Tribal Sovereignty

(Runtime 4:02)More than 17 million acres in what is now Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana make up the historic homeland of the Nez Perce Tribe.A…

The Nez Perce Tribe is reclaiming an ancestral village site in the Eastern Oregon town of Joseph more than a century after being pushed out the area. This month, the tribe purchased 148 acres of an area known as “the place of boulders,” or Am’sáaxpa.

Native American civil rights advocate Hank Adams died at the age of 77 this week. Once referred to as the "most important Indian" by Native American rights advocate and author Vine Deloria Jr., Adams was central to the fight to uphold tribal treaty rights during the 1960s and 1970s.

Amid a widespread shutdown of athletic events, Washington state has become the 21st state to legalize betting on sports. Gov. Jay Inslee on Wednesday signed legislation to authorize sports wagers in tribal casinos only.

A ruling from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals last week reversed an opinion from a federal judge in Idaho. In the overturned opinion, Judge Lynn Winmill said federal courts didn’t have jurisdiction to enforce a ruling from the Coeur d’Alene Tribal Court against non-tribal members.

On this conservative court, Gorsuch has been one of the most conservative voices. But in cases involving Native tribes' treaties and rights, he is most often counted among those sympathetic to tribes' claims.

In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court decided in favor of tribal treaty rights in a case between the Washington Department of Licensing and Cougar Den, a gas station in White Swan on the Yakama Reservation.

Recently, a federal judge sided against the Yakama Nation in a jurisdiction case involving the tribe, the city of Toppenish and Yakima County. When a crime happens in Yakima County, a couple questions are key. One: Were either the victim or perpetrator Yakama Nation citizens? And two: Where exactly did it happen?

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday, Oct. 30 in a five-year-old case that questions the rights outlined in an 1855 treaty between the United States and Washington’s Yakama Nation. Yakama Tribal Chairman JoDe Goudy was denied entry to the court for wearing his traditional headdress.

The program covers a number of real-world situations: assisting with the registration of sex offenders; identifying human remains; locating endangered and missing people; arming tribal law enforcement with information about people they encounter in traffic stops; and conducting background checks to vet foster parents.