Turtle Talk

Enbridge Claims It Cannot Meet July 2026 Deadline to Shut Down Line 5 on Bad River Rez and Demands More Time

February 20, 2026Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are new materials in Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians v. Enbridge Energy Company (W.D. Wis.):

708 Enbridge Motion for Stay.pdf Download

748 Bad River Response.pdf Download

Previous post.

New Student Scholarship on Indian Country Taxation Issues

February 20, 2026Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Crispin T. South has published “Let Them Be Tribal Members: Exempting Nonmember Resident Indians from State Taxes” in the Arizona State Law Journal. Here is the abstract:

Under McClanahan v. Arizona State Tax Commission, States are categorically preempted from taxing the income of an Indian who lives within his own Tribe’s reservation and gains his income from reservation sources. Later cases have distinguished McClanahan, holding that the income of Indians who live and work within a different Tribe’s reservation is generally taxable by the State. State income taxation of these non-member resident Indians poses a number of problems for individuals, Tribal governments, and tribal sovereignty as a whole. This Comment argues that to push back against these problems, Tribes ought to enter into membership reciprocity agreements that allow non-member resident Indians to become Tribal members, thus exempting them from state income taxes under McClanahan’s categorical rule.

Emiliana Almanza Lopez has published “Tribal Sovereignty, Sales Tax, and States Interference: Why Tax Compacts May Be the Best Way Forward” in the Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality. Here is the abstract:

Tribes as sovereigns have the power of taxation. When states seek to impede this power by imposing their own taxes on non-member transactions on Reservations, Tribes must decide if imposing their own Tribal tax outweighs the risk of increased prices deterring business and business partnerships. This is the issue of double taxation. This Note investigates paths of remedy that address the burden of double taxation specific to sales taxes. Specifically, it looks at tax preemption, litigation, and policy. Preemption is difficult, and the existing case law framework on state tax preemption in Indian Country is complex, fact specific, and generally favors the state. Current federal policies fail to address this issue, and states are unlikely to preempt their own taxes without gaining something in return. Tribe-state tax compacts offer a compromise that releives some of the burden borne by Tribes, but also requires concessions. This Note argues that while imperfect, these tax compacts may be the best remedy to double taxation in Indian Country and offers suggestions for how these binding agreements between sovereigns can be used to enforce state respect for Tribal sovereignty.

Coalition for Tribal Sovereignty

February 19, 2026Matthew L.M. Fletcher

A Resource for Indian Country: Coalition for Tribal Sovereignty

What is the Coalition for Tribal Sovereignty?

Launched in early 2025, the Coalition for Tribal Sovereignty (CTS or Coalition) is a nonpartisan collaboration of nearly 40 inter-Tribal, policy-focused, non-profit organizations from across the United States. CTS’s member Tribal organizations regularly engage on coordination at the national and regional levels to support Indian Country with tools to use when interacting with the Trump Administration and others about the Administration’s policy initiatives, with the goal to get those tools into as many Tribal advocates’ hands as possible.

While member organizations continue their own advocacy and education efforts, CTS compliments those efforts by interfacing collectively with federal officials in the Administration and on the Hill regarding actions taken by the Trump Administration. CTS offers a space and platform for Tribal organizations to build consensus on key messaging and legal arguments, allowing CTS to speak with a single powerful and consistent voice. To learn more, visit our website at CoalitionForTribalSovereignty.Org.

What Tools Has CTS Created?

Website and Regular Newsletter: These were created to keep Indian Country informed and to share CTS tools and other resources (subscribe here).

Joint Advocacy Letters: CTS has prepared and submitted more than 50 joint letters to officials in the Administration and Congress (access CTS letters here).

CTS Meeting Materials Toolkit: The Coalition prepared a toolkit meant to contain critical items a Tribal Leader might need when going in to advocate to the Administration or to the Hill. This toolkit includes:
- Talking points educating the Administration about why Tribal programs should be insulated from harm
- Briefing paper on the legal foundations supporting why Tribal programs are unique
- Briefing paper on shared priorities between the Administration and Indian Country
- Briefing paper on positive outcomes the first Trump Administration helped accomplish for Indian Country
- Briefing paper on how Indian Country’s successes benefit surrounding communities economically
- Briefing paper on Tribal consultation best practices

Access the Meeting Materials Toolkit here. The materials can be downloaded as individual documents or in a single toolkit PDF.

Federal Grant Termination Toolkit: The Coalition has prepared a specialized Federal Grant Termination Toolkit designed to assist Tribal Nations in addressing grant terminations. This toolkit includes:
- Current best practices for managing federal grants
- What to do if you receive a grant termination notice
- Administrative appeal vs. litigation
- What to do after you appeal your grant termination
- How to close out your grant

The Federal Grand Termination Toolkit is available for download as part of the password protected page on the CTS website. Please email info@CoalitionForTribalSovereignty.org for the access password. Please see the access page here.

