Indian Law Bulletins Updated 6/18/2025

Federal Courts Bulletin
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/federal/2025.html

• Chinook Indian Nation, et al. v. Burgum, et al. (Federal Recognition; Political Question)
• Hardwick, et al. v. United States, et al. (California Rancheria Act (CRA); Federal Recognition)
• Center for Biological Diversity v. United States Bureau of Land Management (National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA); Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act)
• Orutsararmiut Native Council, et al. v. United States Army Corps of Engineers, et al. (National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA); Environmental Impact)

Tribal Courts Bulletin
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/tribal/2025.html

• Estate of Charlotte T. Conde (Estate Property; Custom and Tradition; Personal Representative)
• Estate of Elizabeth Siquieros (Estate Property; Custom and Tradition; Oral Wills)

State Courts Bulletin
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/state/2025.html

• Perez v. City of San Antonio (Cultural Resources/Property; Texas Religious Services Clause)

U.S. Legislation - 119th Congress Bulletin
http://narf.org/nill/bulletins/legislation/119_uslegislation.html

• S.2022 - A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to treat Indian Tribal Governments in the same manner as State governments for certain Federal tax purposes, and for other purposes.
• S.2098 - A bill to provide for the conveyance of certain property to the Southcentral Foundation located in Anchorage, Alaska, and for other purposes.
• H.R.3903 - Chugach Alaska Land Exchange Oil Spill Recovery Act of 2025 / To exchange non-Federal land held by the Chugach Alaska Corporation for certain Federal Land in the Chugach Region, and for other purposes.
• H.R.3925 - Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation Land Exchange Act / To provide for a land exchange in San Bernardino County, California, and for other purposes.
• H.R.3956 - To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into self-determination contracts and self-governance agreements with Indian entities to administer the food distribution program on Indian reservations.
• H.R.3957 - To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to authorize the President to provide certain fire management assistance to Indian Tribal Governments, and for other purposes.
• S.Con.Res.14 - A concurrent resolution urging the establishment of a United States Commission on Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation.

U.S. Regulatory Bulletin
http://narf.org/nill/bulletins/regulatory/2025.html

• Approval of Clean Air Act General Permit Request for Coverage for New Minor Source Gasoline Dispensing Facility in Indian Country Within California for Tejon Gas Station (EPA)

Law Review & Bar Journal Bulletin (contact us if you need help finding a copy of an article)
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/lawreviews/currentlr.html

• Challenging the Indian Child Welfare Act: Colorblind racism, whiteness as property, and the legal architecture of settler colonialism.
• Conservation easements and bison restoration on the Wind River Indian Reservation: Exploring opportunities, challenges, and alternatives.
• Is saying "I'm sorry" enough? A primer on how attorneys & judges can act justly in Tribal disputes.
• The moral complacency of federal Indian law.
• The return of reparative treatymaking? Legal norms, Native Nations, & the United States.
• The utmost rights & interests of the Indians: Tribal law interpretations of the Indian Civil Rights Act.

News Bulletin
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/news/currentnews.html

This week, in brief:

• Judge denies latest attempt to dismiss Enbridge’s suit against Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
• The president just unraveled years of work on Tribal rights, salmon and clean energy. So what happens next?
• Feds release final environmental impact statement on Oak Flat mine
• Lawmakers cut a Tribal liaison with prisons from the budget. Tribes say they think it would help.
• New law will make it easier to vote on reservations in Nevada

Indian Law Bulletins Updated 6/11/2025

U.S. Supreme Court Bulletin
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/sct/2024-2025update.html

One petition for certiorari was filed 6/2/2025:

• Unkechaug Indian Nation v. Lefton (24-1240) (Treaty Rights)

Federal Courts Bulletin
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/federal/2025.html

• Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians, et al. v. Burgum, et al. (Land Into Trust; Indian Gaming)
• San Carlos Apache Tribe, et al. v. United States Forest Service, et al. (Land Exchange; National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA); Preliminary Injunction)
• United States v. Snake (Supervised Release; Sentencing)
• Gardner v. Ute Tribal Court of the Uintah and Ouray Reservavtion (Habeas corpus; Tribal Court Proceedings)

State Courts Bulletin
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/state/2025.html

• Atencio v. State of New Mexico (Environmental Protection; New Mexico Civil Rights Act)
• United Indian Health Services, Inc. / Tribal First v. Workers' Compensation Appeals Board and Deborah Hemstead (Tribal Sovereign Immunity)

U.S. Legislation - 119th Congress Bulletin
http://narf.org/nill/bulletins/legislation/119_uslegislation.html

