The materials are here, on PEER’s website. Among the arguments being made are that tribes are not entitled to “special rights” for gathering on NPS lands, absent an act of Congress.
Environmental
Government Moves to Dismiss Industry CERCLA Claim re: Uranium Mine at Laguna Pueblo
Here are the materials so far in Atlantic Richfield Co. v. United States (D. N.M.):
Complaint is here.
NPR on Climate Change at Navajo
Anishinaabe nibi inaakonigewin (water law) gathering
Announcement from Professor Aimée Craft:
I hope that you will consider joining us for the Anishinaabe nibi (water) gathering taking place in the Whiteshell this June. After a few years of gathering with Elders on a project relating to Anishinaabe nibi inaakonigewin (water law), we are inviting people to come and learn about water teachings in an outdoor teaching lodge format. We want to focus on youth participation and attendance.
Please share with your networks and people you think would be interested in attending. All are welcome.
To RSVP and for questions: watergathering2015@gmail.com
*Also, please consider bringing a young person to accompany you or assist us with travel funding for youth.*
New Student Scholarship on the Environmental Impact of Federal Recognition of American Indian Nations
The Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review has published “People of the Outside: The Environmental Impact of Federal Recognition of American Indian Nations” (PDF).
Here is the abstract:
American Indians interact with land and the environment in a manner that is distinct from non-native peoples. They view natural resources as an integral part of their way of life. As a result, Indian tribes desire to implement policies and programs that will protect their natural resources. In order to receive federal assistance for these policies and programs, however, a tribe must be federally recognized. The Duwamish tribe, which resides near Seattle, Washington, is not a federally recognized tribe. Despite years of fighting for recognition, the Duwamish cannot take part in the improvement of their tribal region’s air and water quality. Alternatively, the Forest County Potawatomi Community is federally recognized. The tribe has utilized its federal status to redesignate its reservation lands under the Clean Air Act, which brings stricter environmental regulations on and around the reservation. As long as the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ criteria for federal recognition continue to be arbitrarily and haphazardly enforced, unrecognized tribes like the Duwamish will continue to lack the power to address the environmental issues in their tribal region, in contravention of their fundamental beliefs and way of life.
Michigan Radio on the Proposed Lake Huron Nuclear Waste Site
Here.
Includes a brief quote from Vernon Roote, Saugeen First Nation Chief.
Ninth Circuit Briefs in Challenge to Interior Withdrawal of Grand Canyon Lands from Uranium Mining
Here are the opening briefs in National Mining Assn. v. Jewell:
16 – Open Brief – no Addendum (Quaterra)
18 – Open Brief & Addendum (NMA)
29 – Utah, AZ, NV, MT – Amicus in Favor of Reversal
White Earth Nation Moves for Summary Judgment in Challenge to Two Oil Pipelines
Here is the motion in White Earth Nation v. Kerry (D. Minn.):
We posted the complaint here.
Indigenous activists among those killed worldwide for protecting the environment.
Here’s the BBC article.
The Stranger on the Swinomish Tribe’s Fight against BNSF’s Railroad
Here is “How One Tribe Could Slow the Rate of “Bomb Trains” Through Seattle.”An excerpt:
The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community couldn’t have known that more than a century later, crude-oil trains would be rattling along that very route—and across reservation land—carrying with them a well-established risk of derailing and exploding. In fact, the only way today’s Swinomish people knew that trains full of crude oil were passing through their land was from media reports in 2012. They’re not alone. As it stands, railroads still don’t have to disclose crude-by-rail routes.
Turtle Talk 
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