Indian Law Bulletins Updated 12/21/21

This is the final bulletin update for 2021. See you all in 2022!

Federal Courts Bulletin
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/federal/2021.html

• White Mountain Apache Tribe v. United States (Trust Relationship; Tucker Act)
• Alegre v. United States (Tribal Membership; Sovereign Immunity)
• Accohannock Indian Tribe v. Tyler (Tribal Recognition)

State Courts Bulletin
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/state/2021.html

• Herrera v. Wyoming (Treaty Rights; Hunting Rights)

Tribal Courts Bulletin
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/tribal/2021.html

• Thundercloud v. Ho-Chunk Nation Executive Branch (Tribal Law; Sovereign Immunity; Ho-Chunk Nation Legislature)

U.S. Legislation - 117th Congress Bulletin
https://narf.org/nill/bulletins/legislation/117_uslegislation.html

• S.Res.482 - A resolution recognizing the 50th anniversary of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and the lasting impact of that Act on the State of Alaska and Alaska Native people.
• H.R.6331 - To permanently authorize the Native Community Development Financial Institutions lending program of the Department of Agriculture, and for other purposes.
• H.R.6334 - 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.

News Bulletin
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/news/currentnews.html
This week, in brief:

• Tribal leaders hail historic nomination of Native woman to federal bench
• Religious gatekeeping in red-rock country
• Chief signs order asserting treaty right for citizens to hunt, fish in Cherokee Nation Reservation
• Yurok Tribe issues emergency declaration to raise awareness about missing and murdered Indigenous women
• NDN Collective using $50 million in funding to address Native American wealth gap
• Language, history, and traditions: Preserving tribal cultures across the United States
• A grim, long-hidden truth emerges in art: Native American enslavement
• A judge recognized violence against Native women in a case where a woman killed a White man, advocates say
• Including Indigenous interpretations: Montana librarians learn through cultural lens
• Native American Agriculture Fund spins off new financial institution to help Native farmers
• Tribal consultations announced for infrastructure programs
• The dead's right to remain buried: New York tribal members advocate for bill to protect unmarked graves

Indian Law Bulletins Updated 12/15/21

The Native American Rights Fund is hiring for the open position of Staff Attorney in Boulder or Washington D.C. Learn more about the vacancy at: https://www.narf.org/contact-us/join-team/

U.S. Supreme Court Bulletin
http://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/sct/2021-2022update.html

• Two petitions for certiorari were filed last week on 12/3/21:
• United States v. Frey (Penobscot Indian Reservation; Penobscot River; Fishing and Hunting Rights)
• Penobscot Nation v. Frey (Maine Indian Settlement Acts; Water and Land Rights; Penobscot River)

Federal Courts Bulletin
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/federal/2021.html

• United States v. Benally (Criminal Conviction in Indian Country)

State Courts Bulletin
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/state/2021.html

• In re Michelle C. (Indian Child Welfare Act; Parental Rights)
• Sipp v. Buffalo Thunder, Inc. (Indian Gaming; Gaming Compacts; Tribal Sovereign Immunity)

U.S. Legislation - 117th Congress Bulletin
https://narf.org/nill/bulletins/legislation/117_uslegislation.html

• S.3337 - A bill to protect Native children and promote public safety in Indian country.
• S.3381 - A bill to require the Bureau of Indian Affairs to process and complete all mortgage packages associated with residential and business mortgages on Indian land by certain deadlines, and for other purposes.
• H.Res.846 - Recognizing the maternal health crisis among Indigenous women in the United States, which includes American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian women, recognizing the importance of reducing mortality and morbidity among Indigenous women, and calling for urgent Federal funding changes to ensure comprehensive, high-quality, and culturally competent maternal health and family planning services are available.
• H.R.6181 - To reaffirm that certain land has been taken into trust for the benefit of the Samish Indian Nation, and for other purposes.
• H.R.6238 - To amend the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 to increase Tribal access to water conservation and efficiency grants, and for other purposes.

Law Review & Bar Journal Bulletin (contact us if you need help finding a copy of an article)
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/lawreviews/2021.html

• The (potential) legal history of Indian gaming.
• The Absentee Shawnees and the true story of Lake Thunderbird.

