Lawyers launch lawsuits against U.S. Government and Catholic Church for Boarding School abuses without consulting Tribes or Communities

Lawsuit against the U.S. government

A Florida law firm with no previous experience in Indian law filed a class action lawsuit before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in 2002, making claims for $25 billion against the U.S. government for physical, sexual, and psychological abuse of Native boarding school survivors from the early 1800s to the present. The case, Zephier v. United States, Civil Action No. 03-768 L, was filed without consulting any community groups, boarding school survivors’ groups, or tribal governments or attorneys, despite its wide ranging potential impacts on the interpretation of treaties, and on the rights of all survivors of boarding school abuses.

The case was dismissed on procedural grounds in October 2004 by the Court of Federal Claims. However, the lawyers have indicated that they intend to file claims with the BIA, and if denied, return to federal court.

The good news is that the federal court did NOT decide that boarding school survivors have no legal claims against the U.S. government for the abuses they suffered at boarding schools. It simply stated that survivors have to make a claim before the BIA and the BIA must decide the claim before a lawsuit can be filed in federal court. The court also said that it’s not too late to file claims for boarding school abuses because there is no deadline for filing a lawsuit in federal court in a case like this until the BIA makes a decision on a claim.

The bad news is that, if the BIA denies the survivors’ claims, the court will defer to the BIA’s findings unless they are arbitrary and unreasonable. If the BIA denies boarding school survivors’ claims, it will be very hard to overturn that decision in federal court. That’s why it’s so important for the claims made on behalf of boarding school survivors to be presented as well and thoroughly as possible to the BIA.

In the federal lawsuit, the lawyers made breach of treaty claims on behalf of members of all nations who have entered treaties with the United States government containing "Bad Man Clauses," which make the U.S. government liable for harm caused to Indians by “bad men among the whites.” The also made a breach of fiduciary duty claim on behalf of all Native individuals who have suffered physical, sexual, or psychological abuse at a federal government mandated boarding school.

This all-inclusive approach has the potential to directly impact the legal interpretation of treaties entered into by nations who were not consulted about the litigation. It could also directly affect the ability of tribe members and individuals to bring claims relating to boarding school abuses in the future. Also it could set bad legal precedent that would affect future claims made by nations or individuals for boarding school abuses. This means that if the lawyers lose this claim or this case, it could potentially impact tribes’ and individual survivors’ who want to file a lawsuit in the future for the abuse they suffered in boarding school.

Lawsuits Against Churches

The same lawyers also filed a lawsuit against the Catholic Church (Diocese of Sioux Falls and Diocese of Rapid City), Blue Cloud Abbey in Marvin, SD, Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, the Oblate Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, Wisconsin Province of the Society of Jesus, the Franciscan Sisters of Penance and Christian Charity, the School Sisters of St. Francis, and individual priests, nuns, and school officials for abuses suffered by students at St. Paul’s Indian Mission in Marty, SD and St Francis Mission School on Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation.

The lawsuits were filed on behalf of 16 former students at St. Francis and 57 former students at St. Paul. The lawsuits claim that the church didn’t properly supervise staff at the school and didn’t protect children from abuse or investigate abuse claims. Some church officials have already been questioned in connection with the lawsuit. People represented in the lawsuit say they’ve been harassed by an investigation company hired by the Jesuits to investigate claims of abuse by Jesuit priests.

Another lawsuit was filed in May 2005, also in Sioux Falls Circuit Court (Minnehaha County), by twenty plaintiffs, against St. Joseph's Indian School in Chamberlain. The lawsuit is against the school, the Congregation of Priests of the Sacred Heart and the Benedictine Sisters of Yankton."

The Boarding School Healing Project

The Boarding School Healing Project is a national coalition of several Native organizations[1] currently working to document abuses boarding school abuse and its many impacts on individuals and communities, develop and build indigenous individual and community healing models, and demand justice from the U.S. government and churches in the U.S. and in front of the United Nations. Our current focus is not on individual lawsuits, but on building a movement that calls on the U.S. government to ensure justice and collective reparations for the human rights abuses against Native children in church run boarding schools. We hope this movement might lead to healing on a collective level and develop alliances to further Native sovereignty struggles.

The Boarding School Healing Project is not in any way affiliated with the attorneys or plaintiffs who have initiated the Zephier v. United States litigation in the Court of Federal Claims. However, we recognize the potential precedential impact on any future domestic litigation of any judicial opinion issued on the merits in this case, as well as the significant impact class certification could have on the individual rights of all persons and Nations who fall within the description of the class plaintiffs seek to certify. We want individuals and tribes to be fully informed about all their options.

If you are interested in finding out more about these lawsuits, or in working with other nations and individuals to strategize about how to address their potential impacts, contact the Boarding School Healing Project by phone at:

(605)200-0164 OR (734) 231-1845

or by e-mail at:

wdolphus at yahoo.com or tsalagi at umich.edu

(replace the "at" above with the @ sign in your email)