Indian Law Bulletins Updated 4/22/2026

U.S. Supreme Court Bulletin

One petition for certiorari was filed 4/8/26:

• Winnemucca Indian Colony v. United States (25-1170) (trust breach; resource management)

Federal Courts Bulletin

• United States v. King (criminal jurisdiction; Major Crimes Act (MCA) - Indian status)
• Comanche Nation v. Ware, et al. (Tribal sovereign immunity; Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA))
• Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of Fort Hall Reservation v. U.S. Department of the Interior, et al. (Tribal property; Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA))
• NDN Collective, et al. v. Retsel Corporation, et al. (civil rights - discrimination; Section 1981)
• Hackford v. United States Department of Interior, et al. (Tribal membership; disenrollment; Ute Partition Act (UPA))
• Sepulveda v. Payer, et al. (Tribal law; custodial orders)

State Courts Bulletin

• Matter of Welfare of the Children of: L.P. (Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA))

Law Review & Bar Journal Bulletin

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• Bad men in the bordertown.
• Best practices for the exchange and protection of Tribal public health data: How federal, state, and local governments can honor Tribal data sovereignty.
• Native Hawaiians and environmental stewardship: Reclaiming the ‘āina in the face of a Western system.
• Tribal roots run deep: Robert Miller continues to pioneer Indian law in Oregon, Arizona.
• Turning sugar to alcohol: An originalist critique of implicit divestiture.

News Bulletin

This week, in brief:

• New oil and gas lease sale set for Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, amid litigation
• Minnesota Indigenous lawmaker: Boundary Waters vote an 'assault' on Tribal sovereignty
• Nebraska prison rescinds temporary ban on access to outdoor space for Native American religious practices after lawsuit
• Maine casino’s lawsuit may threaten foundation of Indian law in US
• Cherokee chief won’t be allowed to speak on Oklahoma House floor again, chamber leader says

Announcements

• The Native American Rights Fund is hiring a Director of Development, an Annual Giving and Digital Fundraising Manager, and a Law Fellow in the Boulder office and a Staff Attorney in the Alaska office. Learn more about the vacancies at our Career Center.
• The Tribal Law Journal invites submissions for volume 26. The journal seeks scholarly, practitioner, and student work addressing legal issues affecting Tribal Nations and their internal justice systems. Visit the Tribal Law Journal's submissions page for more information.

Indian Law Bulletins Updated 4/15/2026

Federal Courts Bulletin

• Arizona Mining Reform Coalition v. United States Forest Service (cultural resources/property, Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act (SALECA), National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), Free Exercise Clause)
• Douglas v. Wisner (law enforcement jurisdiction; Indian Civil Rights Act (ICRA))
• Arizona v. Biden (cultural resources/property)

Tribal Courts Bulletin

• In the matter of A.L. (criminal jurisdiction)

Law Review & Bar Journal Bulletin

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• Buried burdens: Contaminated lands and the unfinished business of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
• Indigenous constitutionalism.
• The intangible NAGPRA.
• The challenge of Indian Child Welfare Act enforcement in the modern age of child dependency.
• Recovering scale for climate action: Indigenous Peoples, nonanthropocentric ethics, and caretaking institutions.
• A right, not a request: International human rights law and the repatriation of remains from former Indigenous boarding schools in the United States.
• Subsistence as resistance: Reconceptualizing the theory of progressive property to incubate resistance to consumerism.

News Bulletin

This week, in brief:

• Eco jurisprudence – international momentum is growing
• Plans to withdraw protections from oil and gas development around Chaco prompt 70,000 public comments to federal agency in one week
• Lawsuit challenges prison ban on Indigenous faith practices
• New Wisconsin law allows Indigenous students to wear regalia at graduations
• What you need to know about Tribal sovereignty and birthright citizenship

Announcements

• The Native American Rights Fund is hiring a Director of Development, an Annual Giving and Digital Fundraising Manager, and a Law Fellow in the Boulder office and a Staff Attorney in the Alaska office. Learn more about the vacancies at our Career Center.

Indian Law Bulletins Updated 4/8/2026

U.S. Supreme Court Bulletin

Two petitions for certiorari were denied:

• Flying T Ranch, Inc. v. Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians (25-987) (Tribal sovereign immunity)
• Stroble v. Oklahoma Tax Commission (25-382) (state taxation in Indian Country)

Federal Courts Bulletin

• Frank's Landing Indian Community, et al. v. Enlow (civil jurisdiction; Tribal sovereign immunity)
• Sepulveda v. Payer, et al. (Tribal law; custodial orders)
• United States of America v. 20,855.90 Acres of Land, et al. (Tribal property - land into trust)
• United States v. Goodlow (criminal jurisdiction - Major Crimes Act (MCA))
• State of Montana, et al. v. Burgum, et al. (treaty rights - standing)
• Harris, et al. v. W6LS, Inc., et al. (Tribal law; civil jurisdiction - arbitation)
• Gastanaga v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Federal recognition; Freedom of Information Act (FOIA))
• Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe v. United States, et al. (Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA))
• Corrales v. United States of America, et al. (Federal recognition - Tribal leadership dispute)
• Poemoceah v. Swenson (sovereign immunity - qualified immunity)
• Yurok Tribe v. Dowd, et al. (hunting and fishing rights)
• Farrer v. Cornpeach (civil jurisdiction; Tribal sovereign immunity)

Tribal Courts Bulletin

• Carey v. Woodall (Tribal jurisdiction; jurisdiction over non-members; Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA))

U.S. Legislation - 119th Congress Bulletin

• S.4276 - A bill to reauthorize the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996.
• H.R.7957 - Preserve the Traditional Cultural Place Chí’chil Biłdagoteel Historic District Act / To preserve the Traditional Cultural Place of Chi'chil Bildagoteel Historic District listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and for other purposes.
• H.R.8092 - To reauthorize the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996, and for other purposes.
• H.R.8188 - To remove certain limitations with respect to road grading under Tribal transportation programs and study the impacts of such removal, and for other purposes.

U.S. Regulatory Bulletin

• Reversal of Land Acquisition; Koi Nation of Northern California, Shiloh Site, Sonoma County, California (Interior)
• Reducing Bureaucracy and Burden for Native American Programs (HHS)
• Alaska Native Claims Selection (Interior)

Law Review & Bar Journal Bulletin

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• Beyond Tribal exhaustion: Restoring Tribal courts' civil jurisdiction over nonmembers.
• "In my defense, I have none:" Taylor Swift, Indian law, and a re-examination of custom's inapplicability in the United States.
• Taxing Indigenous cultural property.
• The Tribal Energy Act: A necessary step toward the electrification of the Navajo Nation.
• When you're just not "Indian" enough: The erosion of Tribal sovereignty in State v. Nobles and the case for deference to Tribes on questions of Indian status.
• White-collar crime in Indian Country: Teaching and researching familiar issues in a unique context.

News Bulletin

This week, in brief:

• The Buffalo’s return: new partnerships boost Indigenous-led conservation in Tribal lands
• Opinion: Syracuse University men’s lacrosse’s ‘burn the boats’ glorifies Indigenous genocide
• Tribes object as Trump administration moves to reopen Chaco Canyon to drilling
• Tribal Nations urge appeals court to uphold ICWA in Arizona foster care case
• Indian Peaks Band appeals federal approval of Utah water project

Announcements

• The Native American Rights Fund is hiring a Director of Development, an Annual Giving and Digital Fundraising Manager, and a Law Fellow in the Boulder office and a Staff Attorney in the Alaska office. Learn more about the vacancies at our Career Center.