Tribes are waiting anxiously for the ICWA ruling from the highest court in the land…The U.S. Supreme Court is considering challenges to a law enacted in 1978 to respond to the alarming rate at which Native American and Alaska Native children were being removed from their homes by public and private agencies. The U.S. Supreme Court now has taken up challenges to the law three times — in 1989, 2013 and 2022. The current case is the most significant because it raises questions of equal protection under the Constitution. The justices heard three hours of arguments Nov. 9 and appear likely to leave most of the law in place. The law includes a severability clause, which means parts of it can be struck down while keeping the rest intact. The high court isn’t expected to rule in the case until next summer. Lower courts have split on the case. ..
Three Tribal Nations in the Great Plains are partnering with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to help conserve, maintain and improve grassland productivity, reduce soil erosion, and enhance wildlife habitat through the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP). The Cheyenne River, Oglala and Rosebud Sioux Tribes are entering into CREP agreements with USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) to enroll eligible grassland, pastureland, and other agricultural lands within the boundaries of their reservations in this conservation program. These are the first-ever CREP agreements in partnership with Tribal Nations— reflecting priorities and goals of USDA to broaden the scope and reach of its voluntary, incentive-based conservation programs to engage underserved communities.
