Menominee Legend Lake buybacks (Wisconsin Supreme Court)

What happened

A Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling in June 2026 settled, for now, a fight over whether the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin may buy back land on its own reservation. Wisconsin Public Radio reported on June 29, 2026 that the court ruled 4 to 3 that the Legend Lake Property Owners Association cannot sue to block the buybacks.

The case began in 2018, when the association sued Guy Keshena, a Menominee tribal member, for buying 40 parcels of land and transferring them to a federal trust, where they are tax-exempt. A University of Wisconsin law professor interviewed by WPR gave the figure as 40 acres, so the unit is unclear. Legend Lake exists, the professor said, because after the tribe was terminated, the tribal corporation sold land to a developer. The association put restrictive covenants on that land barring sales to the tribe or its agents.

Justice Susan Crawford wrote for the majority that "tribal sovereign immunity is the rule, not the exception." The professor explained that because the covenants concern the tribe, and the tribe cannot be sued without a waiver, the covenants cannot be enforced against it when it takes land into trust under the Restoration Act. Justice Rebecca Bradley, dissenting, wrote that a tribe could wield immunity as a sword and seize property with impunity. The professor called that overstated, since the ruling turns on the Menominee Restoration Act and applies only to the Menominee.

Good to know. It is unclear whether the tribal member bought 40 parcels or 40 acres; sources say both.

Summarized with AI assistance from 3 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error