. The bank
itself had acknowledged, by letter to AUC in
January 1958, that 'it would be our duty to
see that these transfers were properly made'
and that, with respect to the sale of
shares, 'the bank would be acting for the
individual stockholders.' The mixed-blood
sellers 'considered these defendants to be
familiar with the market for the shares of
stock and relied upon them when they desired
to sell their shares.' 431 F.2d, at 1347.
Clearly, the Court of Appeals
was right to the extent that it held that
the two employees had violated Rule 10b5;
in the instances specified in that holding
the record reveals a misstatement of a
material fact, within the proscription of
Rule 10b5(2), namely, that the prevailing
market price of the UDC shares was the
figure at which their purchases were made.
We conclude, however, that the
Court of Appeals erred when it held that
there was no violation of the Rule unless
the record disclosed evidence of reliance on
material fact misrepresentations by Gale and
Haslem. 431 F.2d, at 1348. We do not read
Rule 10b5 so restrictively. To be sure, the
second subparagraph of the rule
Page 153
specifies the making of an untrue
statement of a material fact and the
omission to state a material fact. The first
and third subparagraphs are not so
restricted. These defendants' activities,
outlined above, disclose, within the very
language of one or the other of those
subparagraphs, a 'course of business' or a
'device, scheme, or artifice' that operated
as a fraud upon the Indian sellers.
Superintendent of Insurance v. Bankers Life
& Casualty Co., supra. This is so because
the defendants devised a plan and induced
the mixed-blood holders of UDC stock to
dispose of their shares without disclosing
to them material facts that reasonably could
have been expected to influence their
decisions to sell. The individual
defendants, in a distinct sense, were market
makers, not only for their personal
purchases constituting 8 1/3% of the sales,
but for the other sales their activities
produced. This being so, they possessed the
affirmative duty under the Rule to disclose
this fact to the mixed-blood sellers.
Chasins v. Smith, Barney & Co., 438 F.2d
1167 (CA2 1970). It is no answer to urge
that, as to some of the petitioners, these
defendants may have made no positive
representation or recommendation. The
defendants may not stand mute while they
facilitate the mixed-bloods' sales to those
seeking to profit in the non-Indian market
the defendants had developed and encouraged
and with which they were fully familiar. The
sellers had the right to know that the
defendants were in a position to gain
financially from their sales and that their
shares were selling for a higher price in
that market. Cf., in contrast, § 18(a) of
the Act, 15 U.S.C. § 78r(a), and § 11(a) of
the Securities Act of 1933, 15 U.S.C. §
77k(a).
Under the circumstances of this
case, involving primarily a failure to
disclose, positive proof of reliance is not
a prerequisite to recovery. All that is
necessary is that the facts withheld be
material in the sense that a
Page 154
reasonable investor might have considered
them important in the making of this
decision.
Mills v. Electric Auto-Lite Co., 396 U.S.
375, 384, 90 S.Ct. 616, 621, 24 L.Ed.2d 593
(1970);
SEC v. Texas Gulf Sulphur Co., 401 F.2d 833,
849 (CA2 1968), cert. denied sub nom.
Coates v. SEC, 394 U.S. 976, 89 S.Ct. 1454,
22 L.Ed.2d 1756 (1969); 6 L. Loss,
Securities Regulation 38763880 (1969 Supp.
to 2d ed. of Vol. 3); A. Bromberg,
Securities Law, FraudSEC Rule 10b5, §§ 2.6
and 8.6 (1967). This obligation to disclose
and this withholding of a material fact
establish the requisite element of causation
in fact. Chasins v. Smith, Barney & Co., 438
F.2d, at 1172.
Gale and Haslem engaged in more
than ministerial functions. Their acts were
clearly within the reach of Rule 10b5. And
they were acts performed when they were
obligated to act on behalf of the
mixed-blood sellers.16
C. The Bank. The liability of
the bank, of course, is coextensive with
that of Gale and Haslem.
