Lawyers for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and the U.S. Department of Justice argued on Thursday, March 18, before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Rosebud tribe sued Indian Health Services and the Department of Health and Human Services in 2016, claiming that IHS health care is so inadequate, it violates treaty obligations.
The tribe prevailed, in part, in a lower court, and the feds appealed.
John Koppel is an attorney with the Department of Justice. He tells appellate judges that the U.S. provides health services to the entire Native population, spending around 2 billion dollars a year on more than 600 hospitals and clinics.
But he says these services were created by Congress, not by the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868.
“The treaty simply required the United States to provide a single physician and a house for that physician not to exceed the cost of $3,000 in annual appropriations for that physician.”
Koppel notes that the one physician was intended to serve the entire Great Sioux Nation.
He says this lawsuit has been filed to create a permanent trust duty where one does not exist.
The Rosebud Sioux Tribe is represented by Sioux Falls lawyer Tim Billion.
He says this lawsuit at its core is not unusual. It defines rights and responsibilities of parties to an agreement, in this case the Treaty of 1868.
“Along with a cessation of hostilities, the United States acquired vast territories of land in that treaty. And in exchange, the United States made a number of promises, including the promise at issue in this case.”
Billion says Congress has affirmed its trust duty with laws that expand Indian healthcare.
“The other party to the treaty, in the sense of arguing this lawsuit is taking one position, but I would argue that the Congress of the United States has taken a much different position. And we’ve seen that in report after report after report and study after study and hearing after hearing, where Congress has reaffirmed its obligation to provide this healthcare.”
Billion says a party to a treaty with the federal government should be able to get a declaration of its rights in federal court, because there is no other place to make that argument.
The 8th Circuit will issue an opinion at a later date.