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WASHINGTON — A divided federal appeals court on Wednesday reinstated a Navajo Nation lawsuit seeking to force the National Park Service to return more than 300 remains and relics that are “among the most sacred” of the tribe’s property.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a lower court should not have dismissed the tribe’s suit on grounds of sovereign immunity, and ordered the case back to U.S. District Court for a new hearing.

But in a biting dissent, Judge Sandra Ikuta said the majority’s “completely backwards” ruling ignored the fact that the Hopi and Zuni tribes may also have claims to remains found in the area, and that the Navajo suit would “short-circuit Congress’s plan” to determine the right owners.

The Justice Department is “still in the process of reviewing the decision,” a spokesman said Wednesday, but an attorney for the Navajo Nation was “very pleased” with the ruling.

“It’s a great victory for the sovereignty of the Navajo Nation and its deeply held cultural values,” said Gregory Kelly, one of the attorneys who represented the tribe.

Officials with the Hopi and Zuni tribes did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.