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.

Indian Law Bulletins Updated 9/10/2025

U.S. Supreme Court Bulletin

One petition for certiorari was filed on 9/2/25:

• Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians v. Howe (25-253) (Voting Rights Act)

Federal Courts Bulletin

• New Mexico Trappers Association, et al. v. Torrez, et al. (Wildlife Conservation and Public Safety Act; Equal Protection; Ripe for Review)
• United States v. Hatley (General Crimes Act; Indian Status)
• Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians v. Upper Skagit Indian Tribe, et al. (Treaty Fishing Rights; Usual and Accustomed)
• Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, et al. v. Teck Cominco Metals Ltd (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA); Lost Use of Natural Resources)
• Baltas, et al. v. Chapdelaine, et al. (Qualified Immunity; Free Exercise; Native American Religion)

U.S. Legislation - 119th Congress Bulletin

• S.2735 - A bill to take certain Federal land in the State of California into trust for the benefit of the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, and for other purposes.
• H.R.5144 - Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Tribe of Southampton County, Virginia, Federal Recognition Act / To extend Federal recognition to the Cheroenhaka (Nottoway) Indian Tribe of Southampton County, Virginia, and for other purposes.

U.S. Regulatory Bulletin

• Revising Residency Requirements for the Section 184 Indian Housing Loan Guarantee Program (HUD)

Law Review & Bar Journal Bulletin

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• Arizona v. Navajo Nation's impact on the United States - Indian trust framework.
• Indigenous Peoples, private law, and climate change.
• The medical expense deduction: Physicians, medicine men, and spirituality.
• Rights of nature: Fact and fiction.
• The selling of our sisters: Trafficking Native women and girls in the United States.
• WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources, and Traditional Knowledge: Promoting transparency and inclusivity in the patent system.

News Bulletin

This week, in brief:

• Army cemeteries to repatriate Native American remains from Carlisle
• Navajo Nation Council considers new legislation to increase investments in Tribal education
• New York settles decades-long land dispute with Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, restoring land to group
• Raising voices for incarcerated Native Peoples and defending Indigenous traditions
• Native American voters bring Voting Rights Act case to the Supreme Court

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 9/3/2025

Federal Courts Bulletin

• Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria v. United States Department of Interior, et al. (Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA); Delegation of Statutory Authority)
• Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians v. Pope Flores, et al. (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO))
• Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation v. United States (Fifth Amendment Taking of Land; Parallel Suit; Stay Proceedings)
• State of California, et al. v. United States Department of Interior, et al. (Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA); Indispensable Party; Public Rights Exception)
• Toyukak, et al. v. Dahlstrom, et al. (Voting Rights Act (VRA); Effective Language Assistance)

State Courts Bulletin

• Matter of Dependency of C.J.J.I. (Indian Child Welfare Act)
• Melius v. Songer (Indian Child Welfare Act)

Law Review & Bar Journal Bulletin

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• 25 years in the making: The WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge.
• American Indian geopolitical rights.
• Civilized enough to tax: Natives as federal income taxpayers.
• Developing an Indigenized limitations and exceptions framework within the global intellectual property system.
• Facilitating benefit sharing through disclosure.
• Introduction: Traditional knowledge and property in moral communities.
• Landscape and law: Territoriality and rights in knowledge.
• Making room at the table: Theoretical foundations and practical implications of the WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge.
• Natural rights and ancestral writings.
• Secret traditions as trade secrets.
• Traditional knowledge and the limits of property.
• Tribal lay advocates expand access to justice.

News Bulletin

This week, in brief:

• In far northeastern Maine, a Native community fights to adapt to climate change
• Tribes call on Trump to ‘do right for Indian Country,’ return federal land within Wind River Reservation’s bounds
• The federal government is deregulating contracting. Alaska Native organizations wonder if it will hurt their business.
• State mulls how to better track federal funding impacts to New Mexico Pueblos, Tribes
• Alaska vowed to resolve murders of Indigenous People. Now it refuses to provide their names.

Announcements

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