Indian Law Bulletins Updated 7/8/2026

U.S. Supreme Court Bulletin

Two petitions for certiorari were granted 6/29/26:

• Republican National Committee v. Mi Familia Vota (25-1017) (National Voter Registration Act (NVRA))
• Petersen v. Mi Familia Vota (25-1019) (National Voter Registration Act (NVRA))

One petition for certiorari was filed 6/26/26:

• Perez v. City of San Antonio (26-15) (religious freedom)

Federal Courts Bulletin

• Utu Utu Gwaitu Paiute Tribe of the Benton Paiute Reservation, et al. v. United States Department of the Interior, et al. (cultural resources; Tribal consultation)
• Pechanga Band of Indians v. Kennedy, et al. (Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDA))
• King v. Wilcox, et al. (Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA))

State Courts Bulletin

• Viva G. v. Department of Family and Community Services (Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA))

Law Review & Bar Journal Bulletin

Contact us if you need help finding a copy of an article.

• Advocacy matters.
• The authenticity thicket.
• Case law on American Indians: September 2024-August 2025.
• The federal trust responsibility and special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction: Restoring justice in Tribal Nations.
• Reading between the treaties: Why the Supreme Court must honor the Indian canons of construction.
• Stability at stake: The effects of overturning Chevron on Indian gaming.
• Tribal Nations as lords of the fee: A common law argument for Tribal discretion in spending federal forfeiture funds.
• Tripartite water cosovereignty.
• Unleashing consultation: Tohono O’odham Nation v. Department of Interior and the case for reforming the National Historic Preservation Act.
• U.S. v. Washington: Considering the continuing injunction of the Boldt decision.
• When knowledge isn't free: Legal and ethical imperatives of protecting Indigenous intellectual property.
• Wild and untamed: The problem of wild horses on federal and Indian lands.

News Bulletin

This week, in brief:

• White House report targets Smithsonian’s treatment of Native history, criticizes ‘stolen land’ narrative
• California’s ban on Native American-themed mascots has been a conversation starter in schools
• California returns stretch of coast to Indigenous Tribes. ‘This is beyond huge’
• Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation sues Kansas Lottery, alleges violations of Tribal sovereignty
• White Earth Nation, feds sign funding agreement to co-manage wildlife refuge in NW Minnesota

Announcements

• The Indian Law Bulletins are taking a short break - we will be back in your inbox on Thursday, April 23.

Indian Law Bulletins Updated 7/1/2026

U.S. Supreme Court Bulletin

One petition for certiorari was filed 6/9/26:

• Winckler v. South Dakota (25-7600) (reservation diminishment; jurisdiction)

Federal Courts Bulletin

• United States v. Lynn (criminal jurisdiction - Indian status)
• NDN Collective, et al. v. Retsel Corporation, et al. (civil rights - discrimination; Section 1981)
• Kozlowicz-Gardner v. Ute Tribal Council Members (Tribal sovereign immunity)
• Fort Belknap Indian Community of the Fort Belknap Reservation of Montana v. United States of America, et al. (resource management; water rights; trust breach)
• Nare v. Omaha Discovery Trust (civil rights - equal protection; Section 1981)

State Courts Bulletin

• In re N.J. v. A.J. (Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA))
• Lopez v. Buffalo Thunder Development Authority (Tribal sovereign immunity)

U.S. Legislation - 119th Congress Bulletin

• S.4890 - A bill to amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to establish subaccounts in the Indian Water Rights Settlement Completion Fund, and for other purposes.
• H.R.9416 - Ocmulgee Mounds National Park Redesignation Act / To redesignate the Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park as the "Ocmulgee Mounds National Park", and for other purposes.
• H.R.9425 - Increasing Tribal Input on Nutrition Act of 2026 / To amend the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 to ensure Tribal consultation and representation under the food distribution program on Indian reservations, and for other purposes.
• S.Res.795 - A resolution commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

Law Review & Bar Journal Bulletin

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• Land without legacy: The case for market-based appraisals on Hawaiian home lands.
• Titletown madness: Title insurance through the lens of Tribal jurisdiction and the lasting legacy of allotment.

News Bulletin

This week, in brief:

• Five Tribes sue over controversial IPOP gold mining project near Nome
• Caddo Nation paves way for Tribal courts, opening up more land leases
• What to know about the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s ruling on Menominee land buyback
• Supreme Court rules mailed ballots postmarked by election day must be counted, a win for Native voters
• Native American Tribes came together to secure their rights to Colorado River water. Four states are stalling the deal.

Indian Law Bulletins Updated 6/24/2026

Federal Courts Bulletin

• Wichita and Affiliated Tribes v. Stitt (State-Tribal Gaming Act (STGA); Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA))
• Garfield County, Utah, et al. v. Trump, et al. (cultural property; sovereign immunity; Antiquities Act)
• Wood v. Niswi LLC (Tribal law; civil jurisdiction - arbitation)
• Bradby, et al. v. Koetting, et al. (Tribal law; civil jurisdiction - arbitation)
• State of Wisconsin v. Johnson, Sr., et al. (Tribal law; hunting and fishing rights)
• Yurok Tribe, et al. v. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, et al. (resource management; Endangered Species Act (ESA))

State Courts Bulletin

• Legend Lake Property Owners Association v. Guy Keshena (Tribal sovereign immunity)

U.S. Legislation - 119th Congress Bulletin

• S.4811 - A bill to amend the Food Security Act of 1985 to include Indian Tribes in certain provisions relating to priority resource concerns.
• S.4813 - A bill to authorize leases of up to 99 years for land held in trust for federally recognized Indian Tribes.
• S.4832 - A bill to amend the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act to allow the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into self-determination contracts with Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations to carry out supplemental nutrition assistance programs.
• S.4869 - A bill to improve the Indian School Equalization Formula of the Bureau of Indian Education, and for other purposes.

U.S. Regulatory Bulletin

• Royalty for Oil and Gas Lost From Onshore Federal and Indian Leases (Interior)
• Migratory Bird Subsistence Harvest in Alaska (Interior)
• Reducing Bureaucracy and Burden for Native American Programs (HHS)
• Final Waivers and Extensions of the Project Periods With Funding for the American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Services Program and the American Indian Vocational Rehabilitation Training and Technical Assistance Center (Education)

Law Review & Bar Journal Bulletin

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• Accessing justice & the Indian Child Welfare Act.
• Incorporating Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge (“ITEK”) in post-wildfire response and recovery: Life after fire: (Re)imagining post fire recovery for Headwater Dependent Communities Symposium.
• #Landback to Indigenous Peoples from “land-grab” universities.
• Membership and self-identification in The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: a commentary on Article 33.
• Native rights and the possibility of difference.
• State criminal jurisdiction in Indian Country: A history.
• Towards balance and equity: An Indigenous review for updating the 2016 water agreement between the Choctaw & Chickasaw Nations with Oklahoma & the United States government for a sustainable future of water use.
• Uncivilized procedure.
• The unfulfilled liberation: The Navajo Nation, the federal government and the legal history of Indian slavery in the Reconstruction Southwest.

News Bulletin

This week, in brief:

• Once a federal boarding school, local Tribes now set the curriculum at the Santa Fe Indian School
• Opinion: The mission of John Echohawk
• Utah’s lawsuit to overturn Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monument boundaries revived by appeals court
• Dakota County Minnesota celebrates opening of Indian Child Welfare Act Court
• Tohono O’odham Nation sues feds to block border wall construction on Tribal land