Author: Matthew L.M. Fletcher

DOJ Tribal Consultation on Domestic Violence in Fairbanks, AK (May 1, 2019)

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Monique Vondall:

I was at the historic consultation — a first — with the DOJ regarding domestic violence funding for Indian Country. Of the $169 million in grants available only 59 tribes applied and the cap of $500,000 only allowed $29 million to be distributed.  The DOJ listening session was met with many requests to continue the set-aside funding for Indian Country.

The Southwest region in Alaska reports the highest percentage of women who experience domestic violence in America. The 2019 Section 903 Reauthorization of VAWA found that Alaska Native women experience domestic violence at a rate of 250% more than any other women in America.

Fourth Circuit Oral Argument Audio in Williams v. Big Picture

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

Briefs here.

Muscogee Freedmen Descendants Forced to Exhaust Tribal Remedies

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the order in Muscogee Creek Indian Freedmen Band v. Bernhardt (D.D.C.):

29 DCT Order

Briefs here.

National Indian Law Library Bulletin (5/7/2019)

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

The National Indian Law Library added new content to the Indian Law Bulletins on 5/8/19.

Federal Courts Bulletin
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/federal/2019.html
Muscogee Creek Indian Freedman Band, Inc. v. David Bernhardt  (Exhaustion of Tribal Remedies) 
Tolowa Nation v. United States of America (Federal Recognition)

State Courts Bulletin 
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/state/2019.html
T.W. v. Shelby County Department of Human Resources (Indian Child Welfare Act – Expert Witnesses) 

Law Review & Bar Journal Bulletin (contact us if you need help finding a copy of an article) 
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/lawreviews/2019.html

  • A comparison of American indigenous tribes and Chinese indigenous tribes with respect to recognition and legal policy. 
  • Book Review. Killers of the flower moon: the Osage murders and the birth of the FBI. By David Grann. New York: Doubleday. 2017. 
  • From exploitation to equity: Building Native-owned renewable energy generation in Indian Country. 
  • Fulfilling climate justice and government obligations to Alaska Native villages: What is the government role? 

News Bulletin
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/news/currentnews.html
In the Intergovernmental section, we feature a Senate Indian Affairs Committee report on self-governance by Indian tribes. 

Regulatory Bulletin
http://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/regulatory/2019.html
We feature notice of the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, pertaining to land proclamations for two Indian tribes. 

Legislation Bulletin 
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/legislation/116_uslegislation.html

  • S.Res.190: A resolution promoting minority health awareness and supporting the goals and ideals of National Minority Health Month in April 2019, which include bringing attention to the health disparities faced by minority populations of the United States such as American Indians, Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders.
  • H.R.2496: To provide the right of American Indians born in Canada or the United States to pass the borders of the United States to any individual who is a member, or is eligible to be a member, of a federally recognized Indian tribe in the United States or Canada, and for other purposes. 
  • H.R.2484: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to treat Indian tribal governments in the same manner as State governments for certain Federal tax purposes, and for other purposes. 
  • S.1307: A bill to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to improve nutrition in tribal areas, and for other purposes.
  • S.1329: A bill to amend the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act to require that equitable distribution of assistance include equitable distribution in Indian tribes and tribal organizations and to increase amounts reserved for allotment to Indian tribes and tribal organizations under certain circumstances, and to provide for a Government Accountability Office report on child abuse and neglect in American Indian tribal communities.

Tenth Circuit Holds BLM Violated NEPA in Approving Chaco Canyon Fracking

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the opinion in Diné Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment v. Bernhardt.

Briefs here.

Kristen Carpenter and Angela Riley on Privatizing the Reservation

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Kristen A. Carpenter and Angela R. Riley have published “Privatizing the Reservation?” with the Stanford Law Review (PDF).

Abstract:

The problems of American Indian poverty and reservation living conditions have inspired various explanations. One response advanced by some economists and commentators, which may be gaining traction within the Trump Administration, calls for the “privatization” of Indian lands. Proponents of this view contend that reservation poverty is rooted in the federal Indian trust arrangement, which preserves the tribal land base by limiting the marketability of lands within reservations. In order to maximize wealth on reservations, policymakers are advocating for measures that would promote the individuation and alienability of tribal lands, while diminishing federal and tribal oversight.

