The summary:
This final rule provides procedures for the disposition of unclaimed human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, or objects of cultural patrimony excavated or discovered on, and removed from, Federal lands after November 16, 1990. It implements section 3(b) of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.
Link to Memorandum here.
The Obama Administration advised the Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, Defense, EPA, and NOAA to avoid harming the environment by ensuring, at minimum, a “no net loss goal” for natural resources deemed important, scarce, or sensitive. The Departments will forgo development of resources deemed “irreplaceable.”
The new policy requires federal regulators to evaluate every proposed natural resource project from a large-scale context, including water-shed and landscape impacts. Going forward, the government’s policy will be to protect the environment by foreseeing and mitigating any damage ahead of time. The Departments have been given a time table for finalizing mitigation mechanisms and guidance.
This is the latest episode in a controversy over energy developments in Indian Country. Republicans in Congress are attempting to enact a law that would speed up energy development on Tribal lands after a GAO report criticized the 2005 federal process for transferring management of energy development to Tribes that has not resulted in any agreements (TERAs).
In support of S. 246, The Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children Act, Senator Heidi Heitkamp is highlighting Native youth from North Dakota on her Instagram account starting yesterday. It will continue over the next few days. There are a lot of challenges that Native kids face, but these profiles are meant to highlight kids who have overcome them using the hashtag #AgainstTheOdds.
Minnesota American Indian Bar Association
Save the Date
Tuesday, November 3, 2015, 4:30-7:00 PM
MAIBA will be co-hosting an extraordinary outreach event with the United States District Court, District of Minnesota and FBA-MN focusing on Indian treaty rights. As part of the event, the Why Treaties Matter Exhibit will be on display at the U.S. Courthouse in Minneapolis for two weeks in November. MAIBA will be co-hosting a kickoff reception on November 3, 2015 in the atrium of the U.S. Courthouse in Minneapolis for the outreach event. The Honorable Diane Humetewa (Hopi), the first Native American women appointed to an Article III Judgeship and the first enrolled tribal member to serve as a United States District Court Judge will be providing the keynote address at the kickoff reception. We hope to see you at the event. Miigwech and have a good day.
Public Reception to Kick Off Why Treaties Matter Outreach Event
Tuesday, November 3, 2015, 4:30-7:00 pm
U.S. Courthouse, Minneapolis
300 South Fourth St.
Minneapolis, MN 55415
Order on Motions for Preliminary Injunctions here.
Announcement and agenda here.
The workshop is offered by Odawi Law PLLC and Harris Moure PLLC and will be at the Embassy Suites in Sacramento, CA, on Monday, October 5, 2015. It is free to Tribal officials.
Link to Request for Comments here.
EPA proposes to conclude definitively that section 518 includes an express delegation of authority by Congress to eligible Indian tribes to administer regulatory programs over their entire reservations. This reinterpretation would eliminate the need for applicant tribes to demonstrate inherent authority to regulate under the Act, thus allowing tribes to implement the congressional delegation of authority unhindered by requirements not specified in the statute. The reinterpretation would also bring EPA’s treatment of tribes under the Clean Water Act in line with EPA’s treatment of tribes under the Clean Air Act, which has similar statutory language addressing tribal regulation of Indian reservation areas.
Comments must be submitted by October 6, 2015.
Here is the pleading in Southern Ute Indian Tribe v. Dept. of Interior (D. Colo.):
Turtle Talk 
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