Tribal Water Codes – what they are and why they are important – please tune in to https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/911538609 on Friday, December 14th from 2-4 pm eastern time (11-1 pacific, 12-2 mountain and 1-3 central) to hear tribal water resources experts on these important issues. The webinar is hosted by the National Congress of American Indians, the Native American Rights Fund, the Tribal Water Working Group and the Utton Center. For more information, please contact Derrick Beetso at dbeetso@ncai.org or Greg Haller at gregh@ecosolvellc.com.
Author: Matthew L.M. Fletcher
Bob Anderson on PL 280 Retrocession Legislation in Washington State
Robert T. Anderson has published “Negotiating Jurisdiction: Retroceding State Authority over Indian Country Granted by Public Law 280” in the Washington Law Review. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Here is the abstract:
The Public Law 280 legislation was approved by Congress in the face of strenuous Indian opposition and denied consent of the Indian tribes affected by the Act . . . .
The Indian community viewed the passage of Public Law 280 as an added dimension to the dreaded termination policy. Since the inception of its passage the statute has been criticized and opposed by tribal leaders throughout the Nation. The Indians allege that the Act is deficient in that it failed to fund the States who assumed jurisdiction and as a result vacuums of law enforcement have occurred in certain Indian reservations and communities. They contend further that the Act has resulted in complex jurisdictional problems for Federal, State and tribal governments.
S. Comm. on the Interior & Insular Affairs, 94th Cong., Background Rep. on Public Law 280 (Comm. Print 1975) (statement of Sen. Henry M. Jackson, Chairman).
Senator Jackson’s statement accurately described the issues then and now. This Article reviews the legal history of federal-tribal-state relations in the context of Public Law (P.L.) 280 jurisdiction. Washington State has recently taken progressive steps that could serve as the foundation for a national model to remove state jurisdiction as a tribal option. The federal self-determination policy is not advanced by adherence to termination era experiments like P.L. 280. The article concludes that federal legislation should provide for a tribally-driven retrocession model, and makes proposals to that end.
HuffPo: Eric Cantor Blocking VAWA Reauthorization because of SAVE Native Women Act
Here.
Excerpt:
Meanwhile, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the author of the Senate VAWA bill, went to the Senate floor on Thursday and plainly announced that House Republican leaders are blocking his bill “because of their objections to [the] … tribal provision.”
Leahy explained the provision, probably the least understood of the three additions in the Senate bill: It gives tribal courts limited jurisdiction to oversee domestic violence offenses committed against Native American women by non-Native American men on tribal lands. Currently, federal and state law enforcement have jurisdiction over domestic violence on tribal lands, but in many cases, they are hours away and lack the resources to respond to those cases. Tribal courts, meanwhile, are on site and familiar with tribal laws, but lack the jurisdiction to address domestic violence on tribal lands when it is carried out by a non-Native American individual.
That means non-Native American men who abuse Native American women on tribal lands are essentially “immune from the law, and they know it,” Leahy said.
The standoff over including VAWA protections for Native American women comes at a time of appallingly high levels of violence on tribal lands. One in three Native American women have been raped or experienced attempted rape, the New York Times reported in March, and the rate of sexual assault on Native American women is more than twice the national average. President Barack Obama has called violence on tribal lands “an affront to our shared humanity.”
Of the Native American women who are raped, 86 percent of them are raped by non-Native men, according to an Amnesty International report. That statistic is precisely what the Senate’s tribal provision targets.
The two sources say, to Cantor’s credit, his staff has said they’re willing to try to come up with other solutions to responding to violence against women on tribal lands, as long as the solution doesn’t give tribes jurisdiction over the matter. But proponents of the Senate bill see the limited jurisdictional change as the only realistic way to address the problem.
BIA Free Training on Tribal Courts and Secured Transactions Law
Flyer here: Tribal Judicial Training-SecuredTransactions Announcement 2013
Details:
LOCATIONS and DATES
Seattle, WA January 30-31, 2013
Venue:
Time: January 30 – Day One: 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Continental breakfast (8:00 a.m.) and lunch provided.
January 31- Day Two: 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Continental breakfast provided (8:00 a.m.)
Oklahoma City, OK March 21-22, 2013 [venue tbd]
Minneapolis, MN May 8-9, 2013 [venue tbd]
OVERVIEW
This comprehensive two-day workshop will focus primarily on the provisions of the Model Tribal Secured Transactions Act, which has been enacted by many tribes. The workshop will offer instruction on the basics of secured transactions law, including the use of such personal property as inventory, equipment, receivables, and consumer goods as collateral for extensions of credit. Specific topics will include the conditions that must be satisfied for a lender to obtain an enforceable security interest in a borrower’s collateral; the importance of a sound central filing system by which secured lenders may make their security interests known to the public, thereby giving prospective secured creditors and buyers of the collateral the means to learn about existing security interests; the rules that govern the prioritization of rights in the collateral when competing claims arise; the procedures that a secured creditor must follow to realize upon its collateral if the borrower defaults on its repayment obligation; and the rules that protect the rights of both consumer and business borrowers. The workshops will also address aspects of secured transactions laws that are unique to tribal jurisdictions.
