Does an Indian Tribe Waive Sovereign Immunity by Entering Into a Contract Containing an Arbitration Clause?
C & L Enterprises, Inc. v. Citizen Band Potawatomi Indian Tribe Of Oklahoma Docket No. 00-292 From: Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals Case at a Glance Under federal law, Indian tribes, as sovereign governments, cannot be sued unless they have consented to suit or the federal government has consented for them; any consent to be sued i.e., any waiver of sovereign immunity must be clear and unequivocally expressed. In this case, officials of an Indian tribe signed a construction contract with a private contractor. The contract contained a standard arbitration clause, and now the Court must determine whether the tribe waived its immunity from suit in state court when its officials entered into a contract containing such an arbitration clause. • Previewed by Vicki J. Limas, an associate dean and associate professor of law at the University of Tulsa College of Law.