V
Damages
A. The District Court
determined that the measure of damages for
each seller was the difference between the
fair value of the UDC shares at the time of
his sale and the fair value of what the
seller received, including any amount paid
to him in settlement by the automobile
dealers. The Court of Appeals held that the
measure was 'the profit made by the
defendant on resale' or, if no resale was
made or if the resale was not at arm's
length, was 'the prevailing market price at
the time of the purchase from the
plaintiffs.' 431 F.2d, at 13481349.
Page 155
In our view, the
correct measure of damages under § 28 of the
Act, 15 U.S.C. § 78bb(a), is the difference
between the fair value of all that the
mixed-blood seller received and the fair
value of what he would have received had
there been no fraudulent conduct,
Myzel v. Fields, 386 F.2d 718, 748 (CA8
1967), cert. denied, 390 U.S. 951, 88
S.Ct. 1043, 19 L.Ed.2d 1143 (1968), except
for the situation where the defendant
received more than the seller's actual loss.
In the latter case damages are the amount of
the defendant's profit.
Janigan v. Taylor, 344 F.2d 781, 786 (CA1
1965), cert. denied, 382 U.S. 879, 86
S.Ct. 163, 15 L.Ed.2d 120 (1965).
B. The District Court, as has
been noted, arrived at a value for the UDC
stock of $1,500 per share. The Court of
Appeals concluded that this valuation was
not substantiated by the record. The
petitioners argue for a value in the
neighborhood of $28,000 per share, a figure
concededly dependent in large part on an
estimate of the ultimate worth of oil shale.
We agree with both the District
Court and the Court of Appeals that the
$28,000 figure is unrealistic and
speculative. On the other hand, reasonable
inferences may be drawn and the District
Court, as the trier of fact on this record,
is not restricted to actual sale prices in a
market so isolated and so thin as this one.
Bigelow v. RKO Radio Pictures, Inc., 327
U.S. 251, 264, 66 S.Ct. 574, 579, 90 L.Ed.
652 (1946);
Harry Alter Co. v. Chrysler Corp., 285 F.2d
903, 907 (CA7 1960); O'Malley
v. Ames, 197 F.2d 256 (CA8 1952).
In arriving at the $1,500
figure the District Court considered the
existence of extensive oil shale deposits on
the reservation; the possession by those
deposits of substantial present value and of
great potential value; the presence of gas,
coal, and other minerals; the administrative
cost deposit retained by the United States
with respect to each member of the tribe;
each petitioner's remaining interest in the
1965 award by the Indian
Page 156
Claims Commission; the existence of
claims against the United States not yet
fully adjudicated; and the specific prices
at which UDC shares were sold by
mixed-bloods and between white persons. The
court noted that prices paid for the shares
were somewhat influenced by the improper
activities of Gale and Haslem; by the excess
of sellers over buyers; by the fact the
typical Indian seller was not so well
informed about the potential value of the
stock as was the typical non-Indian buyer;
by the fact that the Indian seller was under
heavy economic pressure to sell; by opinion
evidence as to worth in excess of $700 per
share; and by the fact that some portion of
the depressant factors in the market was
attributable to the defendants. On the other
hand, the court noted that not all the
market's depressant factors were so
attributable to the defendants and that the
tribe itself, despite the opportunity so to
do, had declined to purchase UDC shares at
prices ranging from $350 to $700.
The court then expressed the
belief that the problem was not to determine
the ultimate worth of the undivided mineral
interest underlying the shares or to be
governed solely by the sale prices. It
concluded that on the preponderance of the
evidence the stock was worth $1,500 per
share at the times of the petitioners'
respective sales.
In the light of all this, and
on balance, we find ourselves in agreement
with the District Court, and in disagreement
with the Court of Appeals, and we conclude
that the District Court's $1,500 valuation
has sufficient support in the record.
The judgment of the Court of
Appeals in the AUC case is affirmed. The
judgment of the Court of Appeals in the
Reyos case is affirmed insofar as it
concerns the United States; insofar as it
concerns the bank and the individual
defendants, that judgment is affirmed in
part and is reversed in part, as hereinabove
set forth, and the case is remanded for
further proceedings. Costs are
Page 157
allowed the individual petitioners as
against the bank and the individual
defendants.
