GLU,

Of course it will be a federal case. They filed suit in federal court against federal agencies for violation of a federal law.

I'm not sure what you're talking about in terms of "shortcuts."

Sovereign immunity is something the tribe could argue if it were sued. But it wasn't. There is something called "qualified immunity" that government employees can sometimes assert when acting in the scope of their duties, but I'm not sure how that applies to individual tribal officials.

You seem to have some very strong opinions on the proper legal strategy here, but I'm having a hard time understanding what they are based on.