Indigenous Rights Movements & the Law

When forces unite with no care for the Constitution, the rule of law or anything you learned in civics class, you can end up with the entrenched overreach of the Plenary Power Doctrine.

On the heels of removing two diversity-related websites this week, the University of Arizona has deleted the phrase “committed to diversity and inclusion” from its widely used “land acknowledgement” statement.

In 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court made a decision to return more than 3 million acres of land in Oklahoma to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. The case, McGirt v. Oklahoma, has been described as one of the most significant Native American-related rulings in 100 years.The returned acreage in Oklahoma, including part of the city of Tulsa, is now recognized as “Indian Country,” as defined by federal law.

"The groundbreaking Indigenous style guide every writer needs The first published guide to common questions and issues of Indigenous style and process for those who work in words and other media is back in an updated new edition. This trusted resource offers crucial guidance to anyone who works in words or other media on how to work accurately, collaboratively, and ethically on projects involving Indigenous Peoples. Editor Warren Cariou (Mtis) and contributing editors Jordan Abel (Nisga'a), Lorena Fontaine (Cree-Anishinaabe), and Deanna Reder (Cree-U+fffdMtis) continue the conversation started by the late Gregory Younging in his foundational first edition. This second conversation reflects changes in the publishing industry, Indigenous-led best practices, and society at large, including new chapters on author-editor relationships, identity and community affiliation, Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer identities, sensitivity reading, emerging issues in the digital world, and more. This guide features: Twenty-two succinct style principles; Advice on culturally appropriate publishing practices, including how to collaborate with Indigenous Peoples, when and how to seek the advice of Elders, and how to respect Indigenous Oral Traditions and Traditional Knowledge; Terminology to use and to avoid; Advice on specific editing issues, such as biased language, capitalization, citation, accurately representing Indigenous languages, and quoting from historical sources and archives; Examples of projects that illustrate best practices."--

All My Relations Podcast · Episode

5,053 likes, 23 comments - ndngirlsbookclub on March 14, 2025: "Indigenous women who published debut books in 2024-2025 ✨💫 mainly focused on poetry, because poetry is always underrated🤞 Native & indie booksellers we recommend: 🌵 Palabras Bookstore @palabras_bookstore 🪶Green Feather Books @greenfeatherbooks 💧 Birchbark Books @birchbark_books 🌙 Iron Dog Books @irondogbooks 🌹 Black Walnut Books @blackwalnutbooks 🐦 Quiet Quail Books @quietquailbooks 🧚‍♀️ Paperbacks n Frybread @paperbacks_n_frybread 🍓 Massy Books @massybooks 🌺 Native Books HI @nativebookshi 💫 Books & Burrow (KS) @booksandburrow #indigenouslit #nativelit #ndngirlsbookclub For our LA friends: AWP is at the end of the month, which brings writers from all over to one city. This year, it’s in Tovaangar/Los Angeles & many Native writers will be all in one place; we will be raising money for the Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy, which is restoring land damaged by the recent fires. We are very excited💗✨💫 tickets are at @juniorhighla 🔗".

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMarch 19, 2025Contact: Nizhoni Begay, WPLC Communications, communications@waterprotectorlegal.org, (210) 324-3393Breaking – Verdict in Landmark SLAPP Case Against Greenpeace: Water Protector Legal Collective Continues the Call for Corporate Transparency and Accountability, and Respect for Indigenous SovereigntyMandan, ND – A North Dakota jury has ruled in favor of Energy Transfer, awarding the company hundreds of millions of dollars in damages in its lawsuit against Greenpea

691 likes, 17 comments - lakotalaw on March 12, 2025: "📢 Take action to win justice for Emily Pike. LINK IN BIO 🔗 Lakota Law supports the passage of HB2281, a bill that will create an 🚨 amber alert system specifically for Indigenous youth — ensuring that no Native family suffers a tragedy like this again. ⚖️ Act now. Tell the Arizona state Senate to pass HB2281 into law and name it Emily’s Law. #EmilyPike #JusticeForEmily #MMIW #MMIR #SayHerName #MMIAwareness #ProtectNativeChildren".

