Here is opinion M-37040.
In short, 1989 opinion overruled.
Interior Solicitor Opinion on Lumbee Federal Recognition Process
Here is opinion M-37040.
In short, 1989 opinion overruled.
federal recognition
Federal Claims Court Dismisses Action by “Chakchiuma Nation”
Here are the materials in Chakchiuma Nation v. United States (Fed. Cl.):
Mackinac Tribe v. Jewell Cert Petition
Here:
Questions presented:
Whether the Court of Appeals deviated from this Court’s decision in Carcieri v Salazar, 555 U.S. 379 (2009) which held that the Secretary of Interior’s Federal Acknowledgment Process (FAP) established in 25 C.F.R. Part 83 is not determinative as to whether Indian Tribe is “recognized” for the purposes of the Indian Reorganization Act (25 U.S.C. § 479)?
Whether the Secretary of Interior can avoid performing her mandatory non-discretionary duty under the Indian Reorganization Act (25 U.S.C. § 476) to call elections to ratify tribal constitutional documents within a reasonable time by requiring a tribe to exhaust administrative remedies estimated to require 30 years to complete?
Lower court materials here.
Kirsten Carlson on Lobbying Congress for Federal Recognition of Indian Tribes
Kirsten Matoy Carlson has posted “Why Lobby Congress? Constitutive and Instrumental Influences on Indian Groups’ Strategies for Federal Recognition, 1977-2012” on SSRN. This paper is highly recommended.
Here is the abstract:
When and why do marginalized groups chose a particular institutional venue when pursuing their legal claims? This article combines theoretical and methodological insights from sociolegal and interest group studies to investigate why non-federally recognized Indian groups used legislative strategies for federal recognition from 1977 to 2012. It finds Indian groups employed legislative strategies both to increase their chances of success and for constitutive purposes, including educating the public and leveraging institutional tensions. The article’s emphasis on constitutive and instrumental motivations provides a more nuanced approach to understanding marginalized groups’ venue decisions.
Frank’s Landing Class II Gaming Suit Dismissed as to the NIGC; Other Defendants Remain
Here are the materials in Franks Landing Indian Community v. National Indian Gaming Commission (W.D. Wash.):
D.C. Circuit Forces Mackinac Tribe to Exhaust Remedies in Its Quest for Federal Recognition
Here is the per curiam opinion in Mackinac Tribe v. Jewell.
Judge Brown filed a concurrence criticizing Interior for its delays.
Briefs here.
Complaint in Mission Creek Band of Mission of Indians v. Jewell
Here, filed in the Central District of California:
D.C. Circuit Oral Argument in Mackinac Tribe v. Jewell
New Article by Lorinda Riley on the Role of Politics in Federal Recognition
Lorinda Riley has published “When a Tribal Entity Becomes a Nation: The Role of Politics in the Shifting Federal Recognition Regulations,” in the American Indian Law Review.
Here is a description excerpted from the article’s introduction:
This article explores how each presidential administration has both shaped and bent the federal recognition regulations to fulfill its political priorities. By merging a quantitative analysis of each administration’s federal recognition record and the political realities that each administration faced, this study provides a rare inquiry into the political nature of the recognition process. First, this article examines the regulatory history of federal recognition, including a detailed discussion of various versions of the regulation and accompanying guidance published by the Department of the Interior (DOI). Then the article provides an overview of how politics play into the regulatory process and the implementation of regulation. Finally, the article re-visits each administration’s actions related to federal recognition, and considers how each administration has utilized these regulations to serve its own political priorities.
Federal Recognition Complaint: Agua Caliente Cupeño
Here is the complaint in Agua Caliente Tribe of Cupeño Indians of the Pala Reservation v. Washburn (E.D. Cal.):
Turtle Talk 
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