It is so ordered.
Judgment of Court of Appeals in
AUC case affirmed. Judgment of Court of
Appeals in Reyos case affirmed in part and
reversed in part and case remanded.
Mr. Justice POWELL and Mr.
Justice REHNQUIST took no part in the
consideration or decision of this case.
Mr. Justice DOUGLAS,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I join in the Court's opinion
and judgment as to the individual and
corporate respondents. I would go further,
however, and also hold that the United
States has waived its sovereign immunity to
petitioners' claims.
Petitioners are an
unincorporated association of mixed-blood
Utes and individuals of that group. They
sought damages, in the District Court, for
fraudulent securities transactions, for
negligence by agents of the Federal
Government, and for the deprivation of
statutory rights granted them by Congress.
The District Court awarded damages on the
first two claims, but dismissed the third
for want of jurisdiction and for failure to
state a claim. The Court of Appeals reversed
the two damage awards and affirmed the
dismissal of the third action. 431 F.2d
1337, 1349 (CA10 1970).
In the Ute Indian Supervision
Termination Act of 1954, Congress sought
'to provide for the partition
and distribution of the assets of the Ute
Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray
Reservation in Utah between the mixed-blood
and full-blood members thereof; for the
termination of Federal supervision over the
trust, and restricted property, of the
mixed-blood members of said tribe; and for a
development program for the full-blood
members thereof, to assist them in preparing
for termination of Federal supervision over
their property.' 25 U.S.C. § 677.
Page 158
That the various property
interests in the reservation were to be
treated differently is evidenced by the
Committee Reports accompanying this
legislation:
'An essential provision of the
proposed legislation is the division between
the two groups, on the basis of their
relative numbers, of all tribal assets,
except oil, gas, and mineral rights, and
unadjudicated claims against the United
States. These undivided assets will continue
to be owned and administered jointly by the
two groups. The responsibility for making
this division is on the Indians themselves,
but if they fail to agree within 12 months
after the rolls are completed, the Secretary
of the Interior is authorized to make the
division.' S.Rep.No.1632, 83d Cong., 2d
Sess., 6 (1954) (emphasis added).
Accord, H.R.Rep.No.2493, 83d
Cong., 2d Sess. (1954).
Involved here is the mineral
estate in the Reservation lands. Because
these 'gas, oil, and mineral rights' were
'not susceptible of equitable and
practicable distribution' among the
individual Indians, they were to be 'managed
jointly by the Tribal Business Committee (of
the full-blood Utes) and the authorized
representatives of the mixed-blood group.'
25 U.S.C. § 677i. The benefits were to be
shared proportionately according to the
relative numbers of each group on their
final membership rolls. Ibid.
Congress set forth an explicit
procedure for the selection of the
'authorized representatives' of the
mixed-blood Utes who, with the Tribal
Business Committee, were to have managerial
powers over the mineral estate in the
reservation. Central to this selection was
the requirement for 'a majority vote of the
adult mixed-blood members of the tribe at a
special election authorized and called by
the Secretary' of the Interior. 25 U.S.C. §
677e. The petitioner Affiliated Ute Citizens
was created under this procedure on April 4,
1956. Two
Page 159
years later, the Ute Distribution Corp.
was formed and there lies the root of the
present litigation.
The Ute Distribution Corp. was
not chartered according to the guidelines
mandated by Congress. Rather than following
the requirement for a majority vote of the
mixed-blood members, it was created by the
five board members of Affiliated Ute.
Approval of its articles of incorporation
was by a vote of only 42 to 5far short of
the majority of the 490 mixed-blood Utes
required by 25 U.S.C. § 677e. After
incorporation, 10 shares of stock were
issued to each of the mixed-blood Utes.
Despite the flaws in Ute Distribution
Corp.'s formation, the Bureau of Indian
Affairs treated it, and not Affiliated Ute
Citizens, as the 'authorized
representative.' Payments for mineral rights
were thus made to Ute Distribution which, in
turn, passed them on to its shareholders as
dividends.
