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13 Am. Indian L.J. 1 (2025)

handle is hein.journals/ailj13 and id is 1 raw text is: THE NAVAJO NATION AND THE COLORADO RIVER: THEIR CURRENT STATUSES AND THE TRIBE'S PATH FORWARD BY COLTON GREGG TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 2 II. A RELEVANT HISTORY OF THE NAVAJO PEOPLE ........................................................................ 3 A. Relocating the Navajo People......................................................................................... 4 B. The Horrors of Bosque Redondo .................................................................................... 5 C. Negotiating the Navajo Treaty ........................................................................................ 7 III. THE COLORADO RIVER CONTROVERSY................................................................................11 A. Forming the Law of the River ..................................................................................... 12 1. The Winters Doctrine ........................................................................................................ 12 2. The Colorado River Compact of 1922......................................................................... 13 4. Mexican Water Treaty of 1944 ..................................................................................... 15 5. Significant Minute Amendments to the Mexican Water Treaty................................. 16 6. Upper Colorado River Basin Compact of 1948........................................................... 17 IV A RIZONA V. N AVAJO N ATION ............................................................................................... 1 9 A. Majority Opinion Written by Justice Kavanaugh............................................................ 21 B. Justice Thomas's Concurrence ........................................................................................ 21 C. Justice Gorsuchs Dissent..................................................................................................... 22 V. ANALYSIS OF ARIZONA V. NAVAJO NATION........................................................................... 22 A . W hat the Court D id Wrong.............................................................................................. . 23 B. What the Navajo Nation Did Wrong................................................................................ 25 VI. A ROADMAP FOR THE TRIBE'S CONTINUED FIGHT.............................................................. 28 A . A Viable Future Claim ................................................................................................ . 28 B. The Treaty as the Substantive Source of Law................................................................ 29 C. Effect of the Indian Trust Doctrine on the Future Claim.............................................. 32 D. Effect of the Federal Government's Control over the River on the Claim.................... 32 E. Concerns of Res Judicata and Collateral Estoppel...................................................... 33 1. United States v. Navajo Nation (2003) ........................................................................ 33 2. United States v. Navajo Nation (2009) ........................................................................ 35 3. Analysis of Res Judicata and Collateral Estoppel........................................................ 36 F Likely Success of the Future Claim............................................................................... 39 VII. CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................... 40 1

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