Other Resources for Indian Country: To provide additional support, the Coalition has drafted a number of tools for Tribal Leaders and Tribal organizations to utilize and modify, as needed, for individual use in their advocacy efforts. These materials include the following:
- Template letters and resolutions for use by Tribal organizations, Tribal Nations, and congressional offices
- Documents analyzing effects of Administration actions on Indian Country, including budget analyses
- Briefing documents with recommended talking points for Tribal consultations

These materials are available for download as part of the password protected page on the CTS website. Please email info@CoalitionForTribalSovereignty.org for the access password. Please see the access page here.

Why Now? The Coalition exists for one core purpose: to support Tribal Nations and Tribal organizations as they defend Tribal sovereignty and trust and treaty rights amid rapid and sometimes harmful impact of policy changes. In response to new executive orders, funding shifts, agency actions, and more that often overlook Tribal Nations’ sovereignty, the government‑to‑government relationship, and trust and treaty obligations, Tribal‑serving organizations came together to ensure Indian Country’s rights and status are respected and protected. By uniting local, regional, and national advocates who had previously been working in silos, the Coalition provides coordinated, proactive advocacy so that fast‑moving federal decisions do not erode Tribal Nations’ inherent sovereignty or the trust and treaty rights on which our communities rely.

What is Our Topline Message? CTS educates the Administration on why programs serving Indian Country are not like other federal programs because: (1) they deliver on the United States’ trust and treaty obligations to Tribal Nations, Tribal citizens, and Native communities, for which we prepaid with our lands and resources; and (2) the U.S. Supreme Court has said United States actions that deliver on trust and treaty obligations are not unconstitutionally race-based but are instead political in nature. CTS works to engage with the Administration on why and how it should insulate Indian Country from the disproportionate and potentially unintended negative impacts of its policy actions, while also finding opportunities to work with the Administration to pursue important shared priorities.

How Do I Access CTS Tools? To learn more about CTS and to access our material, please visit CoalitionForTribalSovereignty.Org. To subscribe to our newsletter, visit https://coalitionfortribalsovereignty.org/coalition-action-center/contact-us/. You can reach the CTS team, including to request the website password, by emailing info@coalitionfortribalsovereignty.org.

UM Symposium “Living with Treaties: The 1817 Project, the University of Michigan, and the Western Expansion of the United States Conference,” April 9-11, 2026 — Registration Now Open

February 19, 2026Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

Join us April 9-11, 2026, for Living with Treaties: The 1817 Project, the University of Michigan, and the Western Expansion of the United States. This conference will explore the role of treaties in the development of both the University of Michigan and the state of Michigan, while considering how their effects continue to resonate locally, regionally, and nationally today for an Indigenous present and future.

The conference will bring together members of Anishinaabe Tribal communities; U-M faculty, staff, and students; K-12 educators; scholars; tribal historians; and community activists for roundtable discussions, panels, and workshops that aim to inform and connect with non-specialist audiences.

Conference sessions will focus on key themes that include the role of treaties in the founding and development of the University of Michigan, such as the 1817 Treaty of Fort Meigs; the ongoing impact of 19th-century treaty agreements on tribal communities in the region; and the ways in which these treaties continue to shape contemporary Native activism and legal efforts. Discussions will also explore the broader histories of colonization and Indigenous dispossession across what is now the state of Michigan and the Midwest region of the U.S, with an eye to how local and regional histories provide valuable insights into broader national patterns.

The conference is free and open to all, and will be livestreamed and recorded. Registration is encouraged but not required. We will send out reminder emails and event updates when you register.

The Living with Treaties: The 1817 Project, the University of Michigan, and the Western Expansion of the United States Conference is part of The 1817 Project: Land, Culture, Memory, and Repair, one of the major research initiatives of the University of Michigan’s Inclusive History Project. Led by Eric Hemenway, Bethany Hughes, and Michael Witgen, The 1817 Project is a multi-disciplinary examination of the foundational land transfer by the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Boodewaadamii nations in the 1817 Treaty of Fort Meigs (also known as the Treaty of the Maumee Rapids), which was part of the University of Michigan’s 1817 origins in Detroit and subsequent relocation to Ann Arbor, as well the university’s ongoing connections to Indigenous land and contemporary issues of Native American student experience. Learn more about The 1817 Project.

The Living with Treaties: The 1817 Project, the University of Michigan, and the Western Expansion of the United States Conference is presented by the Inclusive History Project in partnership with the Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies (EIHS) and with the support of the Bentley Historical Library, Clements Library, the Department of American Culture, the Department of History, the Native American Student Association, the Native American Studies Program, Rackham Graduate School, Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design, and the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA).

The conference logo was designed by Eva Oldman.

For questions or more information, contact inclusivehistory@umich.edu.