Issue 001 · May 10, 2026
The Native American Rights Fund released its 25-year retrospective on the Tribal Supreme Court Project this week, documenting a quarter century of coordinated advocacy before the nation's highest court on behalf of tribal sovereignty. The report is a useful reference document, and its timing alongside the new ICWA challenge is pointed: the Project exists precisely because the Supreme Court is not a neutral forum, and tribal nations need sustained, coordinated legal strategy to navigate it. Worth downloading for your files.
Issue 001 · May 10, 2026
Native News Online hosted a watch party and live commentary as former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland faced Sam Bregman in a New Mexico gubernatorial debate this week. The moment is worth noting beyond the horse-race framing: Haaland's candidacy represents a direct translation of federal Indian policy experience into state executive politics, and New Mexico's tribal nations have significant stakes in who governs. ICT's Pauly Denetclaw was among the commentators, which is the kind of Native-press-first framing this brief tries to privilege.
Issue 001 · May 10, 2026
The Native American Rights Fund published a clear-eyed explainer on tribal sovereignty and birthright citizenship, addressing the question of whether current legal debates about the Fourteenth Amendment affect the citizenship status of tribal members. The piece is careful to distinguish tribal citizenship from U.S. citizenship and to ground the analysis in the pre-constitutional existence of tribal nations. It is a useful resource for anyone navigating these questions in a policy or classroom context.
Issue 001 · May 10, 2026
High Country News published a reported piece this week on the 'Red Wind commune,' a case study in Indigenous identity fraud and the real harm it causes to Native communities, from diluted cultural authority to legal and financial exploitation. The piece is careful and does not sensationalize, which is the right approach to a story that can easily tip into spectacle. For Patty, who has spent a career insisting on the specificity of tribal citizenship and the difference between self-identification and belonging, this is a story with direct professional relevance.
Background
· 2024
· brothertown-indian-nation
Formed in the 1700s under the leadership of Samson Occom from communities descended from Pequot, Narragansett, Montauk, Tunxis, Niantic, and Mohegan tribes, the Brothertown Indian Nation now centers its community in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. The nation operates under a constitutional government and holds its annual powwow the first Saturday in April, a community picnic in July, and a Homecoming gathering the third Saturday in October. Tribal officials continue to coordinate the congressional restoration effort with Wisconsin's delegation.
Background
· 2023
· brothertown-indian-nation
Following the BIA denial, the Brothertown Indian Nation pivoted to the only remaining path: congressional restoration. The tribe has worked with Wisconsin congressional delegates to introduce restoration bills and has continued to operate from its Fond du Lac County base. The 3,137-member nation traces continuous community to the 1839 termination and before, with leadership consistently arguing that descent verification and community continuity are not in genuine dispute.
Background
· 2012
· Bureau of Indian Affairs press releases
In August 2009, Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary George Skibine issued a proposed finding against acknowledging the Brothertown Indian Nation. The September 2012 final determination confirmed the denial, holding that the 1839 Act of Congress had terminated the federal relationship and that only a new act of Congress could restore it. The Brothertown are the only one of Wisconsin's twelve tribes that remain without federal recognition.