Because the Bureau of Indian
Affairs viewed the transfer of mineral
interests to Ute Distribution as one to the
authorized representative, cf. 25 U.S.C. §
677o(a), the restrictions on the transfer of
individual property were removed and the
federal trust relationship purportedly was
terminated. 25 U.S.C. § 677v; 26 Fed.Reg.
8042. It was upon this basis that the courts
below held that the individual mixed-blood
Utes and the Affiliated Utes no longer had
cognizable interests in the mineral estate
of the reservation.
Even if the federal trust
relationship was terminated as to individual
property interests, it does not follow that
the trust relationship was also terminated
as to the group interest in the mineral
rights. The United States continued to owe
significant obligations and duties with
regard to these mineral interests. See 25
U.S.C. §§ 677i, 677n, and 677o. See Berger,
Indian Mineral InterestA Potential for
Economic Advancement, 10 Ariz.L.Rev. 675
(1968). It was to obtain the enjoyment of
the
Page 160
statutory benefits and to redress their
injury that petitioners brought this action
against the United States.
The waiver of sovereign
immunity for claims relating to land
allotments first appeared in an amendment to
the Indian Appropriations Act of 1894, 28
Stat. 305, as amended, 25 U.S.C. § 345:
'All persons who are in whole
or in part of Indian blood or descent who
are entitled to an allotment of land under
any law of Congress . . . or who claim to
have been unlawfully denied or excluded from
any allotment or any parcel of land to which
they claim to be lawfully entitled by virtue
of any Act of Congress, may commence and
prosecute or defend any action, suit, or
proceeding in relation to their right
thereto in the proper district court of the
United States . . ..'
By a further amendment in 1901,
Congress made explicit what had previously
been only implicit: that it intended to
allow allotment claimants to bring actions
against 'the United States as party
defendant.' Act of Feb. 6, 1901, § 1, 31
Stat. 760. See H.R.Rep.No.1714, 56th Cong.,
1st Sess. (1900); S.Rep.No.2040, 56th Cong.,
2d Sess. (1901).
Affiliated Ute Citizens argued
that their asserted right to a portion of
the mineral estate of the reservation was an
'allotment or . . . parcel of land' which
they had been unlawfully denied and that
they were therefore able to bring this
action against the United States under §
345. See, e.g.,
United States v. Pierce, 235 F.2d 885 (CA9
1956);
Gerard v. United States, 167 F.2d 951 (CA9
1948). The courts below rejected this
view, with the Court of Appeals saying:
'This section of the statute is
obviously intended to provide relief to the
Indians entitled to possession of allotments
and similar interests. The cases and
Page 161
statutory law have ascribed to
the word 'allotment' a well recognized
meaning. The nature of the interest sought
to be protected and secured does not
resemble that described in the statute.' 431
F.2d, at 1350.
We owe to the Indians a
beneficent interpretation of remedial
legislation designed to right past wrongs.
United States v. Kagama, 118 U.S. 375, 384385,
6 S.Ct. 1109, 1114, 30 L.Ed. 228. The Court
of Appeals, however, gave only a limited
interpretation to this waiver of sovereign
immunity against Indians' claims. The
Solicitor General likewise argues for a
limited application of this waiver and would
apply it only to claims concerning 'a tract
of land set aside out of a common holding
and awarded to an individual allottee.'1a
'But in the Government's
dealings with the Indians the rule is
exactly the contrary. The construction,
instead of being strict, is liberal;
doubtful expressions, instead of being
resolved in favor of the United States, are
to be resolved in favor of a weak and
defenseless people, who are wards of the
nation, and dependent wholly upon its
protection and good faith. This rule of
construction has been recognized, without
exception, for more than a hundred years. .
. .'
Choate v. Trapp, 224 U.S. 665, 675, 32 S.Ct.
565, 569, 56 L.Ed. 941.