News Bulletin
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/news/currentnews.html
This week, in brief:

• National Tribal Trial College open admission: free six-month legal advocacy certificate
• Five tribes issue statement on Governor Stitt canceling hunting and fishing compacts
• Returning farmland to Yakama Nation is a step toward self-sufficiency tribes once had
• The Bears Ears shuffle
• Tribes weigh in as New Mexico redistricting bills advance
• Native New York: Dispelling the myth of the sale of Manhattan & more
• Meet Oneida 'Bingo Queens' Sandra Brehmer and Alma Webster, who started tribal gaming in Wisconsin 45 years ago
• BIA launches new missing and murdered Indigenous person's website dedicated to solving cases
• New opportunities and threats to Native American voting power discussed with Navajo Nation Council Delegate Kee Allen Begay, Jr.
• Decolonize your media this holiday season with these podcasts, TV shows, and books

Indian Law Bulletins Updated 12/8/21

The Native American Rights Fund is hiring for the open position of Staff Attorney in Boulder or Washington D.C. Learn more about the vacancy at: https://www.narf.org/contact-us/join-team/

Federal Courts Bulletin
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/federal/2021.html

• State of Alaska v. Federal Subsistence Board, Organized Village of Kake (Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act; Hunting and Fishing Rights)
• Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe v. City of Seattle (Jurisdiction; Hydroelectric Dams; Fisheries Settlement Agreement)

State Courts Bulletin
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/state/2021.html

• State of Minnesota v. Randall (Public Law 280)

U.S. Legislation - 117th Congress Bulletin
https://narf.org/nill/bulletins/legislation/117_uslegislation.html

• S.3308 - A bill to authorize the Colorado River Indian Tribes to enter into lease or exchange agreements and storage agreements relating to water of the Colorado River allocated to the Colorado River Indian Tribes, and for other purposes.
• S.3328 - A bill to amend the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 to extend the jurisdiction of tribal courts to cover crimes involving sexual violence, and for other purposes.

Law Review & Bar Journal Bulletin (contact us if you need help finding a copy of an article)
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/lawreviews/2021.html

• Tribes, vaccines, and COVID-19: A look at tribal responses to the pandemic.
• Tying a tribal officer's hands: Tribal law enforcement authority under United States v. Cooley.

News Bulletin
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/news/currentnews.html
This week, in brief:

• 'An ancestral fight': Tribal members condemn death penalty following Jones' clemency
• As Xcel maps its “power pathway,” how close is too close to the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site?
• Apache elders urge senator to protect Oak Flat
• Diné leaders speak in support of voting rights and the Navajo Nation’s proposed redistricting maps before the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission
• Honor Chief Seattle by building fish passage through Skagit River dams
• Tribal leaders tell story of push for sovereignty in new Maine-made podcast
• Remembering Standing Rock five years later: Importance of Indigenous journalism
• Emerging Indigenous artists are mixing tradition with an urgent, organized message
• Killsback’s two-volume Cheyenne history wins second national book prize
• Colville mother's conviction raises justice issues facing Native women

Indian Law Bulletins Updated 12/1/21

The Native American Rights Fund Boulder office is hiring for the open position of Staff Attorney. Learn more about the vacancy at: https://www.narf.org/contact-us/join-team/

U.S. Supreme Court Bulletin
http://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/sct/2021-2022update.html

• Two petitions for certiorari were filed this week on 11/17/21 and 11/19/21, respectively:
• Tanner v. Cayuga Nation (Indian Gaming Regulatory Act; Fee Lands; Reservation Disestablishment)
• Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians v. Whitmer (Reservation Disestablishment)

U.S. Legislation - 117th Congress Bulletin
https://narf.org/nill/bulletins/legislation/117_uslegislation.html

• S.3273 - A bill to take certain land in the State of California into trust for the benefit of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, and for other purposes.
• H.R.6097 - To facilitate contacts and cooperation, including commercial relationships, between Native American Tribes and Indigenous peoples in the Western Hemisphere, and for other purposes.

News Bulletin
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/news/currentnews.html
This week, in brief:

• U.S. voting material released in Apache, Navajo, and Yup'ik
• Tribal members disappointed after setback in fight over sacred burial site along U.S. 26 near Mt. Hood
• Return most federal land to Native Americans, op-ed argues
• The Osage Minerals Council seeks federal legislation facilitating return of Osage Headrights
• Federal committee says University of Alabama must return historic objects to tribes
• Arizona law allows Indigenous students greater expression at graduation
• Inuit Circumpolar Council concludes “EEE Workshops” to develop circumpolar protocols for equitable and ethical engagement of Inuit communities and Indigenous knowledge
• Fraudulent Native artist charged with violating Indian Arts and Crafts Act
• New Mexico aiming to consolidate MMIWR investigations
• Tribal homelands bill back on agenda in ‘new era’ of Indian Country relations
• Columnist Carrie N. Baker: The difference an Indigenous leader makes
• Wild horses, buffalo and the politics of belonging