Instructors: The instructors for the workshop are William H. Henning, Distinguished Professor of Law, University of Alabama School of Law, Maylinn Smith, Associate Professor of Law, University of Montana School of Law, and Susan Woodrow, Community Development Advisor, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis/Helena Montana Branch. Each of the instructors has expertise in secured transactions law and each was instrumental in the development of the Model Tribal Secured Transactions Act. They bring unique and diverse perspectives to the workshops. Professor Henning is a respected national and international scholar and lecturer on secured-transactions law, Professor Smith has extensive experience as a tribal trial and appellate judge and also as legal counsel, and Ms. Woodrow is an expert on the requirements for sound economic development.
REGISTRATION AND COST
Tuition and comprehensive curricula materials are FREE, however advance registration [imbedded link to San Fran Fed’s site here] is required.
Forms to apply for CLE credits will be available.
HOTEL INFORMATION
[Craig to provide]
QUESTIONS
For information about the workshop, please contact Susan Woodrow at susan.woodrow@mpls.frb.org or 406-447-3806; or Katherine Scotta at katherine.scotta @bia.gov or 202-208-6711.
For information about registration, please contact Craig Nolte at craig.nolte@sf.frb.org, or 206-396-2192.
IRS Notice on General Welfare Exclusion for Tribal Governments
Shinnecock Indian Nation Sues United States for $1.1Billion over Land Dispossession
Here is the complaint:
MSU Legal Writing Institute Conference — Teaching Populations: Diversity Matters — Tomorrow, 9AM, Castle Boardroom
Flyer here:
Press release here.
Agenda here:
Friday, December 7, 2012
9:00 a.m. Welcome
Dean Joan W. Howarth, Michigan State University College of Law
9:30 a.m. Teaching to Students with Varying Cultural & Ethnic Backgrounds
Moderator: Nancy Costello, Michigan State University College of Law
Bruce Ching, Michigan State University College of Law
Matthew Fletcher, Michigan State University College of Law
Marilyn Preston, University of Toledo College of Law
Pam Wilkins, University of Detroit Mercy School of Law
10:45 a.m. Break
11:00 a.m. Teaching to Foreign Students
Moderator: Paul Stokstad, Michigan State University College of Law
Chris Evers, Qatar University College of Law
Jeremy Francis, Michigan State University College of Law
Diane Kraft, University of Kentucky College of Law
Stephanie LaRose, Michigan State University College of Law
Karen Shaw, Loyola University Chicago School of Law
12:30 p.m. Lunch
1:45 p.m. Teaching to Lower and Higher Performing Students in the Same Classroom
Moderator: Gary Gulliver, Michigan State University College of Law
Ted Becker, University of Michigan Law School
Jessica Levesque, MacCormac College
Pamela Morgan, MacCormac College
3:15 p.m. Coffee Break
3:30 p.m. Teaching to Students with Emotional Disabilities
Moderator: Deanne Lawrence, Michigan State University College of Law
Jan Collins-Eaglin, Michigan State University
Udall Native American Congressional Internship Program
The Udall Foundation is currently recruiting Native American and Alaska Native students to apply to our Internship program.
Please feel free to forward the message to students and faculty and any relevant listservs.
This ten-week summer internship in Washington, DC, for Native American and Alaska Native students who wish to learn more about the federal government and issues affecting Indian country.
The internship is fully funded: the Foundation provides:
- · Round-trip airfare;
- · Housing;
- · Per-diem for food and incidentals;
- · An educational stipend at the close of the program.
Interns work in congressional and agency offices where they have opportunities to research legislative issues important to tribal communities, network with key public officials and tribal advocacy groups, experience an insider’s view of the federal government, and enhance their understanding of nation-building and tribal self-governance.
The 2013 application is available at www.udall.gov. The complete application package must be postmarked by January 31, 2013, at the Udall Foundation.
Additional Resources:
- · Advice for the Application: http://www.udall.gov/OurPrograms/NACInternship/AdviceForApplication.aspx
- · Frequent Problems with Applications: http://www.udall.gov/OurPrograms/NAcInternship/FrequentApplicationProblems.aspx
- · Ask an Alum: http://www.udall.gov/OurPrograms/NACInternship/AskAnAlum.aspx
If you have any questions additional questions, please contact me directly at 520-901-8561 or at bravo@udall.gov.
Heritage Foundation Doesn’t Like Carcieri Fix
Not much of a surprise here, just talking points for Republican legislators with poor staffs. Otherwise, there would be factual support for the allegations made therein, presumably.
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