Indigenous Rights & Tribal Sovereignty

The Navajo Nation goes before the Supreme Court in a water rights case it says is about ending nearly two centuries of injustice.

The transfers marked another example of Indigenous people reclaiming stewardship over the land and animals that their ancestors managed for thousands of years.

Statements recognizing indigenous rights to territories seized by colonial powers may be well-meaning. But some indigenous leaders fear these acknowledgements may become routine and performative.

This post remembers Native American Heritage Month, and discusses activist negotiator Hank Adams, Assiniboine-Sioux, and the impacts of his work.

Two Native people share how the Indian Child Welfare Act impacted their lives as the law faces a challenge at the Supreme Court.

for Federal Agencies on recognizing and including Indigenous Knowledge in Federal research, policy, and decision making. This announcement coincides with the Biden-Harris Administration’s 2022 Tribal Nations Summit and responds to a 2021 OSTP-CEQ memorandum that called for development of the guidance with Tribal consultation and Indigenous community engagement, as well as agency, expert, and public input.

for Federal Agencies on recognizing and including Indigenous Knowledge in Federal research, policy, and decision making. This announcement coincides with the Biden-Harris Administration’s 2022 Tribal Nations Summit and responds to a 2021 OSTP-CEQ memorandum that called for development of the guidance with Tribal consultation and Indigenous community engagement, as well as agency, expert, and public input.

Today, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) jointly released new government-wide guidance  and an accompanying implementation memorandum for Federal Agencies on recognizing and including Indigenous Knowledge in Federal research, policy, and decision making. This announcement coincides with the Biden-Harris Administration’s 2022 Tribal Nations…

The US Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit rejected the Biden administration’s defense of oil and gas fracking in the Greater Chaco region of northwest New Mexico.

Proposed legislation would codify the rights of Indigenous students to wear tribal regalia.

Indian law is a framework for making decisions about Indigenous sovereignty and peoples, but recent Supreme Court rulings create new debates despite centuries of precedents

Reclaiming Native Truth is a national effort to foster cultural, social and policy change by empowering Native Americans to counter discrimination, invisibility and the dominant narratives that limit Native opportunity, access to justice, health and self-determination. Reclaiming Native Truth’s goal is to move hearts and minds toward greater respect, inclusion and social justice for Native Americans.

By Katarina Ziervogel Tamara Chipman, a 22-year-old woman from Moricetown First Nations in British Columbia first went missing on September 21, 2005 near Prince Rupert. Tamara was last seen hitchhiking from Prince Rupert to Terrace in British Columbia, on Highway 16, best known as the Highway of Tears, where several other women have gone missing or have been found murdered. The name “Highway of Tears” gives Highway 16 an ominous energy. It’s a long route for hitchhikers who once thought it was safe to travel the highway in beautiful British Columbia. Chipman’s aunt Gladys Radek did not foresee that the time she spent with Tamara in 2001 would be the last time she saw her. All families of missing and murdered Indigenous women unfortunately share that in common with Gladys, which led her to create a non-profit organization called “Walk4Justice”...

A federal judge has ordered the Biden administration to reinstate a drilling lease that has been in dispute for decades on land near the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.

A groundbreaking free-tuition program has administrators determining who qualifies. It’s harder than it looks.

Ohio State Professor Stephen Gavazzi learned a painful truth about Land Grant Universities — just after his book on the subject went to press. Now he’s working with a team of Ohio State researchers to find a path to healing harm done to indigenous tribes when they lost lands to fund the university through the Morrill Act of 1862.   Link to transcript

PEACH SPRINGS, Ariz. (AP) — Garnett Querta slips on his work gloves as he shifts the big rig he’s driving into park. Within seconds, he unrolls a fire hose and opens a hydrant, sending water flowing into one of the plastic tanks on the truck’s flat bed.

A collective voice for the victims who have been silenced

Over the past year, a wave of higher education institutions and state governments have worked to reduce the cost of college for Indigenous students. These tuition relief efforts come at a critical tim

A digitization program allows tribes to decide who can access oral histories.

Amira Dehmani, a 2022 Liljenquist Family Fellow at the Library of Congress, explores the role of the Cherokee Nation in the Civil War.

November is Native American Heritage Month, a time dedicated to celebrating the rich and diverse culture, history, and contributions of Native people.  Each year, the UW–Madison campus cultivates a diverse portfolio of events in recognition …

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 22, 2022 Contact: Rachel Lederman or Natali Segovia, Water Protector Legal Collective defense@waterprotectorlegal.org Earth Day this year marks an important day for Water Protectors who are still seeking accountability from Morton County and law enforcement for mass human rights violations committed over five years ago at Standing Rock. Today, Water Protectors filed an appeal in the Dundon v. Kirchmeier civil rights case. Dundon v. Kirchmeier is a federal civil rights

UA’s Federalist Society (FedSoc) asked NALSA to co-sponsor an Indian Child Welfare Act event and help them find a faculty member who could speak about its benefits. We asked FedSoc for more information about the event, and they informed us that they envisioned a well-rounded and educational discussion about the “positive and negative” impacts of ICWA in child welfare cases. Due to conflicting schedules, we were unable to help. It came to our attention that FedSoc titled the event, Separate but Equal Lives: The Indian Child Welfare Act and its Mistreatment of Native Children, which negates their goal of a well-rounded discussion and perpetuates harmful rhetoric about Native communities. We respectfully asked FedSoc to change the title days before it was published in the College of Law’s Weekly Bulletin, but they refused. We now respectfully request that the James E. Rogers College of Law require a title change. We also ask those who are interested in this subject to attend the two ICWA events this week that amplify Native peoples’ lived experiences to create a well-rounded perspective.

Since it was established last year, the Indigenous Resilience Center has added to its roster experts who have long worked with and for Native American communities. University leaders hope tribes can

The tribe recently renewed its campaign for Congress to seat its delegate in the House of Representatives -- a right stipulated by the 1835 Treaty of New Echota.

In the 21st century, many law schools offer Indian law but generally are still far behind the curve. Worse, when it is offered, the Indian law canon tends to be taught in ways that ignore contemporary tribal agency by emphasizing historical events over modern issues. This article gives examples of tribal court cases and tribal statutes law teachers can use to incorporate Indian law into virtually any common law course.