Announcements

Call for Papers: Indigenous Intellectual Property

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

CALL FOR PAPERS:

SYMPOSIUM ON THE TOPIC OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

Texas Wesleyan University School of Law

Friday, October 10, 2008

Texas Wesleyan University School of Law is pleased to host a symposium on the topic of Intellectual Property and Indigenous Peoples, on Friday, October 10, 2008. The purpose of this symposium is to examine intellectual property concepts – copyrights, trademark rights, patent rights, and trade secrets – as applied to the cultural heritage, art, and artifact of indigenous peoples.

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Nokomis Center Spring Feast

bnewland

Sorry to break up the discussions with a shameless plug, but the Nokomis Center in Okemos will be hosting its first annual “Spring Feast” this Sunday, April 13th, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Guests will get to indulge in buffalo meat, as well as hear special musical guests. Tickets are $25 per family, $10 per adult, $5 per child (10 & under), and $5 per elder (55 & older). Proceeds go to the Nokomis Center, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving Native culture. The Nokomis Center is located next to the Meridian Mall in Okemos, at 5153 Marsh Rd. Please join us if you can, as the Nokomis Center needs all of the financial support our community can provide.

Indigenous Law and Policy Center Spring 2008 Newsletter!!!!

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Thanks to Emily Petoskey for all the hard work in putting this together.

ilpc-newsletter-spring08

Federal Indian Bar 2008 Final Agenda

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

33rd Annual Federal Bar Association Indian Law Conference

Identity in Flux: Challenging Outsider Definitions of Tribalism

Agenda in PDF

Federal institutions actively shape many aspects of modern Indian identity in a variety of ways, such as defining tribal actions as “governmental” or “commercial” in nature or by connecting tribal jurisdiction with the extent to which tribal institutions mirror the practices of non-Indian institutions. The 2008 Federal Bar Association Indian Law Conference will examine these issues through discussions on tribal finance, labor concerns in Indian Country, tribal courts, Indian energy policy, and the future of plenary power in the legislative arena, for example, recognition of Native Hawaiians. On the other hand, federal inaction also shapes Indian identity and impacts how tribal people define themselves. In that vein, the 2008 Conference will offer discussions on the loss of traditional homelands due to rapid climate change impacts on Alaskan Native lands and on tribal fisheries, as well as international efforts on behalf of indigenous peoples, including analysis of the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Conference also will feature a historical review of major Indian law decisions and legislation, “The Federal Government Giveth and It Taketh Away,” marking the 30th, 40th, and 100th anniversaries (Oliphant, Santa Clara Pueblo, Wheeler, ICWA, IGRA, ICRA, Winters), as well as forecasts for the continuing future impact of the doctrines they espouse. A Conference ethics panel will address ethical issues surrounding lobbying and federal legislative efforts impacting Indian tribes.

Read about the agenda below the fold.

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Reminder: Felix Cohen’s Indian Law Legacy — Friday, March 28, 2008

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Tomorrow, we host “Felix Cohen’s Indian Law Legacy.” Speakers include Bethany Berger, Sam Deloria, Sam Hirsch, Riyaz Kanji, and Christian McMillen.

Here’s the poster.

Saginaw Chippewa Tribe to address U of M Board of Regents regarding Ancestral Remains held by U of M

ilpc

From the email announcement:

CALLING OUT FOR SUPPORT!

The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe (SCIT) was just notified that
a request was granted to address the University of Michigan’s Board of
Regents during their meeting TOMORROW, Thursday, March 20. The meeting
will begin at 3pm in the Regent’s Room of the Fleming Administration
Bldg. in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Joseph Sowmick, SCIT Public Relations Director, will read a
5-minute statement during the Public Comment session regarding the 1,200
or more “culturally unaffiliated” ancestral remains and their associated
funerary objects that are being held by the University of Michigan.

The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe is asking for a unified
mobilization of support from all Anishinabe people. MACPRA
representatives and Ogitchedaw (George Martin will be present with his
Eagle Staff) are strongly encouraged to attend. All interested peoples
who support the return of our ancestral remains, please join us.

We are planning to meet in the plaza between 2-3pm in front of
the Fleming Administration Bldg. located on Thompson St. All present
will not be able to go into the Regent’s Room, but a delegation of
support can be present in the plaza.

Felix S. Cohen Panel at MSU Law College March 28

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Our mini-symposium on “Felix Cohen’s Indian Law Legacy” will be held next Friday, March 28, 2008, starting at 11AM in the Castle Boardroom at the law college. Our speakers include Sam Deloria, Christian McMillen, Riyaz Kanji, Sam Hirsch, and Bethany Berger.

We will be celebrating the recent publication of three books: (1) Cohen’s Handbook of Federal Indian Law; (2) Christian McMillen’s “Making Indian Law: The Hualapai Land Case and the Birth of Ethnohistory“; and (3) Dalia Tsuk Mitchell‘s “Architect of Justice: Felix S. Cohen and the Founding of American Legal Pluralism.” Unfortunately, Prof. Tsuk Mitchell can’t make the conference.

A fourth book, edited by David E. Wilkins, “On the Drafting of Tribal Constitutions,” was recently published by the University of Oklahoma Press — a little too late for our planning.

This panel is funded in part by the Michigan Humanities Council, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

New Book: “Buffalo Inc.” by Sebastian Braun (UND)

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

From the University of Oklahoma Press:

Buffalo Inc.
American Indians and Economic Development
By Sebastian Felix Braun
<!–By Sebastian Felix Braun
–>
Buffalo as a business on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation

Some American Indian tribes on the Great Plains have turned to bison ranching in recent years as a culturally and ecologically sustainable economic development program. This book focuses on one enterprise on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation to determine whether such projects have fulfilled expectations and how they fit with traditional and contemporary Lakota values.

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House Hearing on Bay Mills/Sault Tribe Off-Rez Gaming

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Indianz:

Not sure what it means below that Alicia Walker is chair at Sault Tribe….

The House Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing this morning on two off-reservation casino bills.

H.R. 2176 and H.R. 4115 settle land claims for the Bay Mills Indian Community and the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. The tribes would be able to open casinos on sites hundreds of miles away from their existing reservations. The bills have been approved by the House Natural Resources Committee. But Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan), the chairman of the Judiciary committee, opposes the measures. The hearing takes place at 10am and will be broadcast at http://judiciary.house.gov.

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Black Ash Basketry Conference — May 16, 2008

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Kelly Church:

Emerald Ash Borer/ Black Ash Basketry Conference 2008

Since the discovery of the Emerald Ash Borer(EAB) in 2002, Michigan has lost over 20 million ash trees, and the numbers continue to rise. The entire lower peninsula of Michigan is under a “no ash movement” quarantine, and the EAB continues to spread and infect entire ash lots, eventually killing off once healthy, thriving ash trees.

For hundreds of years Native Americans of Michigan (Anishnabe) and Natives from all over the North Eastern United States have been using Black Ash trees for basketweaving. These baskets have been used for centuries for utilitarian purposes such as Market baskets, berry picking baskets, fishing creels, baby baskets, laundry baskets, and sewing baskets. Today they are still used in a variety of ways, and are also collectible baskets as pieces of art.

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