April

In many areas of federal Indian law, practitioners must understand substantive principles coupled with the unique relationship between tribal nations and the United States at the federal and state level of government.

This article explains the political context at the time the IGRA was enacted, the pros and the cons of IGRA from a tribal perspective, the major unresolved legal issues IGRA has generated, and the potential collateral damages IGRA has created for tribal sovereignty.

The familiar concept that federally recognized Indian tribes are protected by sovereign immunity leads to interesting and confusing results in cases interpreting Rule 19 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure—Required Joinder of Parties.

It has become axiomatic within federal Indian law circles that if possible, tribal cases should not be taken to the U.S. Supreme Court. Of the Court’s last 30 tribally related decisions, tribal interests have only prevailed six times. Many of the losses were by wide margins and overturned significant and long standing principles of federal Indian law.

A substantial amount of untapped energy resources are located within Indian country in the United States. Energy production from tribal lands equals 10 percent of the total federal onshore production of energy minerals. Indian-owned energy resources are still largely undeveloped: 1.81 million acres are being explored or in production, but about 15 million more acres of energy resources are undeveloped.

If attorneys haven’t done their homework on security initiatives and the federal government’s push to the cloud, they can begin by understanding what this means for how agency data is secured, where it resides, who actually owns it and how the changes will impact the way attorneys work with IT and provide information to opposing counsel.