Alaska
Pacific Fisheries v. United Stattes, 248
U.S. 78, 79, 39 S.Ct. 40, 63 L.Ed. 138;
U.S. Dept. of the Interior, United States,
248 U.S. 78, 79, 39 S.Ct. (1958).
Page 162
The waiver of sovereign
immunity should not be so limited as the
Solicitor General and the courts below
suggest. The 1894 Act, now codified in 25
U.S.C. § 345, was plainly intended to give
Indians a means of enforcing their rights to
governmental grants of interests in realty.2a
To be sure, the section was enacted in an
era during which these grants usually took
the form of individual possessory interests
in realty, Gilbert & Taylor, Indian Land
Questions, 8 Ariz.L.Rev. 102, 112 (1966);
but that should not prevent this remedial
section from applying to new forms of
interests in mineral rights or to other
forms of property.3a
Nor does the plain language of
§ 345 suggest a contrary result. It speaks
of an 'allotment or any parcel of land.'4a
Certainly the modern, conventional way of
allotting mineral rights is through
fractional interests created by contracts or
through stock interests in corporations to
which those allotments are transferred. If
Page 163
Congress has waived sovereign immunity
for claims relating to fee interests in
realty, it surely could not have intended
that formal requirements of the art of
conveyancy destroy that waiver of immunity
for lesser interests in realty. Particularly
is that so where, as here, the lesser
interest seems to have been granted through
an error by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The limited retention of
sovereign immunity in the Ute termination
act further supports petitioners' claims.
Title 25 U.S.C. § 677i provides that the
'partition (of tribal assets) shall give
rise to no cause of action against the
United States.' The Committee Reports and
the statute itself indicate that the mineral
interests were not to be the subject of
partition as the word is used in that Act.
S.Rep.No.1632, 83d Cong., 2d Sess., 6
(1954); H.R.Rep.No.2493, 83d Cong., 2d Sess.
(1954); 25 U.S.C. § 677i. Thus, the failure
of Congress to extend sovereign immunity to
the unpartitioned mineral interests here in
issue strongly suggests that immunity has
been waived as to these claims. Moreover,
the only other immunity provision of the
Act, 25 U.S.C. § 677h, applies only where
there has been consent by the authorized
representatives of the mixed-blood group
which was necessarily absent because of the
defect in the creation of the Ute
Distribution Corp.
1 The Act was one of a series
of termination statutes enacted primarily in
the years 19541956. See, for example, the
Menominee Indian Termination Act of June 17,
1954, 68 Stat. 250, 25 U.S.C. § 891 et seq.;
the Klamath Indian Termination of
Supervision Act of Aug. 13, 1954, 68 Stat.
718, 25 U.S.C. § 564 et seq.; the Act of
Aug. 13, 1954, 68 Stat. 724, 25 U.S.C. § 691
et seq. (Western Oregon); the Act of Aug.
23, 1954, 68 Stat. 768, 25 U.S.C. § 721 et
seq. (Alabama and Coushatta); the Act of
Sept. 1, 1954, 68 Stat. 1099, 25 U.S.C. §
741 et seq. (Paiute); the Act of Aug. 1,
1956, 70 Stat. 893, 25 U.S.C. § 791 et seq.
(Wyandotte); the Act of Aug. 2, 1956, 70
Stat. 937, 25 U.S.C. § 821 et seq. (Peoria);
and the Act of Aug. 3, 1956, 70 Stat. 963,
25 U.S.C. § 841 et seq. (Ottawa). Others
were the Act of Sept. 21, 1959, 73 Stat.
592, 25 U.S.C. § 931 et seq. (Catawba), and
the Act of Sept. 5, 1962, 76 Stat. 429, 25
U.S.C. § 971 et seq. (Ponca).
The termination policy exemplified by
these acts is not without its criticism. See
the President's Special Message to the
Congress on Indian Affairs, July 8, 1970,
Public Papers of the Presidents, Richard
Nixon, 1970, pp. 564576.
2 S.Rep.No.1632, 83d Cong.,
2d Sess., 5 (1954); H.R.Rep.No.2493, 83d
Cong., 2d Sess., 2 (1954), U.S.Code Cong. &
Admin. News 1954, p. 3355.
3 Counsel for the petitioners
advised us at oral argument that the term
'mixed-blood' is a slur and is offensive and
that the preferred description is
'terminated Utes.' Tr. of Oral Arg. 4.