• S.1967 - A bill to amend the Stored Communications Act to include Tribal courts as courts of competent jurisdiction, to amend the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 to confer Tribal jurisdiction over controlled substances, related offenses, and firearms, and for other purposes.
• S.2015 - A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to encourage and expand the use of prescribed fire on land managed by the Department of the Interior or the Forest Service, with an emphasis on units of the National Forest System in the western and southeastern United States, to acknowledge and support the long-standing use of cultural burning by Indian Tribes and Indigenous practitioners, and for other purposes.
• H.R.3723 - Tribal Gaming Regulatory Compliance Act / To ensure all federally recognized Tribes that are eligible for gaming in the United States are regulated under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, and for other purposes.
• H.R.3773 - To amend the Stored Communications Act to include Tribal courts as courts of competent jurisdiction, to amend the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 to confer Tribal jurisdiction over controlled substances, related offenses, and firearms, and for other purposes.
• H.R.3889 - To direct the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to encourage and expand the use of prescribed fire on land managed by the Department of the Interior or the Forest Service, with an emphasis on units of the National Forest System in the western and southeastern United States, to acknowledge and support the long-standing use of cultural burning by Indian Tribes and Indigenous practitioners, and for other purposes.

U.S. Regulatory Bulletin
http://narf.org/nill/bulletins/regulatory/2025.html

• Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustments; Annual Adjustments (Interior)

Law Review & Bar Journal Bulletin (contact us if you need help finding a copy of an article)
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/lawreviews/currentlr.html

• Becerra v. San Carlos Apache Tribe.
• Planning a new paradigm: Tribal co-stewardship and federal public lands planning.

News Bulletin
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/news/currentnews.html

This week, in brief:

• NY won’t rescind Native American mascot ban despite Trump threat, may broaden it
• US Justice Department says Trump can cancel national monuments that protect landscapes
• San Carlos Tribe celebrates temporary victory in federal court to save Oak Flat
• California's Yurok Tribe gets back ancestral lands that were taken over 120 years ago
• Settlements & stalemates: Tribal leaders steer Colorado River conversation

Indian Law Bulletins Updated 6/4/25

Federal Courts Bulletin
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/federal/2025.html

• Alaska Department of Fish and Game v. Federal Subsistence Board, et al. (Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA); Improper Delegation)
• Webber, et al. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, et al. (International Economic Powers Act (IEEPA); Indian Commerce Clause; Jay Treaty of 1794)
• Bird, et al. v. United States, et al. (Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA); Fiduciary Relationship)

Tribal Courts Bulletin
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/tribal/2025.html

• Stone, et al. & Romanelli v. Little River Band of Ottawa Indians Tribal Council, et al. (Tribal Council Budget Authority; Tribal Enterprise)

State Courts Bulletin
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/state/2025.html

• Matter of P.E.W. (Indian Child Welfare Act)

U.S. Legislation - 119th Congress Bulletin
http://narf.org/nill/bulletins/legislation/119_uslegislation.html

• H.R.3609 - Remove the Stain Act / To rescind each Medal of Honor awarded for acts at Wounded Knee Creek on December 29, 1890, and for other purposes.
• H.R.3654 - TERRA Act / Tribal Emergency Response Resources Act / To authorize the integration and administrative streamlining of Federal funding for Indian Tribes that have reservations, other Tribal lands, or ways of life at risk due to environmental impacts and natural disasters, and for other purposes.
• H.R.3670 - IHS Provider Expansion Act / To amend the Indian Health Care Improvement Act to establish within the Indian Health Service an Office of Graduate Medical Education Programs, and for other purposes.

U.S. Regulatory Bulletin
http://narf.org/nill/bulletins/regulatory/2025.html

• Proposed Re-Issuance of National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System General Permit for Wastewater Discharges Associated With Drinking Water Production Located in the EPA Region 8 Indian Country and Lands of Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction (EPA)
• Rescinding Regulations Regarding Management Systems Pertaining to the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Indian Reservation Roads Program (DOT)

Law Review & Bar Journal Bulletin (contact us if you need help finding a copy of an article)
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/lawreviews/currentlr.html

• Affording oral tradition evidence due weight before the International Court of Justice.
• Broken promises and unfulfilled obligations.
• Correcting the confidentiality catch-22 of Indigenous knowledge.
• The historic superfund listing of the Lukachukai Mountains mining district.
• Incorporating Indigenous stewardship in land management.
• Indigenous abolition and the third space of Indian child welfare.
• The landback movement.
• Protecting tribal interests in water.
• Reflections of a Wyoming-Navajo lawmaker.
• The Supreme Court's use of historical evidence in recent Indian law cases.

News Bulletin
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/news/currentnews.html

This week, in brief:

• Montana’s American Indian Caucus touts historic success in 2025 legislative session
• US Dept. of Education declares New York mascot ban discriminatory
• Federal court rules in favor of Tribes against SunZia
• An egregious backlog: Interior Department searches for ways to speed up Native American probate court
• North Dakota Tribes ask circuit judges for rehearing of voting rights case

Announcements

• The Native American Rights Fund is hiring a Staff Attorney in the Alaska office. Learn more about the vacancy at https://www.narf.org/contact-us/join-team.