Thursday, March 5, 2026 — Taxes, roads, and law enforcement: how tribes are asserting their sovereign rights

The Seneca Nation in New York is working to correct longstanding confusion over law enforcement on their land. A nearly 80-year-old federal statute handed the state control over certain crimes on Seneca Nation’s territory. A bill in Congress could chart a path to resolving that conflict.

In Oklahoma, a Muscogee Nation citizen argues that those who work and live on the tribal land do not have to pay state income taxes. That argument could now be headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The issue comes nearly six years after the landmark McGirt v. Oklahoma Supreme Court decision that confirmed Muscogee authority over criminal matters on tribal land. This current battle would extend that authority to civil cases.

And the Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe tribe in Wisconsin is facing off with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi over outside access to a road that traverses tribal land. Bondi backs an effort to force the tribe to reimburse a nearby town for fees to access the road. We’ll find out the potential implications of these cases.

GUESTS

J.C. Seneca (Seneca), president of the Seneca Nation

Jonodev Chaudhuri (Muscogee), principal at Chaudhuri Law

Jason Salsman (Muscogee), press secretary for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation

Richard Monette (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa), professor emeritus and former director of the Great Lakes Indian Law Center at the University of Wisconsin Law School

 

Break 1 Music: Keep On Keeping On (song) Tall Paul (artist) The Story of Jim Thorpe (album)

Break 2 Music: Digital Winter (song) Ya Tseen (artist) Stand On My Shoulders (album)