Announcements

Pre-Law Undergraduate Scholars Program at UNM This Summer — Spaces Still Available!!!!

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

UNM School of Law Sponsoring An All-Expenses-Paid Pre-Law Summer Program

for Native American College Freshmen and Sophomores

NA PLUS Flyer

The UNM School of Law, in conjunction with the American Indian Law Center, was awarded a grant through the Law School Admissions Council’s DiscoverLaw.org Plus Program to conduct a four-week pre-law program targeting undergraduate students at the end of their first or second year of college.  Students will attend classes in the UNM School of Law.  Students will engage in academic coursework focusing on Indian Law and Native legal issues, receive career and academic advising, learn more about the law school admission process, and receive mentoring by Native attorneys, judges, law school faculty, and students. The program will run from June 3 to July 6, 2010 on the UNM campus and applicants will come from all across the United States.

The program builds on a very successful pre-law program that has been running for 40 years at the University of New Mexico that is also a joint project between the School of Law and the American Indian Law Center.  That program, which is geared toward students in the summer before they enter law school immediately, has helped the ranks of American Indian lawyers grow nationally from a handful to more than a thousand in the last several decades.  This new DiscoverLaw.org PLUS program is intended to make a similar difference with a younger cohort to create a better pipeline to law school for American Indians.

UNM School of Law Dean Kevin Washburn, a member of the Chickasaw Nation and a graduate of one of the American Indian Law Center’s summer programs, credits the program with helping him complete law school and succeed in practice:  “The Pre-Law Summer Institute at UNM gave me support and direction for what has been a very successful career in the law; I could not imagine my career without this seminal experience and I hope that others find their way through this new program.”

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Sara Lee Scholarship for Women Attending Tribal Colleges in MI and WI

Kate Fort1 Comment

From the press release:

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Sara Lee Foundation is proud to continue the Sara Lee Foundation Tribal College Scholarship Program for Women through a partnership with the American Indian College Fund (the Fund).  This scholarship program will continue to provide financial assistance to American Indian women attending tribal colleges located in Michigan and Wisconsin. Selected recipients must also be primary residents of one of the following states: California, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, or Wisconsin.

Since 2001, the Sara Lee Foundation has consistently supported the Fund, benefiting countless Native women and aiding them in their journey towards a more hopeful, prosperous future.

“We are excited to continue our support of American Indian women and their pursuit of a higher education,” said Judy E. Schaefer, Director of the Sara Lee Foundation. “We are proud of the scholarship program that we have developed with the American Indian College Fund and the positive effects it continues to have on the students, their families, and their futures.”

Minnesota Indian Law CLE, June 17th and 18th, Northern Lights Casino

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Materials here:

PDF Indian Law CLE Announcement 2010

CLE Registration Form 2010

Congratulations to Our Fellow

Kate Fort2 Comments

Alicia Ivory, the ILPC Fellow for 2009-2010, just passed the New York Bar.

Congratulations!!

Subscribing to TT via Email

Kate Fort

We’ve added a new feature to TurtleTalk–subscription to the blog via email.  Once you sign up, you will receive the text of the entire post.   This is slightly different than what our readers receive when they sign up to follow us on Twitter (@ILPCTurtleTalk).  Warning: our regular readers are aware that multiple posts go up on TT every day.  A subscription will send an email every time a new post goes up.

While I would love to be able to just sign everyone up who is interested, the site recognizes that I am already signed up for this subscription and doesn’t allow me to add others.  All our readers need to do is click “Sign Me Up” over on the right hand side of the blog where it reads “Email Subscription.”  If you are not a WordPress.com subscriber, just enter an email address and then click “Sign Me Up.”

Let us know if you have any trouble with this process.  Another easy avenue for reading TurtleTalk is an RSS subscription.  Sign up for Google Reader or equivalent program, click “add a subscription”  and add the TurtleTalk address.  There is also the option to click on “Entries RSS” on the right hand side of the blog under “Meta.”

