Tribal Law

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Comment
Reimagining National Security
Water Security in the Wake of Arizona v. Navajo Nation: How the President’s Emergency Powers Can Provide a Path Forward for the Navajo Nation
Kelly Bridges
B.A., University of Pennsylvania, 2016; M.Sc., University of Oxford, 2017; J.D. Candidate, The University of Chicago Law School, 2025.

I would like to thank Professor David Strauss for his guidance throughout the comment writing process, along with The University of Chicago Legal Forum staff, particularly Farooq Chaudhry, Ellie Maltby, Eva Nobel, and Saloni Jaiswal.

In 2023, the Supreme Court decided Arizona v. Navajo Nation, finding that the United States government does not have an affirmative duty to ensure the Navajo Nation’s water security. The decision offers the Navajo two paths forward for relief: the tribe can either litigate specific water rights claims in the Colorado River Basin or lobby the President and Congress to amend an 1868 treaty, the language of which served as the basis for the holding in Navajo Nation. This Comment offers a path forward for change via the executive branch, specifically through the President’s emergency powers. Ultimately, this Comment identifies the Stafford Act as the best prospect for the Navajo to advance their water rights, given that there is a specific process in place for tribal leaders to request an emergency declaration from the President that would release federal funds.

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Article
Law for the Next Pandemic
The Validity of Tribal Checkpoints in South Dakota to Curb the Spread of COVID-19
Ann E. Tweedy
Associate Professor, University of South Dakota School of Law. The author also spent over a decade representing tribal governments, including serving as a Tribal Attorney for Muck-leshoot Indian Tribe and Swinomish Indian Tribal Community and as an Associate Attorney and as Of Counsel at Kanji & Katzen, PLLC.

I would like to thank Professors Matthew Fletcher, Jasmine Gonzales Rose, Steven Macias, Eric Eberhard, and Frank Pommersheim for reviewing drafts of this article. I would also like to thank my research assistants Josey Johnson and Raegan Chavez for their invaluable help, as well as the editors of the University of Chicago Legal Forum for their careful attention to this piece and for their excellent suggestions. Finally, I am grateful to Sarah Kammer, Head of Public, Faculty and Student Services at McKusick Law Library, for her adept assistance.

This Article explores what measures tribal governments can take to enforce regulations and policies designed to protect their own citizens and others within their territories from COVID-19.

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