Category: News

The Nation’s Largest Majority Native Woman-Owned Law Firm Secures Dismissal of Suit Challenging Winnebago Tribe’s Proposed Lincoln, Nebraska Casino

Members of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Tribes, the Winnebago Tribe, the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Lead Innovative Tribal Advocacy Firm OMAHA, October 26, 2021 – Big Fire Law and Policy Group was honored to be the recipient of the 2021 Reisman Award for […]

In March, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 became law. Congress allocated $20 billion to Indian tribes in tribal fiscal recovery funding
(“TFRF”) to be administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury
(“Treasury”). Treasury recently announced another extension of dates for tribal submissions which may also delay recovery payments.

Today in a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) which notably includes the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (“IHCIA”). In California v. Texas, several states challenged the “individual mandate” provision which requires all citizens to have insurance coverage.

On June 2, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota ruled that the State of South Dakota is not entitled to hold a Fourth of July fireworks spectacle that would endanger people, the environment, and Lakota sacred sites in the Black Hills. The State and Governor Kristi Noem had sued to challenge the National Park Service’s (“NPS”) decision to deny a permit for the potentially disastrous July Fourth fireworks display

On March 11, 2021, President Joe Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Congress allocated $20 billion to Indian tribes in tribal fiscal recovery funding (“TFRF”) to be administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”).

On March 11, 2021 President Joe Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. This $1.9 trillion package is the largest single investment in the American people.

The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe (“Tribe”) has moved to join a lawsuit brought by the state of South Dakota and Governor Kristi Noem that asks the court to force the National Park Service (“NPS”) to grant the state a permit to hold a July Fourth fireworks spectacle at Mount Rushmore in the Black Hill.

On March 31, 2021, President Joseph Biden announced the American Jobs Plan (“AJP”). The AJP is a $2.2 trillion infrastructure and economic plan that encapsulates the Biden administration’s priorities for addressing failing infrastructure, disparities in rural communities, climate change, and employment concerns.

The United States continues to be a party to the illegal operation of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Despite a host of court decisions, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers effectively ignores the devastation imposed by their failed environmental review process.