Turtle Talk

NAGPRA Review Committee FY2025 Report to Congress

October 2, 2025Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

FY2025 Review Committee Report to Congress (approved 9-30-2025).pdf Download

Stroble v. Oklahoma Tax Commission Cert Petition

October 1, 2025Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

Stroble-v-OTC-PetitionForAWritOfCertiorari Download

Question presented:

Whether Oklahoma may tax the income of a Muscogee (Creek) Nation citizen who lives and works within the Muscogee (Creek) Reservation that McGirt v. Oklahoma, 591 U.S. 894 (2020), held remains Indian country.

Lower court materials here.

Michigan Federal Court Rejects Saginaw Chippewa Claims in Suit against Insurance Company over Medicare-Like Rates

October 1, 2025Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are new materials in Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (E.D. Mich.):

This is a lengthy case, so here is the case tag (link to all the posts).

Yale Center for Environmental Justice Report — “Tribal Co-Management of Federal Lands: Opportunities and Challenge”

September 30, 2025Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

Blurb:

The report, Tribal Co-Management of Federal Lands: Opportunities and Challenges, distills key findings from the 2023 Tribal Co-Management Symposium in Washington, D.C., by the Yale Center for Environmental Justice. It calls for urgent reforms to federal land management practices and outlines pathways for stronger Tribal participation in the stewardship of public lands. The report highlights that while federal consultation with Tribes is long-standing, it has too often been narrow in scope and limited in impact. Symposium participants emphasized the need for reforms that expand the role of Tribal Nations in shaping the stewardship of federal lands. Co-management represents not only environmental stewardship but also restorative justice. The report highlights how integrating Tribal knowledge with Western science strengthens conservation, while also supporting Tribal sovereignty, economic development, and cultural continuity.

Department of Justice Journal of Federal Law and Practice Special Issue — “Beyond the Reservation: Multijurisdictional Issues Affecting Tribal Communities”

September 30, 2025Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

TOC:

Introduction Leslie A. Hagen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Achieving Public Safety Within Transboundary Tribes: Challenges and Paths Forward William K. Barquin, Elizabeth Thompson Tollefsbol, & Traci J. Whelan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2022 and the Return of Tribal Criminal Authority in Alaska Leslie A. Hagen & James V. DeBergh . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

The Department of Justice’s Role in Addressing the Incidence of Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons Deidre Y. Aanstad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

The “Categorical Approach” That Often Hinders Application of the Habitual Offender Statute, 18 U.S.C. § 117, to Violations of Tribal Law Robert A. Zauzmer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Maquiladoras, Indigenous Communities, and the Risk Posed by Traveling Sex Offenders in Two Border Cities Lori McPherson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

The Tribal Warrants Loophole: The Washington Solution Michael Harder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Note from the Editor-in-Chief Christian A. Fisanick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99