Taking a different view, this Article complicates and challenges the narrative of Indian poverty and land tenure advanced by privatization advocates. We focus on real estate and housing in Indian Country to make three points. First, we argue that the salience of Indian homelands as places of collective religious significance, socioeconomic sustenance, and territorial governance has been lost in the privatization debate, which also largely disregards issues of remedial justice associated with conquest and colonization. Second, we introduce to the legal literature new empirical data and economic analysis from the Native Nations Institute demonstrating that the current system of land tenure in Indian Country is much more varied, and recent innovations in federal-tribal housing and finance programs are more promising, than some of the calls for privatization would suggest. Finally, using specific examples from Indian Country, we highlight a model of indigenous self-determination and sustainability, rooted in the international human rights movement, that deserves attention in ongoing domestic policy debates about land tenure, and which has the potential to advance the well-being of humanity more broadly.

News Profile: “Can Oglala Sioux Tribe ban Gov. Kristi Noem from reservation? Here’s what the law says”

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

Most Downloaded Indian Law Papers (2018-2019 Academic Year)

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here (now updated with BEPRESS downloads):

The Tribal Franchise: An Expression Of Tribal Sovereignty And A Potential Solution To The Problem Of Mass Disenrollment, Brent Mulvaney, Seattle University School of Law

Sovereign Resilience: Reviving Private Sector Economic Institutions in Indian Country

BYU Law Review 2018 Issue 6
Number of pages: 59 Posted: 01 Aug 2018
Accepted Paper Series
Robert J. Miller

Transforming Property: Reclaiming Modern Indigenous Land Tenures

California Law Review, Forthcoming
Number of pages: 156 Posted: 10 Nov 2018 Last Revised: 02 May 2019
Accepted Paper Series
Jessica A. Shoemaker

Empire States: The Coming of Dual Federalism

Yale Law Journal, Forthcoming
Number of pages: 86 Posted: 19 Mar 2019
Accepted Paper Series
Gregory Ablavsky
Stanford Law School

‘Felix Cohen Was the Blackstone of Federal Indian Law’: Taking the Comparison Seriously

Forthcoming British Journal of American Legal Studies Vol. 8
Number of pages: 43 Posted: 18 Jul 2018
Accepted Paper Series
Adrien Habermacher

The Extraterritorial Reach of Tribal Court Criminal Jurisdiction

Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly, Vol. 46, No. 294, 2019
Number of pages: 18 Posted: 24 Aug 2018 Last Revised: 09 Jan 2019
Accepted Paper Series
Grant Christensen

Intellectual Property, Traditional Knowledge, and Traditional Cultural Expressions in Native American Tribal Codes

Akron Law Review, Vol. 51, No. 4, 2017
Number of pages: 37 Posted: 04 Sep 2018
Accepted Paper Series
Dalindyebo Bafana Shabalala

From Foundational Law to Limiting Principles in Federal Indian Law

Montana Law Review (Forthcoming), University of Utah College of Law Research Paper No. 293
Number of pages: 27 Posted: 25 Oct 2018 Last Revised: 13 Nov 2018
Working Paper Series
Alexander Tallchief Skibine
Enough Is Enough: Ten Years Of Carcieri V. Salazar, Bethany C. Sullivan, Jennifer L. Turner
Alexander Blewett III School of Law at the University of Montana

Agency Pragmatism in Addressing Law’s Failure: The Curious Case of Federal ‘Deemed Approvals’ of Tribal-State Gaming Compacts

52 U. MICH. J. L. REFORM 49 (2018), U Iowa Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2019-01
Number of pages: 54 Posted: 18 Jan 2019 Last Revised: 27 Mar 2019
Accepted Paper Series
Kevin K. Washburn

Virginia’s First Slaves: American Indians

Number of pages: 24 Posted: 14 Jan 2019
Working Paper Series
Robert J. Miller

Indian Nations and the Constitution

70 Me. L. Rev. 199 (2018), Harvard Public Law Working Paper No. 19-05
Number of pages: 13 Posted: 07 Sep 2018 Last Revised: 14 Mar 2019
Accepted Paper Series
Joseph William Singer

