Author: Matthew L.M. Fletcher

*Context. While driving out to Rosebud for the Indian Law field trip, several students (e.g., Brandi Gant and Anna Limoges) write a Buddha poem about my driving skills. They text it to Bo Bearshield who is riding with me in the state van. He reads it aloud. I chuckle.

The entire class (and several other patrons) are eating lunch at Subway in Winner, S.D. at the eastern edge of the Reservation. Without thought or warning, I announce, ‘hey, listen up everybody. Bo is going to recite a Buddha poem.’ To my surprise, Bo stands up and reads it. There is spontaneous laughter and applause.

Buddha stays with us for the rest of the trip.

Peace,

Frank Pommersheim

Federal Court Declines to Stay Enforcement of BIA Ruling in Calif. Miwok Membership/Leadership Dispute

October 26, 2016October 26, 2016Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials in California Miwok Tribe v. Jewell (E.D. Cal.):

Interview with Kristen Carpenter on Indian Rights

October 26, 2016Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is “A tension as old as the country: Legal scholars put focus on Native American rights,”published in Harvard Law Today. Also in the Harvard Gazette.

Mackinac Tribe v. Jewell Cert Petition

October 26, 2016Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here:

Cert Petition

Questions presented:

Whether the Court of Appeals deviated from this Court’s decision in Carcieri v Salazar, 555 U.S. 379 (2009) which held that the Secretary of Interior’s Federal Acknowledgment Process (FAP) established in 25 C.F.R. Part 83 is not determinative as to whether Indian Tribe is “recognized” for the purposes of the Indian Reorganization Act (25 U.S.C. § 479)?

Whether the Secretary of Interior can avoid performing her mandatory non-discretionary duty under the Indian Reorganization Act (25 U.S.C. § 476) to call elections to ratify tribal constitutional documents within a reasonable time by requiring a tribe to exhaust administrative remedies estimated to require 30 years to complete?

Lower court materials here.