Defending Oak Flat and protecting Native sacred places on federal lands
On September 15, 2025, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) and National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (NATHPO) filed an amici curiae
Michigan Supreme Court takes up challenge to Line 5 oil tunnel
On September 19, 2025, the Michigan Supreme Court said it will hear a challenge brought by Tribal Nations located in Michigan and environmental advocates who argue that
Support for Bad River Band’s Line 5 challenge
Native American Rights Fund (NARF) applauds Bad River Band and green groups fighting to stop the new oil pipeline.
NARF, which represents the Bay Mills Indian Community
Shoshone-Bannock protects treaty rights and homelands
UPDATE: On August 22, 2025, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s summary judgment in favor of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort
Join Tribal Nations in opposing Line 5 tunnel
The Bay Mills Indian Community, Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians, and Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi filed notice on December 22, 2023, that they will appeal the Michigan Public Service Commission’s (MPSC) recent approval of a permit for Canadian oil giant Enbridge to build the Line 5 tunnel project beneath the Straits of Mackinac.
Tribal Nations continue to protect Chuckwalla homelands
Today, on behalf of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians, Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe, Chemeheuvi Indian Tribe, Colorado River Indian Tribes, and Morongo Band of Mission Indians, the Native American Rights Fund filed to intervene in Torongo v. Burgum, a case that threatens the long-sought designation of the Chuckwalla National Monument.
Tribes blow whistle on Line 5 tunnel federal fast-tracking
Six Michigan Tribes withdrew from Line 5 federal discussions after learning that the US Army Corps of Engineers will likely fast-track its approval for Enbridge...
Coming together for land co-managment
To close out 2024, NARF and First Nations Development Institute co-hosted a national conference entitled Shared Horizons: Navigating Tribal Co-Stewardship and Co-Management
Protections continue for Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument
The Havasupai Tribe, the Hopi Tribe, and the Navajo Nation defended their request to intervene in a lawsuit attacking their role as co-managers of the new Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument, and challenging the laws that allow U.S. President Biden...
Policy as medicine
As citizens of sovereign nations engulfed by another country that occupies most of their historic land base, Indigenous peoples still must navigate layers of policy and levels of U.S. government to protect and access places at which they worshiped freely prior to the 1400s.
