[JURIST] President Barack Obama on Friday signed into law [press release] a new bill [text] creating the Alyce Spotted Bear and Walter Soboleff Commission on Native Children, tasked with identifying and finding solutions to problems facing Native American youths. The bill, introduced by Senator Heidi Heitkamp [official website], is intended to “figure out where the [federal] resources are going and how they can be better deployed and what we can do that’s going to change outcomes.” The 11-member commission will produce a report in three years.

The rights and well-being of Native Americans continue to be important issues in the United States. Earlier this month, the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled against two Native American tribes, allowing construction on the Dakota Access Pipeline to move forward. Earlier that month, US District Judge Miranda Du issued [JURIST report] a preliminary injunction in favor of the Pyramid Lake and Walker River Paiute Native American tribes in their challenge to Nevada’s voting procedure. The tribes alleged Washoe County, Mineral County and the Nevada Secretary of State were in violation of the Voting Rights Act by failing to have polling places on Native American reservations in Northern Nevada. In late September, the Obama administration announced [JURIST report] that it agreed to pay over $492 million to 17 Native American tribes. The lawsuits accused the federal government of mismanaging natural resources and other tribal assets.