4,196 likes, 34 comments - lakotalaw on March 13, 2025: "🚨 They’re banning history. Read it anyway. Books that share truths about Indigenous land and Native history are disappearing from U.S. schools and libraries as part of a nationwide ban on books. One banned book example: “An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States.” Ask yourself why. 💡 It’s not just about banning a few classics or a single book—it’s about erasing the real histories and controlling the narrative. 🚫 We created the Decolonized Reading List for 2025—a curated selection of 25 nonfiction books that challenge colonial myths and highlight movements of resistance, including Indigenous sovereignty, Black liberation, LGBTQ2S+ rights, abolition, and the fight for reparations. Read them. Share them. Pass them down. 📚 Explore the full Decolonized Reading from the link in our bio. 📢 Amplify your impact. Petition for truthful education in U.S. schools. 🔗 Teach Real History Link in Bio 👉🏾 For the most current information on book bans, follow @americanlibraryassociation #BannedBooks #DecolonizeYourBookshelf #IndigenousHistory #TeachRealHistory".

Tristan Ahtone of Grist magazine and K. Wayne Yang (a.k.a. la paperson) of the University of California San Diego will engage in an expansive dialogue on the...

TUCSON – Many members of Native American communities have ties to traditional culture, spirituality and values that have been passed down for thousands of years. So when a tribal member

The University of Arizona hosted a celebration for the 25th anniversary of UNESCO’s International Mother Language Day, showing Indigenous language preservation efforts. The event had language games, resources and discussions with educators and students working to revitalize Native languages like Tohono O’odham, Diné, Hopi and Yaqui.

Washington, D.C. – Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva today released a “friend of the court” brief in the Supreme Court’s Arizona v. United States case, which will decide the constitutionality of Arizona’s infamous SB 1070 law. The amicus curiae brief, co-signed by 67 of Rep. Grijalva’s House colleagues, argues that the law is unconstitutional because, as […]

House Committee on Natural Resources - Democrats

Expressing support for the designation of May 5, 2023, as the ‘‘National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls’’.

House Committee on Natural Resources - Democrats

TUCSON – Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) released the following statement today in response to reports that tear gas, freezing water and rubber bullets were used Sunday night against a crowd of approximately 400 Water Protectors and demonstrators at the Dakota Access Pipeline. The altercation injured more than 150 demonstrators and one law enforcement officer. […]

Titles for H.R.3587 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): RESPECT Act

Washington, D.C. – House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack urging him to withhold publication of a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) on proposed copper mining operations in Arizona’s Tonto National Forest. These mining operations threaten to violate religious freedoms […]

WASHINGTON – Representative Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today issued the following statement on President Biden’s decision to commute the life sentence of renowned Native American activist Leonard Peltier. Mr. Peltier will be able to serve the remainder of his sentence at home. “For too long, Mr. Peltier has been denied both justice and the pursuit […]

14K likes, 1,072 comments - 7thgenpodcast on March 5, 2025: "SHARE & REPOST. Emily Pike was just 14 years old—an Apache girl living in Mesa, AZ—found dismembered on Valentine’s Day and identified on Feb. 27. Her tragic story is part of the MMIW crisis, a brutal reality rooted in centuries of dehumanization of Native women. Please watch, share, and stand with us in demanding justice for Emily and all Indigenous women and girls. #mmiw #indigenous #native #mmiwg2s #arizona #apache #AZ".

ASU Law Student Radio · Episode

Hundreds of people showed up Tuesday night for a walk in Mesa to remember the life of a 14-year-old girl from the San Carlos Apache Tribe who was found dead in mid-February.

Institutions across the U.S. returned more than 10,300 Native American ancestors to tribes in 2024, making it the third-biggest year for repatriation under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

On the test case that provoked the courts to decide whether the federal government had jurisdiction to exercise American criminal law over Native peoples on Native lands.

1,163 likes, 17 comments - lakotalaw on March 6, 2025: "Hundreds of supporters in Mesa, Arizona showed their support in a community vigil for Emily Pike, a 14-year-old girl from the San Carlos Apache Tribe in Arizona who was found in two separate trash bags on Feb. 14 near Globe, Arizona. She was identified last Friday and had ran away from a group home in Arizona. The perpetrators of the crime have not been apprehended. Shannon Bollinger, Navajo Nation, shares what brought her to show her support. #mmiw #mmip".

Native American activist moves to home imprisonment after Joe Biden commuted sentence at end of presidency

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 15, 2025 Belcourt, ND – To welcome Leonard Peltier back to his homelands after 49 years...