Turtle Talk

As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, this groundbreaking symposium reexamines the promises—and unfinished work—of the American Revolution. Bringing together leading scholars, judges, practitioners, and advocates, The Unfinished American Revolution explores how the principles of equality, self-government, and consent of the governed have shaped—and often failed to shape—the constitutional relationship between the United States, Native nations, and U.S. territories.

Timed to coincide with the 125th anniversary of the Insular Cases and the 175th anniversary of the Indian Appropriations Act, the symposium will examine the enduring legacies of territorial governance, federal Indian law, and plenary power. Through interdisciplinary panels and forward-looking discussions, participants will confront some of the most pressing constitutional questions of our time: Who belongs within the American constitutional community? What does self-determination mean in the twenty-first century? And what would it take to finally fulfill the promises of 1776 for all peoples under U.S. sovereignty?

Kindly register here

Prairie Band Potawatomi Sues to Stop Kansas Lottery on Indian Lands

July 8, 2026Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the complaint in Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation v. Durrell (D. Kan.):

1 Complaint.pdf Download

1-1 Exhibit 1.pdf Download

1-2 Exhibit 2.pdf Download

Supreme Court Allows Ballots Cast On Time To Be Counted After Election Day

July 8, 2026Matthew Campbell

On June 29, 2026, the Supreme Court, in Watson v. Republican National Committee, allowed Mississippi ballots cast on time to be counted after Election Day, as permitted under state law. The decision respects longstanding absentee ballot receipt rules. It also protects Native voters who are disproportionately affected by a dearth of voter services and postal delays beyond their control.

An amicus brief on behalf of the National Congress of American Indians, Alaska Federation of Natives, and Washington Conservation Action Education Fund was filed in the case. The brief explained that Native voters often are forced to mail in ballots because in-person voting is made less available in their communities. Meanwhile, Native communities often lack reliable mail delivery, have fewer postal services, and endure longer mail transit time, especially in Alaska Native communities. You can see the brief here.

New Scholarship on Wild Horses on Federal and Indian Lands

July 7, 2026Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Elaina Erola has published “Wild and Untamed: The Problem of Wild Horses on Federal and Indian Lands” in the Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation.

Here is the abstract:

The management of wild horses in the American West has long been framed as a question of animal welfare, environmental stewardship, and federal land management. Missing from this discourse, however, is the disproportionate burden that unmanaged wild horse populations impose on Tribal Nations. This Article argues that the United States has failed to fulfill its trust responsibilities to federally recognized Tribes by inadequately addressing wild horse overpopulation on Indian lands, resulting in significant ecological degradation, resource depletion, and economic harm.

Drawing on historical accounts, federal statutes, agency practices, and case studies from the Navajo Nation, Blackfeet Nation, Wind River Reservation, Yakama Nation, Ute Indian Tribe, and others, this Article examines how federal wild horse policies have produced consequences that extend beyond Bureau of Land Management jurisdiction. While federal agencies devote substantial resources to managing wild horses on public lands, Tribal governments are often left to confront similar or greater population pressures with limited funding, uncertain jurisdictional authority, and inadequate federal support.

The Article situates these challenges within the broader framework of the federal trust responsibility, arguing that Indian lands, water resources, forage, wildlife habitat, and culturally significant plant species constitute trust assets deserving protection. Relying on trust doctrine jurisprudence, including United States v. Mitchell (“Mitchell II”), the Article contends that the federal government’s failure to address unmanaged horse populations on Tribal lands may constitute a breach of its fiduciary obligations. Finally, it explores potential legal and policy solutions, including expanded funding through self-determination contracts, enhanced consultation and co-management mechanisms, and greater recognition of Tribal authority to determine the legal status and management of wild horses within their territories.

By reframing wild horse overpopulation as both a tribal sovereignty issue and a trust responsibility issue, this Article highlights an overlooked dimension of federal Indian law and environmental governance and calls for a more equitable allocation of resources and decision-making authority to Tribal Nations.

New Scholarship on Interior’s Foot Dragging on Implementation of the Indian Trust Asset Reform Act of 2016

July 6, 2026Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Thomas Stratmann has posted “Ten Years, Three Tribes” on the Rules and Results substack.

Here is an excerpt:

The Tulalip Tribes have been a fishing people for as long as anyone remembers. Their reservation runs 22,000 acres along the eastern shore of Puget Sound, 35 miles north of Seattle. The waters at the edge of the reservation, where the tide goes out and exposes the mudflats, are where shellfish grow, and salmon come to spawn. In an 1855 treaty, the United States agreed that those waters would always belong to the Tribes. The treaty remains in force today.

Today, 73 private docks and 124 private mooring buoys cover the Tulalip shoreline. Many were built without tribal permission. Tulalip’s own Natural Resources Department documents the consequences: water quality has fallen, salmon populations have fallen, and shellfish beds have closed.

In 2019, Tulalip asked the federal government for the authority to manage their own shoreline. The federal government said no.

In 2023, they asked again. The federal government said no.

It’s a Lazy Saturday

July 4, 2026Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Pechanga Prevails in Contract Dispute with IHS

July 3, 2026July 7, 2026Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the new materials in Pechanga Band of Indians v. Kennedy (C.D. Cal.):

75 Response.pdf Download

76 Reply.pdf Download

91 DCT Order.pdf Download

Prior post here.

Benton Paiute Sues to Stop Interior Dept. Culling of Wild Horse Herd

July 2, 2026July 6, 2026Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the complaint in Utu Utu Gwaitu Paiute Tribe of the Benton Paiute Reservation v. Dept. of the Interior (E.D. Cal.):

1 Complaint.pdf Download

4 Motion for TRO.pdf Download

Jason Robison on Tripartite Water Sovereignty

July 1, 2026Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Jason Robison has published “Tripartite Water Sovereignty” in the Yale Law Journal.

Here is the abstract:

Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter and former Harvard Law School Dean James M. Landis published in 1925 the seminal work on the U.S. Constitution’s Compact Clause. Their article focused on cosovereignty within the United States, but only in a binary sense. While indelibly shaping interstate and federal-state relations, North America’s original sovereigns—Native nations—were not visible within this influential piece. So, too, with the approximately two dozen compacts later formed to apportion water from rivers running across and along state lines, agreements that acknowledged Native nations and their water rights only at the margins, if at all. Revisiting Frankfurter and Landis’s pivotal piece one century later, this Article urges advocates and scholars to look beyond the binary conception of cosovereignty apparent in that piece and entrenched in the suite of compacts created in its wake. Tracking Native nations’ growing calls for inclusion in transboundary water management, the Article contends that these cosovereigns must be respected as what they are—sovereigns—and afforded opportunities for direct representation on compact commissions beside their state and federal counterparts. The Article outlines several ways to achieve this indigenization and, ultimately, move from binary to tripartite water cosovereignty.