Alaska Native Suit Challenging Arctic Oil Drilling

Here is the complaint in Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic v. Burgum (D. Alaska):

Complaint

Eighth Circuit Moots Challenge to Tribal Criminal Jurisdiction over On-Rez Crimes on Fee Lands

Here is the opinion in LaBatte v. Gangle.

Briefs:

Opening Brief

Answer Brief

Reply

Eighth Circuit Rejects Tribal Jurisdiction in Tix v. Tix

Here is the opinion.

Briefs here.

Minnesota Federal Court Declines to Suppress Uncounseled Statements Made to Federal & Tribal Police in Red Lake Assault Case

Here are relevant materials in United States v. Bullhead (D. Minn.):

Blast from the Past: Hank Adams’ Polemic, “The Lonely Crowd and the Organization IRA Man Revisited”

UNDRIP Tribal Implementation Project Talk on Oak Flat on Dec. 16, 2025

Register here.

The Implementation Project will be hosting the next TIP Quarterly Meeting on December 16, 2025 from 12:00-1:30 PM (Mountain Time).

“UN Declaration in Action: International and Domestic Strategies to Protect the Apache Sacred Site of Oak Flat” will feature Mr. Alex Ritchie, San Carlos Apache Tribe Attorney General. Join us to explore the ongoing efforts to defend Oak Flat and the role the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoplesplays in shaping these strategies. This webinar will offer valuable insights for anyone interested in Indigenous rights, cultural preservation, or Tribal advocacy. Moderated by TIP Co-Directors: Prof. Kristen Carpenter and Ms. Sue Noe.

Briefs in Opposition to Alaska’s Effort to Once Again Open Up the Alaska Native Subsistence Rights Litigation

Here are the new briefs in Alaska v. United States:

Federal BIO

Tribal BIO

Cert petition here.

OMG this is ridiculous.

Ninth Circuit Materials in UNITE HERE International v. Wilton Rancheria

Brief (only one is available?):

Opening Brief

Lower court materials here.

New York Federal Court Allows ERISA Suit against Oneida Casino, Citing LDF v. Coughlin

Here are the materials in Jones v. Turning Stone Enterprises LLC (N.D. N.Y.):

1 Complaint

21-1 Motion to Dismiss

29 Opposition

32 Reply

37 DCT Order

WaPo on Oak Flat: “A land fight pits a sacred Apache tradition against a copper mine”

Here.

An excerpt:

Oak Flat sits on one of North America’s largest undeveloped deposits of copper. The mineral is used in dozens of items, including smartphones, electric vehicles and solar panels. The company Resolution Copper believes there are 20 million tons of copper under Oak Flat that could supply up to one-quarter of the U.S. copper demand over 40 years. At today’s prices, experts say that much copper would be worth about $200 billion. The company asserts it will create more than a thousand jobs in an area with high unemployment.

Mining Oak Flat, however, would eventually transform the landscape, creating what geologists say would be a vast crater. To prevent this, the tribe and other opponents of the mine have filed multiple lawsuits and tried unsuccessfully to get one of the cases heard before the U.S. Supreme Court. A federal appeals court will hold a hearing for several of the suits in early January.

“If they take Oak Flat, they destroy our religion and who we are,” said Vanessa Nosie, an archaeology aide for the San Carlos Apache Tribe who also helps her father lead a nonprofit fighting the mine. Lozen, she added, is “dancing to carry the fight for all we’re trying to save.”

As the singers drummed in the downpour, Lozen pounded her ceremonial cane into the muddy ground. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and she faltered for a moment.

A woman in the crowd whooped. Another onlooker yelled, “Go, Lozen!” She pulled her shoulders back, lifted her head and looked straight ahead to the sprawling landscape of cacti and Emory oaks that give the region its name.

She kept dancing.