Indian Law Bulletins Updated 10/1/2025

Federal Courts Bulletin

• Barrick v. Board of County Commissioners of McCurtain County, Oklahoma, et al. (Section 1983; Wrongful Death; Tribal Authority)
• Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (Tribal Contract; Healthcare; Fiduciary Duties)
• Darden v. Vines, et al. (Tribal Sovereign Immunity)
• Tanner-Brown v. Burgum, et al. (Freedmen; Trust or Fiduciary Duties)
• Portnoy v. Meza, et al. (Tribal Regulatory Agency; Tribal Sovereign Immunity)

Tribal Courts Bulletin

• Alyssa Louise Roseman v. Zachary Quinn Roseman (Tribal Law)

State Courts Bulletin

• In re A.M. (Indian Child Welfare Act)
• Matter of S. H. A. (Indian Child Welfare Act)
• Betsy F. v. Department of Family & Community Services (Indian Child Welfare Act)
• Commonwealth v. One (1) Check in the Amount of $480.00 for 1,600 Pieces of Wild Oysters (Fishing Rights)

U.S. Legislation - 119th Congress Bulletin

• H.R.5392 - Northern Arizona Protection Act / To nullify Presidential Proclamation 10606, establishing Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument and withdrawing certain land in Arizona from mineral entry, and for other purposes.
• S.Res.419 - A resolution expressing support for the designation of September 2025 as "Hawaiian History Month" to recognize the history, culture and contributions of Native Hawaiians and reaffirm the United States Federal trust responsibility to the Native Hawaiian Community to support their well-being.

U.S. Regulatory Bulletin

• Receipt of Documented Petition for Federal Acknowledgment as an American Indian Tribe (Interior)
• Receipt of Documented Petition for Federal Acknowledgment as an American Indian Tribe (Interior)
• Submission for Office of Management and Budget Review; American Indian and Alaska Natives Facility Condition, Location, and Ownership Survey (HHS)

Law Review & Bar Journal Bulletin

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• Achieving public safety within transboundary Tribes: Challenges and paths forward.
• The “categorical approach” that often hinders application of the Habitual Offender Statute, 18 U.S.C. § 117, to violations of Tribal law.
• The Department of Justice’s role in addressing the incidence of Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons.
• Indigenous reconciliation and development.
• The Tribal warrants loophole: The Washington solution.
• The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2022 and the return of Tribal criminal authority in Alaska.

News Bulletin

This week, in brief:

• Orange Shirt Day marks legacy of Indigenous boarding schools
• Ojibwe have been trying to regain land taken in mid-1800s. Slowly, they've had success.
• Tule River Tribe sponsors bill for students to have right to wear regalia
• In Alaska, a graphite mine races toward approval without the required Tribal consent
• Federal government awards $15 million to support first culturally-centered domestic violence hotline for Native Americans

Announcements

• The Native American Rights Fund is hiring a Staff Attorney in the Alaska office. Learn more about the vacancy on our website.

Indian Law Bulletins Updated 9/24/2025

U.S. Supreme Court Bulletin

One petition for certiorari was filed on 9/15/2025:

• Alaska v. United States (25-320) (Fishing Regulation; Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act)

One petition for certiorari was filed on 9/12/2025:

• Chinook Indian Nation v. Burgum (25-313) (Federal Recognition)

Federal Courts Bulletin

• Walden v. The City of Duncan, Oklahoma, et al. (Section 1983; Under Color of Tribal Law)
• Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, et al. v. Mundahl, et al. (Tribal Court Jurisdiction; Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA))
• Osage Nation v. United States Department of Interior, et al. (Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA); Sovereign Immunity)

State Courts Bulletin

• In re Application of Enbridge Energy to Replace and Relocate Line 5 (Cultural Resources; Michigan Environmental Protection Act)
• Akana v. Hawai'i State Ethics Commission (Jurisdiction; Hawai‘i State Ethics Code)

U.S. Legislation - 119th Congress Bulletin

• S.2832 - A bill to establish an Office of Native American Affairs within the Small Business Administration, and for other purposes.
• S.2871 - A bill to take certain Federal land in the State of California into trust for the benefit of the Pit River Tribe, and for other purposes.
• H.R.5488 - To amend title III of the Public Health Service Act to extend funding for the Special Diabetes Program for Indians.
• H.R.5515 - To amend the Indian Trust Asset Reform Act.