Section 2 of the Act, however, defines as a
'full-blood' a member of the tribe 'who
possesses one-half degree of Ute Indian
blood and a total of Indian blood in excess
of one-half, excepting those who become
mixed-bloods by choice . . ..' It defines as
a 'mixed-blood' a member of the tribe who
does not fall within the full-blood class,
and one who becomes a mixed-blood by choice.
25 U.S.C. §§ 677a(b) and (c). The provision
as to choice is § 4 of the Act, 25 U.S.C. §
677c. Inasmuch as the statute specifically
employs the terms 'full-blood' and
'mixed-blood,' we feel compelled, for
purposes of consistency and clarity, to do
the same. No slur or offense whatsoever is
intended.
4 S.Rep.No.1632, 83d Cong.,
2d Sess., 6 (1954); H.R.Rep.No.2493, 83d
Cong., 2d Sess., 4 (1954). The cash was
attributable primarily to the tribe's 60%
share of the settlement judgment of
$31,000,000 obtained
Confederated Bands of Ute Indians v. United
States, 117 Ct.Cl. 433 (1950). See the
Act of Aug. 21, 1951, § 2, 65 Stat. 194, 25
U.S.C. § 672. The remaining 40% was awarded
to the Southern Ute Tribe.
5 The final membership rolls
were published April 5, 1956. 21 Fed.Reg.
22082220 (1956). The rolls listed 490
mixed-bloods and 1,314 full-bloods, a total
of 1,804. The ratio was 27.16186%
mixed-bloods and 72.83314% full-bloods.
6 A like right of first
refusal with respect to a mixed-blood's
disposal of his interest in real estate
within 10 years is specified in § 15 of the
Act, 25 U.S.C. § 677n.
7 'Transfer of this
certificate at any time prior to August 27,
1964, to a person not a member of the Ute
Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray
Reservation, Utah, as defined in Public Law
671 83rd Congress, approve August 27, 1954,
68 Stat. 868, shall be invalid unless the
certificate of the Superintendent of the
Uintah and Ouray Reservation is endorsed
thereon showing that a prior and proper
offer has been made to members of said tribe
in accordance with law and the regulations
of the Secretary of the Interior.'
8 'WARNING
'This certificate does not represent
stock in an ordinary business corporation.
This corporation is organized for the
purpose of distributing to the stockholders
in the future their respective shares in the
proceeds or income from all claims and
assets in which the mixed-blood members of
the Utah Indian Tribe of the Uintah and
Ouray Reservation, Utah have or will have an
interest under the provisions of Public Law
67183rd Congress, approved August 27, 1954,
68 Stat. 868, as amended. The future value
of, or return on, this stock cannot be
determined. This stock certificate should
neither be sold nor encumbered by the owner
thereof, but should be retained and
preserved for the benefit of the stockholder
and the stockholder's family.'
9 This figure appears to have
been misstated as 27.1686% in the complaint.
The error was carried forward into the
respective opinions of the District Court
and of the Court of Appeals. 431 F.2d 1349,
1350.
10 The dealers settled and
the actions against them have been
dismissed.
11 Title 25 U.S.C. § 345
reads:
'All persons who are in whole or in part
of Indian blood or descent who are entitled
to an allotment of land . . . or who claim
to have been unlawfully denied or excluded
from any allotment . . . may commence and
prosecute . . . any action . . . in relation
to their right thereto in the proper
district court of the United States; and
said district courts are given jurisdiction
to try and determine any action . . .
involving the right of any person, in whole
or in part of Indian blood or descent, to
any allotment of land under any law or
treaty (and in said suit the parties thereto
shall be the claimant as plaintiff and the
United States as party defendant) . . ..'
12 'Sec. 10. It shall be
unlawful for any person, directly or
indirectly, by the use of any means or
instrumentality of interstate commerce or of
the mails, or of any facility of any
national securities exchange
'(b) To use or employ, in connection with
the purchase or sale of any security
registered on a national securities exchange
or any security not so registered, any
manipulative or deceptive device or
contrivance in contravention of such rules
and regulations as the Commission may
prescribe as necessary or appropriate in the
public interest or for the protection of
investors.'