Originalism and Indians

Tulane Law Review, Vol. 93, No. 269, 2018
Number of pages: 69 Posted: 14 Feb 2019
Accepted Paper Series
M. Alexander Pearl

Indigenous Rights to Water & Environmental Protection

Harvard Civil Rights- Civil Liberties Law Review (CR-CL), Vol. 53, No. 2, 2018, University of Washington School of Law Research Paper Series
Number of pages: 45 Posted: 20 Nov 2018
Accepted Paper Series
Robert T. Anderson

Native American Oral Evidence: Finding a New Hearsay Exception

Number of pages: 48 Posted: 17 Feb 2019 Last Revised: 27 Feb 2019
Working Paper Series
Max Katner
Boston University – School of Law

Indigenous Resilience

Arizona Law Review (Forthcoming), BYU Law Research Paper No. 19-08
Number of pages: 65 Posted: 22 Mar 2019
Accepted Paper Series
Michalyn Steele

Cultivating Professional Identity and Resilience Through the Study of Federal Indian Law

2018 Brigham Young University Law Review 1429, BYU Law Research Paper No. 19-07
Number of pages: 23 Posted: 22 Mar 2019
Accepted Paper Series
Michalyn Steele

Patently Inconsistent: State & Tribal Sovereign Immunity in Inter Partes Review

St. John’s Law Review, Forthcoming, St. John’s Legal Studies Research Paper No. 19-0006
Number of pages: 63 Posted: 01 Mar 2019
Accepted Paper Series
John P. Mixon

Searching for Principle: Reconciling Tribal Membership and Liberal Values

Indigenous Law Journal, Vol. 16, 2018
Number of pages: 20 Posted: 15 Dec 2018
Accepted Paper Series
Sam Bookman

National Indian Law Library Bulletin (5/3/2019)

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

The National Indian Law Library added new content to the Indian Law Bulletins on 5/2/19.

Federal Courts Bulletin
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/federal/2019.html
Stockbridge-Munsee Community v. Wisconsin.  (Gaming; Statute of Limitation; Sovereign Immunity)

Law Review & Bar Journal Bulletin (contact us if you need help finding a copy of an article) 
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/lawreviews/2019.html

  • A tribal counsel’s guide to corporate compliance.
  • Lobbying as a strategy for tribal resilience. 
  • The reports of our death are greatly exaggerated–reflections on the resilience of the Oneida Indian Nation of New York. 
  • Changing family courts to help heal and build resilient families. 
  • Sovereign Resilience: Reviving private-sector economic institutions in Indian Country. 
  • Cultivating professional identity and resilience through the study of federal Indian law. 
  • Establishing paternity under the Indian Child Welfare Act. 
  • Uncounseled tribal court convictions as predicate offenses under United States v. Bryant.
  • Building Indian Country’s future through food, agriculture, infrastructure, and economic development in the 2018 Farm Bill. 
  • Food localization: Empowering community food systems through the Farm Bill. 
  • Sovereign immunity for rent: How the commodification of Tribal sovereign immunity reflects the failures of the U.S. patent system.
  • The fight over Columbia Basin salmon spills and the future of the Lower Snake River Dams. 
  • The hybrid nature of the property clause: Implications for judicial review of National Monument reductions.

News Bulletin
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/news/currentnews.html
In the Education section, we feature articles about groups working for accurate depiction of Native American history in schools. 

Regulatory Bulletin
http://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/regulatory/2019.html
We feature a notice of the Fish and Wildlife Service seeking public comment on rule revisions pertaining to the religious use of federally protected bird feathers. 

Legislation Bulletin 
https://www.narf.org/nill/bulletins/legislation/116_uslegislation.html

  • S.2438: Not Invisible Act of 2019
  • S.2459: To approve the settlement of water rights claims of the Hualapai Tribe and certain allottees in the State of Arizona, to authorize construction of a water project relating to those water rights claims, and for other purposes. 
  • S.1232: A bill to amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to provide funds to States and Indian Tribes for the purpose of promoting economic revitalization, diversification, and development in economically distressed communities through the reclamation and restoration of land and water resources adversely affected by coal mining carried out before August 3, 1977, and for other purposes.