Here you go. Methodology, if it could be called that, is a mixture of how many times a post or series of posts was “hit” and a little common sense. That last part means we won’t count Ms. Canada’s outfit in the Ms. Universe contest. We did consider the results of the poll from last month on the biggest story (a poll that didn’t include the Supreme Court cases from the 2010 Term, incidentally). Last year’s top ten list is here.
- Tribal membership disenrollments (including the Cherokee Freedmen): here and here and here and here.
- United States v. Jicarilla Apache Nation: here and here and here.
- Cobell v. Salazar settlement appeal: here and here.
- Salazar/Gun Lake Band v. Patchak: here and here and here.
- Muscogee Criminal Prosecution Authority in Fife v. Moore: here.
- Chickasaw Nation v. NLRB: here.
- Ramah Navajo Chapter v. Salazar/Arctic Slope Native Assn. v. Sebelius: here and here.
- United States v. Tohono O’odham Nation: here and here.
- Amerind Insurance v. Malaterre: here and here.
- Violence against American Indian women: here and here and here and here.
Honorable mentions: Saginaw Chippewa v. NLRB (here and here); DOJ Procedures for Requesting Federal Reassumption of Criminal Jurisdiction in PL280 States (here); Judge Lamberth Enjoins PACT Act in Gordon v. Holder (here); Illinois Disciplinary Action against former Little River Band attorney (here); Dispute over gaming license review in Wells Fargo v. Maynahonah (here); Ute Mountain Ute tax dispute with Utah (here and here); Cherokee ICWA decision, Nielson v. Ketchum (here and here); Yakama Indian Nation v. Holder (here); Crowe & Dunlevy PC v. Stidham (here); Wells Fargo v. Lake of the Woods (here).
Turtle Talk 
The Cherokee Nation’s treatment of their slave descendents was a major story, because of the racial tinge to the injustice. Seemingly unnoticed, until a NYTimes reporter was out west, was the tribal disenrollments in California’s Indian Gaming Country.
While Jim Dao’s article was culled from some Fresno Bee stories http://fresnobee.com/2011/12/27/2662728/chukchansi-tribal-leadership-murky.html#storylink=misearch and also Carmen George’s fine reporting: http://www.sierrastar.com/2011/12/28/57081/dissension-after-chukchansi-council.html his reporting was inadequate.
There are too many tribes in CA, wielding sovereignty like a club to beat the weak and helpless, and it seems the BIA is content to stand on the sideline, instead of using their bully pulpit.