Fort Belknap Indian Community

A trial is underway in Yellowstone County over three new Montana election laws. Plaintiffs focused their first arguments on barriers to voting in Indian Country.

The Fort Belknap Indian Community is requesting an investigation after a mining company filed claims on an environmental reclamation area south of the reservation.

State environmental regulators last month dropped their case to disqualify Hecla Mining from getting future mining permits in the state. The company’s CEO was previously an executive with Pegasus Gold, which abandoned mines near the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in the ‘90s, costing taxpayers $35 million to clean up.

Montana’s American Civil Liberties Union and the Native American Rights Fund filed a lawsuit against the state of Montana on behalf of Montana tribes last week. The lawsuit alleges that requirements to teach Native American history in Montana public schools are not being met.

A lawsuit filed by five tribal nations and 18 individuals alleges the state of Montana has failed to ensure that K-12 public schools are teaching Indigenous history and culture.

Native lawmakers in Montana say this year’s legislative session brought laws created without tribal government input.

Several Montana tribal nations and legal nonprofits on Monday filed a lawsuit challenging two new laws they say disenfranchise American Indian voters.

A new Montana law sets criminal penalties for protestors who damage or trespass on critical infrastructure like pipelines. Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed the bill Friday.

Tribal nation leaders and conservation groups sent a letter to Montana’s governor Tuesday urging him to veto two bison management bills.

Montana lawmakers heard passionate testimony Friday on a bill seeking to increase Native American voting rights and access to the polls.