U.S. Regulatory Bulletin

• Withdrawal of Notices Inviting Applications (NIA) and Cancellation of the Competitions for the Strengthening Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions Part A (ANNH Part A), Strengthening Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions Part A (AANAPISI Part A), Strengthening Native American-Serving Nontribal Institutions Part A (NASNTI Part A) and Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions programs (DHSI) (Education)

Law Review & Bar Journal Bulletin

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• Collaborative management of Bears Ears National Monument: Perspectives from the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition.
• From the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to the Paris Agreement: Embedding Indigenous human rights in international environmental governance.
• Leveraging the federal trust responsibility to safeguard net neutrality on Tribal lands.

News Bulletin

This week, in brief:

• Michigan Supreme Court to hear Line 5 permit appeals
• Alaska wants U.S. Supreme Court to hear battle over salmon
• North Dakota releases first updated Tribal textbook; more on the way
• Native groups file Supreme Court brief supporting rights of incarcerated Indigenous People
• Alaska Republicans push for federal study of ranked choice voting

Announcements

• The Native American Rights Fund is hiring a Staff Attorney in the Alaska office. Learn more about the vacancy on our website.

Indian Law Bulletins Updated 9/17/2025

Tribal Courts Bulletin

• Ho-Chunk Nation Election Board v. Tahdooahnippah (Tribal Elections)

U.S. Legislation - 119th Congress Bulletin

• S.2771 - A bill to amend the Indian Self-Determination Act and the Indian Health Care Improvement Act to provide advance appropriations authority for certain accounts of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education of the Department of the Interior and the Indian Health Service of the Department of Health and Human Services, and for other purposes.
• S.2796 - A bill to provide for a land exchange in San Bernardino County, California, and for other purposes.
• H.R.4584 - To make technical amendments to update statutory references to certain provisions which were formerly classified to chapters 14 and 19 of title 25, United States Code, and to correct related technical errors.
• H.R.5257 - To reaffirm the trust status of land taken into trust by the United States pursuant to the Act of June 18, 1934, for the benefit of an Indian Tribe that was federally recognized on the date that the land was taken into trust.
• H.R.5327 - To extend Federal recognition to the Nottoway Indian Tribe of Virginia, and for other purposes.
• H.R.5328 - To amend the Indian Self-Determination Act and the Indian Health Care Improvement Act to provide advance appropriations authority for certain accounts of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Indian Education of the Department of the Interior and the Indian Health Service of the Department of Health and Human Services, and for other purposes.
• H.R.5378 - To provide a set-aside of funds for Indian populations under the health profession opportunity grant program under section 2008 of the Social Security Act, and for other purposes.

U.S. Regulatory Bulletin

• Statement of Findings: Navajo-Utah Water Rights Settlement (Interior)

Law Review & Bar Journal Bulletin

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• Beyond binary co-sovereignty: Native Nations & water compacts.
• Can Tribal sovereign immunity undermine judicial review under the APA: Maverick Gaming LLC v. United States.
• Compendium of exhibits from the papers of Supreme Court justices.
• Damned if you do, dammed if you don't: Solutions for the Snake River and the Nez Perce Tribe.
• Discovering the Doctrine of Discovery.
• Indian casinos under the big sky: Why Tribes in other states have been more successful with gaming and the path forward for Montana's Tribes.
• Indian water rights settlements and the Animas-La Plata project: A self-fulfilling prophecy of dependency.
• Making space for sacred lands: From the harsh glare of Lyng to Apache Stronghold.
• A reciprocity: Off-reservation treaty hunting rights.
• Repatriation as reparations.
• Tribal sovereign immunity: Absolute authority or accountability.
• Uses and abuses of Johnson v. M'Intosh in Native American land rights cases: Investigative insights from the Indian law justice files.

News Bulletin

This week, in brief:

• Oregon resumes legal battle after Trump administration abandons historic Columbia River agreement
• New Mexico Tribal leaders push to protect Chaco
• Nez Perce Tribe lawsuit to halt Central Idaho gold mine clouds federal approval
• Prairie Island Indian Community welcomes home ancestral remains
• US House backs Lumbee Tribe, tying its status to a military spending bill

Announcements

• The Native American Rights Fund is hiring a Staff Attorney in the Alaska office. Learn more about the vacancy on our website.