And yes, this post was edited after I received my first email alert.  If you read or received that post, remember what I wrote about our level of IT support:  “TurtleTalk is run in house at the Indigenous Law and Policy Center with exactly as much technical support as you might expect of a Center made up of lawyers, professors and recent law school grads (note the lack of IT professionals on that list).”

Thanks for reading!

Building Strong Sovereign Nations: Tribal Governance Training Conference, May 19-20

asivory

Here’s a reminder of the upcoming Tribal Governance Training Conference at Little River Casino & Resort next month. See the attachment for registration and accommodation information.

May 19, 12PM-5PM
History of Anishinaabek Tribes – John Petoskey
Tribal Council Roles & Responsibilities – Frank Ettawageshik

May 20, 8AM -12PM
Indian Child Welfare Act – Kate Fort & Emily Proctor
Indian Gaming in Michigan – Bill Brooks
Introduction to Tribal Justice Systems – Holly Thompson
Labor Relations & Tribal Businesses – Zeke Fletcher

BSSN Training Conference May 19-20

How to Enter the Legal Academy: Pipeline Program

Singel

Occasionally we’re contacted by law students and colleagues who practice in Indian law who are interested in becoming a law professor.    The process for breaking into the law teaching can be a bit mysterious for the uninitiated, but programs like the one below offer an excellent introduction.  This one is held in conjunction with the Third National People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference, and the program’s title is How to Enter the Legal Academy:  Pipeline Program.  Topics include preparing your CV, what goes on at the “meet market”, interviewing, handling call backs, fellowships and visitorships, writing law review articles, developing a research agenda and advice for late bloomers.  The program runs from 11 am – 3 pm on September 9, 2010 at Seton Hall, and registration is only $20.

POC-How_to_Enter_the_Legal_Academy

MSU Indigenous Law and Policy Center Alumni Reunion Event — April 21 @ 3PM

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Sovereignty Symposium 2010 — Agenda

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Sovereignty Symposium 2010

AS LONG AS THE GRASS GROWS AND THE RIVERS FLOW

June 2 – June 3, 2010

Skirvin – Hilton Hotel

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

__16__ hours of CLE credit for lawyers will be awarded, including __1_ hour of ethics.

The Sovereignty Symposium was established to provide a forum in which ideas concerning common legal issues could be exchanged in a scholarly, non-adversarial environment.  The Supreme Court espouses no view on any of the issues, and the positions taken by the participants are not endorsed by the Supreme Court.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

a.m.   4.5 CLE credits / 1 ethics included

p.m. 3 CLE credits / 0 ethics included

9:30 – 12:00       PANEL A:

THE YEAR OF THE HORSE

MODERATOR:  HONORABLE TOM COLBERT, Justice, Supreme Court of Oklahoma, Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Madeleine Pickens, Help Save America’s Wild Horses, Dallas, Texas.

Honorable Gregory E.  Pyle, Chief, Choctaw Nation, Durant, Oklahoma.

Honorable Kelly Haney, Seminole, Oklahoma.

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Michigan Indian Legal Services Job Posting

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Michigan Indian Legal Services

814 S. Garfield Avenue Suite A, Traverse City, MI 49686-2401, Phone: 231-947-0122, Facsimile: 231-947-3956

Michigan Indian Legal Services (MILS), a statewide provider of free legal services to low income Indians and Indian tribes, seeks a staff attorney. MILS represents Indian individuals, families, tribes and organizations in cases involving federal Indian law, tribal court representation and related matters.

MILS seeks an attorney with above average academic achievement, excellent oral and written communication skills and a commitment to providing high quality legal services for Indian people. The successful candidate must be licensed to practice law in the State of Michigan, be willing and able to travel, capable of assuming responsibility over a sophisticated caseload and have experience in the practice of Indian law and working in or with native or tribal communities. Compensation will be commensurate with experience.

MILS is an equal opportunity employer.

Send resume, writing sample and cover letter to:

James A. Keedy

Executive Director

814 S. Garfield Ave., Suite A

Traverse City, MI 49686