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EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK: Why it took 30 years for Washington to trust tribes with tax certainty

22 December 2025 Brian Edwards
There are federal policies that move slowly because they’re controversial. And then there are policies that move slowly because everyone agrees — but no one knows how to act.

People on the move in Indian Country

21 Dec
This month's People on the Move highlights new directors, officers and board members at organizations including Cherokee Nation, the Alaska Native Heritage Center, Cook Inlet Region Inc., North...

USDA backs $25M loan for flour mill on CTUIR tribal land

December 21
USDA Rural Development has approved a $25 million loan guarantee for the Blue Mountain Mill, a regenerative flour mill under construction at Coyote Business Park on the Umatilla Indian Reservation...

Mission Driven Finance deploys $1.2M to Native, rural-serving New Mexico businesses

December 21
Impact investor Mission Driven Finance has closed $1.2 million in financing connected to New Mexico, with loans to four businesses, including a Native woman-owned construction company based in...

SBA extends deadline, issues clarifications amid confusion over 8(a) audit

December 19
The U.S. Small Business Administration has extended the deadline for a sweeping audit of companies in the 8(a) Business Development Program and released new guidance clarifying what firms —...

Tribe to build new co-location health model on reservation land

The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation will build a new 21,000-square-foot health center in partnership with Hartford HealthCare, expanding access to medical services for tribal members and the...
 

Treasury finalizes tribal tax rules ending decades of uncertainty 

Economic Development
WASHINGTON — After more than three decades of pressure from tribal governments seeking relief from IRS uncertainty, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service on Monday announced that two long-awaited tribal tax regulations have been finalized — a historic move tribal leaders say removes major barriers to economic development and self-governance in Indian Country.

IN SERVICE | Ho-Chunk attorney Samantha Skenandore on tribal law and sovereignty

Indigenous Entrepreneurs
Samantha Skenandore once planned to be a veterinarian. Today, she is a founding partner at Madison, Wisc.-based Skenandore Wilson LLP, specializing in tribal law and governance.

Native American Bank leads $6.9M restaurant financing in Colorado

Finance
Native American Bank and Park State Bank & Trust are providing $6.9 million in joint financing for Tava House Properties' restaurant and event center in Woodland Park, Colorado.

Casino Del Sol secures $60M naming rights deal for Arizona Stadium

Gaming
The Pascua Yaqui Tribe's Casino Del Sol will pay more than $60 million over 20 years for naming rights to the University of Arizona's football stadium, the largest such deal in Big 12 Conference history.

Lawmakers reintroduce bipartisan bill to help tribes preserve traditional seeds

Food | Agriculture
Rep. Norma Torres (D-Calif.) and Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.), along with Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), reintroduced the Native American Seeds Act on Thursday, legislation that would authorize the Department of the Interior to support tribal seed banks and traditional farming practices.

Q+A: Joe Kalt and Randall Akee on the Harvard Project — 40 years of tribal governance insights, a changing of the guard and the future of Native nation building

Sovereignty
After nearly four decades building the Harvard Project on Indigenous Governance and Development into the preeminent research center on tribal governance, Joseph P. Kalt handed the reins to economist Randall Akee this summer, marking a generational transition in how academic institutions study and support Native nation-building.

Mashantucket Pequot Tribe plans 2026 reopening of Two Trees Inn; selects Waterford as operator

Real Estate
The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation plans to reopen the Two Trees Inn in Ledyard, Conn. in spring 2026, reviving a tribally owned hospitality property that has been closed since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation exits ICE-related contract after community backlash

Native Contracting
Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Chairman Joseph “Zeke” Rupnick said Wednesday that the tribe has exited all third-party interests connected to federal immigration enforcement work, ending its involvement in a Department of Homeland Security contract that prompted widespread criticism from tribal citizens.

Blackfeet filmmakers win Frank Blythe Award for buffalo documentary

Arts and Culture
Blackfeet filmmakers Ivan and Ivy MacDonald won the Frank Blythe Award from Vision Maker Media for their documentary Bring Them Home/Aiskótáhkapiyaaya, which chronicles efforts to return wild bison to the Blackfeet reservation in Montana.

Muscogee Nation college partners with UNLV on tribal gaming, hospitality degrees

Higher Education
The College of the Muscogee Nation and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas signed an agreement that will allow tribal college students to transfer into UNLV's hospitality program with a focus on tribal gaming and hospitality management.

South Dakota Native Tourism Alliance wins $175,000 to build tribal-controlled tourism economy

Tourism
A coalition of South Dakota's nine tribal nations will use a $175,000 prize to train Native youth and develop tourism businesses that keep revenue in Indian Country rather than flowing to outside operators.

D.C. Circuit to rehear case over frozen tribal clean energy funds

Energy | Environment
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit will rehear a dispute over the Environmental Protection Agency’s freeze of billions in federal grants, including an estimated $1.5 billion earmarked for tribal communities.

United Keetoowah Band acquires healthcare property, reorganizes health operations in Tahlequah

Health Care
The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma completed the acquisition of a healthcare administration building on Dec. 16 — a real estate transaction that expands the tribe’s health infrastructure and reorganizes how its health programs are administered in the Tahlequah area.

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Treasury finalizes tribal tax rules ending decades of uncertainty 

Treasury finalizes tribal tax rules ending decades of uncertainty 

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Prairie Band Potawatomi chairman vows federal contract cancellation as tribal leaders respond to community outcry