National Indian Law Library : Indian Law Bulletins Updated 4/29/2026

April 29, 2026

The Tribal Supreme Court Project published an Update Memorandum on April 23, 2026.

United States v. Holt (criminal jurisdiction; Tribal court)
Jones, et al. v. United States (law enforcement jurisdiction; Tribal membership)
McClamary v. D&L Real Estate Enterprises, LLC, et al. (Tribal jurisdiction; state jurisdiction)
Gunter, et al. v. Contango ORE, Inc., et al. (jurisdiction; Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA))

Petra J. v. Department of Family & Community Services, Office of Children's Services (Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA))

S.4368 - Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians Water Rights Settlement Act / A bill to approve the settlement of the water rights claims of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, and for other purposes.
S.4381 - Western Tribal Water Act of 2026 / A bill to amend the America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 to reauthorize the Indian Reservation Drinking Water Program, and for other purposes.
S.4399 - A bill to provide for certain conveyances under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, and for other purposes.
S.4417 - A bill to amend the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians Water Rights Settlement Act to make technical corrections, and for other purposes.
H.R.8461 - To amend the America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 to reauthorize the Indian Reservation Drinking Water Program, and for other purposes.
H.R.8483 - To take certain land in the State of California into trust for the benefit of the Barona Group of Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians of the Barona Reservation, California, and for other purposes.
H.R.8546 - To amend the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Mission Indians Water Rights Settlement Act to make technical corrections, and for other purposes.

Utah; Uinta Basin; 2015 8-Hour Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard; Reconsideration and Repeal of Finding of Failure To Attain and Reclassification to a Moderate Nonattainment Area; Extension of the Attainment Date and Determination of Attainment by the Marginal Attainment Date (EPA)
Finding of Failure To Attain and Reclassification of Tribal Portions of the Greater Connecticut Ozone Nonattainment Area as Serious for the 2015 Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (EPA)

Abrogation without mention: A note on Lac Du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians v. Coughlin.
The bad man’s hourglass: Extending the clock on justice.
Beyond dollars and dams: Reimagining cost-benefit analysis, flood control, and Indigenous rights in Hawaii.
Chaco roads: Connecting cultural heritage and environmental justice.
“The color question in the Supreme Court”: Black, white, and red in United States v. Perryman.
“Discovered!”: Plaintiff’s brief to the United States Supreme Court in Johnson & Graham’s Lessee v. M‘Intosh (1823).
The future of a melting Arctic: Implications for Indigenous rights.
The Indian law aunties.
Protecting cultural personality.
Tribal rights of nature laws: Fulfilling sacred obligations.
Tulsa v. O’Brien: A city adds to the battle over jurisdiction in Indian Country.
Ward, trust, or sovereign: The impact of metaphor in Supreme Court Indian law jurisprudence.
With religious freedom came religious authority: Apache Stronghold v. United States and the exclusion of Native American religion within the legal understanding of religious freedom.

This week, in brief:

Oregon lithium drilling faces legal challenge over habitat
Michigan wins key legal battle over Line 5 pipeline
Tribal advocates seek emergency court order to halt drilling at sacred Pe’ Sla site
Apache Stronghold files updated lawsuit over Oak Flat land transfer
More than 10,000 Oklahoma Native landowners may be owed oil and gas revenue, lawsuit says

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.