Announcements

Navajo Nation Supreme Court Summer Clerkship Announcement

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

The Navajo Nation Supreme Court is seeking summer law clerks for summer 2008.  The Navajo Nation Supreme Court is a full-time court of last resort for the largest Indian tribe in the United States.  Its offices are located in Window Rock, Arizona, twenty-six miles north of Gallup, New Mexico.  Summer law clerks assist the justices of the Supreme Court in researching cases filed before the Court.  

            There are two paid positions, and, depending on space, at least one unpaid position for which law school credit can be earned.  Housing in the Window Rock area is provided for all positions.  The Navajo Nation Supreme Court adheres to the Navajo Preference in Employment Act in hiring law clerks.

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Voting Rights in Indian Country Panel

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We will be hosting a panel tomorrow, January 31, on Voting Rights in Indian Country.  Speakers include Laughlin McDonald, Director of the ACLU Voting Rights Project, Dan McCool and Susan Olson, professors at the University of Utah and authors of Native Vote, and Ellen Katz, professor at the University of Michigan Law School.

More about time and location information can be found at our Spring Speakers Series page.
Please contact us if you have any questions.  No registration is necessary for attendance.

Fed Bar 2008 Save the Date Flyer

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

“Identity in Flux: Challenging Outsider Definitions of Tribalism”

Fed Bar 2008 Save the Date Flyer

American Indian Movement at Ziibiwing

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

The Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways will host a new changing exhibition entitled, HANTA PO – All of You Out of My Way, Dick Bancroft – A Photographic Retrospective of the American Indian Movement, 1968-2006.  Dick Bancroft, a world-renowned photographer, will offer his insight into this remarkable collection of black & white and color images at the exhibit’s grand opening ceremony to be held Saturday, January 26 at 12pm.

AIM Exhibit Opening Flyer

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Winters Centennial Conference — Santa Anna Pueblo — June 9-12, 2008

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

THE WINTERS CENTENNIAL:
WILL ITS COMMITMENT TO JUSTICE ENDURE?
June 9-12, 2008
Hyatt Regency Tamaya — Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico

The year 2008 marks the centennial of Winters v. United States, in which the Court formulated the reserved water rights doctrine now broadly asserted by Indian tribes and federal agencies. The decision, because of its enduring promise of justice to Native Americans, marks one of the great achievements of American jurisprudence.  The decision made possible the continuity of many Indian communities and non-Indian communities alike, along with the protection of important environmental resources. Now, one hundred years later, the question is whether the promise of Winters will be fulfilled. In celebration of the Winters Centennial, the Utton Transboundary Resources Center and the American Indian Law Center will convene a major symposium in June 2008 along the waters of the Rio Grande near Albuquerque. The symposium will review the legal and cultural history of the decision, assess the contemporary consequences of the reserved water rights doctrine (both nationally and internationally), and project the significance of Indian water rights into the 21st Century. The goal of the symposium is to assemble Indian reserved rights policy makers and decision makers at all levels in order to deepen the understanding of the effect of Winters and to advance the dialogue regarding the future role of reserved rights.

Indian Health Care Improvement Act Up For Vote in U.S. Senate

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Sent to us by Jerilyn Church, Executive Director of the American Indian Health & Family Services of Southeastern MI, Inc.:

Please call your respective United States Senator to ask him or her to vote YES on S. 1200, the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, which according to the Senate Calendar will come up for consideration on Tuesday, January 22. It is especially important for callers to urge their senators to also vote NO on any Urban Indian Health Amendments, which would eliminate funding for urban clinics.

The National Council for Urban Indian Health has disseminated an Urban Indian Health one-pager for callers to use when contacting their Senators.

“Returning the Gift: Native Writers Conference” — March 13-15, 2008

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Returning the Gift: Native Writers Conference March 13-15, 2008

Registration is now available on line at http://www.aisp.msu.edu/events.html

Space in each workshop is limited, so register early. Continue reading →

Indigenous Law Journal Call for Submission

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

The Indigenous Law Journal at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law
is accepting submissions for Volume VII (Fall 2008).  Please circulate
and post widely (Poster).

The submissions deadline is: January 21, 2008.

Grand Rapids Public Museum — Anishinaabek Event — Jan. 19

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

The Grand Rapids Public Museum is having a huge public event on Saturday, January 19th. Doors open at 9:00 and the festivities begin shortly thereafter. The Native American community will be involved with the drum and dancers leading the opening procession, at approximately 10:45 and also in the Fashion Showcase that happens at 1:00. This is a showcase of traditional attire used by the various ethnic groups of the city of Grand Rapids and will be a wonderful sight for all to see. The impetus for this is the opening of the new permanent exhibit: Newcomers, The People of This Place that is the companion of the permanent Anishinabek Exhibit. It tells the stories of various groups that have moved into West Michigan to make this their home.

The event is free and the doors remain open until 6:00.

From Debra Muller.

Call for Proposals: Model Tribal Code Drafting at the Uniform Law Commission

Singel3 Comments

The Uniform Law Commission has a special committee that drafts model codes for tribal enactment. Most recently, they’ve drafted a model tribal secured transactions act that is largely based on the UCC’s Article 9 with key changes intended to address unique tribal concerns. The committee is in the process of selecting another model code drafting project, and it’s soliciting input on which codes might be tackled next. If you’d like to suggest a model code drafting project for the committee, contact Tim Berg, the Committee’s chair.

Call for Drafting Proposals

Drafting proposals must be submitted by February 28, 2008, and can be sent to Tim Berg at TBerg@FCLAW.com.