13 Rule 10b5, 17 CFR §
240.10b5:
'It shall be unlawful for any person,
directly or indirectly, by the use of any
means or instrumentality of interstate
commerce, or of the mails or of any facility
of any national securities exchange,
'(a) To employ any device, scheme, or
artifice to defraud,
'(b) To make any untrue statement of a
material fact or to omit to state a material
fact necessary in order to make the
statements made, in the light of the
circumstances under which they were made,
not misleading, or
'(c) To engage in any act, practice, or
course of business which operates or would
operate as a fraud or deceit upon any
person, in connection with the purchase or
sale of any security.'
14 On or about July 8, 1964,
Gale bought five shares from Glen Reed at
$350 per share. He sold them in August for
$530 per share. After August 27, 1964, in
three separate transactions, he purchased
five shares from Letha Harris Wopsock. He
sold three of these at a higher price; the
record is silent as to whether he sold the
other two at a price in excess of his cost.
On or about August 31, 1964, Haslem bought
five shares from Reed at $400 and resold
them immediately. In November 1964 he
purchased one share from Joseph Arthur
Workman for $350. He transferred the Workman
share to his brother. The record does not
indicate Haslem's transfer prices.
15 The Securities Act of
1933, 48 Stat. 74, as amended, 15 U.S.C. §
77a et seq.; the Public Utility Holding
Company Act of 1935, 49 Stat. 838, as
amended, 15 U.S.C. § 79 et seq.; the Trust
Indenture Act of 1939, 53 Stat. 1149, as
amended, 15 U.S.C. § 77aaa et seq.; and the
Investment Company Act of 1940, 54 Stat.
789, as amended, 15 U.S.C. § 80a1 et seq.
16 Liability here, of course,
is not predicated on any broker or dealer
concept under § 15(c)(1) of the Act, 15
U.S.C. § 78o(c)(1). A bank is excluded from
the respective definitions of those terms in
§§ 3(a)(4) and (5), 15 U.S.C. §§ 78c(a)(4)
and (5).
1a A similar argument was made
United States v. Pierce, 235 F.2d 885, 888
(CA9 1956):
'The United States contends that the
jurisdictional prerequisite for any action
under (§ 345) . . . is the existence of a
specific allotment selection which has been
unlawfully denied by the Secretary of the
Interior . . ..' The court rejected this
argument saying that it was 'based upon an
unreasonable limitation as to the purpose of
the statute,' ibid., and went on to sustain
the Indians' claims to income from the land.
2a
First Moon v. White Tail, 270 U.S. 243, 46
S.Ct. 246, 70 L.Ed. 565, relied upon by
the Solicitor General, is not to the
contrary because it dealt with the transfer
of property occasioned by an Indian's death.
Such transfers were removed from the scope
of § 345 and 'entrusted to the exclusive
cognizance of the Secretary of the Interior
by the Act of June 25, 1910, c. 431, 36
Stat. 855 . . .' 270 U.S., at 244, 46 S.Ct.,
at 246.
3a
Scholder v. United States, 428 F.2d 1123,
1129 (CA9 1970), for example, the court
noted 'that section (345) is not limited to
actions seeking to compel the issuance of an
allotment in the first instance. It serves
also to protect 'the interests and rights of
the Indian in his allotment or patent after
he has acquired it." The court then held
that challenges to liens placed upon Indian
lands fell within the jurisdictional scope
of § 345. Certainly the divestiture of
interests in lands, alleged here, should not
be entitled to a lesser degree of protection
than the imposition of a lien.
4a Section 345 also requires
that the property interest be one derived
'under any law of Congress' or 'by virtue of
any Act of Congress.' E.g.,
Naganab v. Hitchcock, 202 U.S. 473, 26 S.Ct.
667, 50 L.Ed. 1113;
Oregon v. Hitchcock, 202 U.S. 60, 26 S.Ct.
568, 50 L.Ed. 935. In the present case,
the rights asserted are those derived from
the Ute Indian Supervision Termination Act
of 1954. |