Author: Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Kevin Washburn on Tribal Co-Management of Federal Public Lands

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Kevin Washburn has posted “Simple Tribal Co-Management: Using Existing Authority to Engage Tribal Nations in Co-Management of Federal Public Lands” on SSRN.

Abstract:

Each year Native American tribal nations enter hundreds of federal contracts worth billions of dollars to run federal Indian programs. By substituting tribal governments for federal agencies, these “self-determination contracts” have been enormously successful in improving the effective delivery of federal programs in Indian country. However, tribal governments wish to do more. Tribes wish to co-manage federal public lands, including lands that lie outside their reservations, and they have a lot to offer in this area. For example, a tribe might seek to contract with the Fish & Wildlife Service to operate a wildlife refuge, or with the National Park Service to manage a park or monument or even with the Bureau of Reclamation to operate a federal dam. Tribes are natural partners for much of this work. Many federal units are located on lands that are, or were, tribal aboriginal lands. Although the federal government has had the legal authority to enter such contracts since 1994, federal agencies have been slow to enlist tribes in the management of federal public lands. A review of the few existing successful cases suggests that tribes confront dramatically different dynamics when seeking to contract functions with agencies beyond the Bureau of Indian Affairs or Indian Health Service and other agencies providing services to Indian people. At a time when indigenous-led conservation is crucial to addressing climate change and our national conservation goals, this article examines the obstacles to tribal co-management of public lands and proposes solutions.

Always good to see new scholarship from Dean Washburn.

New Work by Indigenous Women about Law School and Lawyering

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Ernestine Chaco has published “Mentorship, Leadership and Being an Indigenous Woman” in the Journal of Legal Education. An excerpt:

Law school, for me, was an incredible period of growth, in large part because of the educational environment. I had five Indigenous law professors, four of whom were women. It was powerful to be seen and acknowledged. Our Indigenous presence existed through Indigenous faculty, Indigenous students, robust Indigenous student organizations, and Indigenous law courses.

Roshanna K. Toya has published “A Rite of Passage: Perpetuating the Invisibility of American Indian Lawyers,” also in the Journal of Legal Education. An excerpt:

Further, law schools must create and encourage safe spaces for American Indian students to be recognized, coexist, and have their voices heard. Student organizations are one space. Courses like property, federal jurisdiction, and civil rights are other areas where American Indians can be more visible. Law schools should also assign works written by and reflecting the voices of American Indians, and patiently and intently listen to the voices of students. Reading this essay is a start. Providing resources that Indian students can access to make sure they can be effective law students is another start.

Highly recommended.

Texas Appellate Court Suppresses Evidence Acquired by Tribal Police because of State’s Failure to Prove Tribe Had Power to Detain under Cooley

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in State of Texas v. Astorga (Tex. Ct. App. El Paso):

Opinion

State Brief

Astorga Brief

Reply

Letter Brief

Ysleta del Sur Pueblo

North Dakota District Court Orders Eviction of Tribal Member from Indian Housing Authority Located on Fee Lands

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the opinion in Trenton Indian Housing Authority v. Poitra (N.D. Dist. Ct.):

District Court Decision

Upper Skagit Prevails over Sauk-Suiattle in U&A Litigation

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the decision in United States v. Washington, subproceeding 20-01 (W.D. Wash.):

47 DCT Order

Briefs are here.

Chinook fishing on Skagit River, NWIFC

Eighth Circuit Briefs in Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources v. White Earth Band of Ojibwe

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

Opening Brief

Answer Brief

Amicus Brief

Lower court materials here.

Ninth Circuit Decides Shingle Springs v. Caballero

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the unpublished opinion in Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians v. Caballero.

Briefs:

opening brief.pdfDownload
answer brief.pdfDownload
reply.pdfDownload

Ninth Circuit Oral Argument in Oak Flat Case

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Briefs are here.

Fletcher & Singel on Lawyering the Indian Child Welfare Act

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Fletcher and Singel have posted “Lawyering the Indian Child Welfare Act,” forthcoming in the Michigan Law Review‘s upcoming symposium on civil rights lawyering. Here is the abstract:

This Essay describes how the statutory structure of child welfare laws enables lawyers and courts to exploit deep-seated stereotypes about American Indian people rooted in systemic racism to undermine the enforcement of the rights of Indian families and tribes. Even where Indian custodians and tribes are able to protect their rights in court, their adversaries use those same advantages on appeal to attack the Constitutional validity of the law. The primary goal of this Essay is to help expose those structural issues and the ethically troublesome practices of adoption attorneys as the most important ICWA case in history, Brackeen v. Haaland, reaches the Supreme Court.

U. Wisc. Law Review Podcast on the Indian Law Restatement

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the “The Restatement of the Law of American Indians” episode of the podcast of the University of Wisconsin Law Review, “Forward.”