The Agua Caliente Tribe of Cupeño Indians has been rebuffed in its quest to gain federal recognition, representing another setback in a long a history of mistreatment by the United States.

The Cupeño Indians were "evicted from their indigenous lands" and forced to live with another tribe more than a century ago, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals observed in a decision on Wednesday. The 40-mile march was carried out under armed watch in 1903, and with no particular regard with how the new arrivals might be treated, Judge Richard A. Paez noted.