Education

Materials here.

State superintendent can’t withhold funds from schools with Native American mascots, AG says

July 6, 2017Teresa Walrod

State Superintendent Brian Whiston does not have authority to withhold state aid from school districts with Native American mascots or logos, according to a legal opinion issued Thursday by Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette.

HERE.

Fort Peck Tribe Files Education Discrimination Complaint against Wolf Point District Schools

June 29, 2017June 29, 2017Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is the complaint.

An excerpt:

The Wolf Point School District discriminates against Native students and deprives them of basic rights to which they are entitled in school. The Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes, whose reservation encompasses the Wolf Point school district, asks that the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Education intervene. The unequal treatment of Native students is detrimental to their development and education and violates federal law.

White residents on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, which is majority-Native, control local politics, business, and schools. Gerrymandering and nepotism have perpetuated racial inequality created by federal policies, including preferential land grants for white homesteaders and compulsory boarding school programs for Native students. Schools on the Reservation bear the legacy of the Fort Peck Reservation Boarding School, which violently imposed Western culture, values, and education on Native families through the early 1900s.

Hostility towards Native students and culture persists. Native students in Wolf Point report the use of racial slurs and harmful stereotypes by white administrators, faculty, and staff. Native students are disproportionately disciplined and excluded from school, often without due process. At Wolf Point High School, non-white students, most of whom are Native, are more than twice as likely to receive in- and out-of-school suspensions than white students. These suspensions also violate federal and local standards for discipline. Native students are routinely denied academic and extracurricular opportunities available to white students. Students with academic and behavioral challenges, most of whom are Native, are warehoused in the Opportunity
Learning Center, which is understaffed and underfunded.

HuffPo: “America Spent Centuries Mistreating Native American Children. Trump Is Making It Worse.”

June 15, 2017Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here.

Guest Post — Jay Rosner — Response to Kevin Washburn

May 12, 2017May 12, 2017Matthew L.M. Fletcher

This is the third in a series of posts:

(1) Guest Post — Jay Rosner: The LSAT vs. the GRE: May They Both Lose
(2) Guest Post — Kevin Washburn: The LSAT’s Key Role in Native Legal Education

I’m honored that Prof. Kevin Washburn took the time to respond to a Turtle Talk post of mine. I had deeply criticized both the LSAT and GRE, but I expressed the hope that the movement to accept both in law school admissions will subject both to the kind of scrutiny, particularly on their disparate impacts, that will be more difficult for them both to withstand.

Prof. Washburn’s post, entitled “The LSAT’s Key Role in Native Legal Education,” emphasized that “… if the LSAT lost its leading role in legal education … it could be bad. Very bad.” He then tells the uplifting story of PLSI, which has an admirable record helping 25-35 Native students each year, for decades, succeed in law school by providing them with excellent summer instruction, stipends and role models, among other supports. He clearly is a proud alumnus of that program.

Prof. Washburn’s primary defense of the LSAT is that its developer, LSAC, has played a major role in funding PLSI over the years. LSAC is to be commended for that; however, I submit that for those of us advocating fair representation in the legal profession, LSAC’s only positive attribute is its support for PLSI. Continue reading →

Indian Law Week and Summer Indian Law Courses at University of Montana School of Law

May 5, 2017May 5, 2017Sarah M Donnelly

Download: 2017 Indian Law Week Poster

Link: Summer American Indian & Indigenous Law, previous post

Law students, grad students, attorneys, tribal leaders:

JOIN US for the Summer American Indian and Indigenous Law Program here at the Alexander Blewett III School of Law at the University of Montana in beautiful Missoula. We are once again offering a unique slate of courses (for which we have also requested CLE credit) taught by some of the preeminent scholars and practitioners in our field. Topics include:

June 5-9: Indian Law Research, Stacey Gordon
June 12-16: Mastering American Indian Law, Maylinn Smith
June 19-23: Tribal Business Law, Matthew Fletcher
June 26-30: Environmental Justice in Indian Country, Wenona Singel
July 10-14: Criminal Jurisdiction in Indian Country, Kevin Washburn
July 17-21: Good Native Governance, Angela Riley
July 24-28: Sacred Sites and Religious Freedom, Hillary Hoffmann
July 31- August 4: Indian Child Welfare Act & Indian Civil Rights, Stephen Pevar
August 7-11: Taxation and Finance in Indian Country, Rob Roy Smith

The program is a great opportunity for students, attorneys, and tribal leaders to gain or feed a passion for Indian law by engaging with other outstanding students and professors in a beautiful and scenic location. Please have them check out the brochure or our website: www.umt.edu/indianlaw. Also, please feel free to post the brochure at your institution and pass the website and brochure along to others who may be interested in this opportunity to spend a few weeks this summer learning with us here in Missoula.

NAICJA 2017 Conference RFP

April 24, 2017April 21, 2017Victoria Sweet

The National American Indian Court Judges Association (NAICJA) invites presentation proposals for the 48th Annual National Tribal Judicial and Court Personnel Conference which will be held October 10-13, 2017, at the beautiful Isleta Resort & Casino in Albuquerque, NM. NAICJA’s Annual Conference offers innovative and timely tribal justice information through high quality presentations by national experts.

The theme of this year’s conference is, “Tribal Justice: Building and Strengthening Relationships and Partnerships.” NAICJA is featuring topics that highlight ways in which American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and First Nations justice systems are building and strengthening relationships between tribes, states, federal agencies, and organizations including the philanthropic sector. We are especially interested in presentations that focus on collaboration and partnerships, tribal sovereignty, international frameworks for understanding indigenous principles and topics, promising Indian child welfare practices, court security, and other areas of interest to court clerks and court personnel.

Full details available here: NAICJA 2017 Presentation RFP Final.

This is your opportunity to share your expertise and display your creativity by developing an original program for presentation. Proposals specifically tailored to meet the needs of the 300-person NAICJA audience are strongly preferred. Proposals are due on or before Monday, May 1, 2017 at 9:00 a.m. (MST).

NNABA Foundation 2017 Bar Review Scholarship Recipients

April 5, 2017April 5, 2017Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here (featuring two of my current or former students!):

The National Native American Bar Association (NNABA) Foundation is proud to announce its 2017 Bar Review Scholarship Recipients. The NNABA Foundation received an impressive pool of applications from Native American students representing Indian nations and law schools across the country. The Foundation is proud to support these students in the penultimate step to joining the legal profession: taking the bar exam. Scholarship recipients will receive $1,500 for bar review preparation services.

Congratulations to the 2017 NNABA Foundation Bar Review Scholarship Recipients, listed below in alphabetical order by last name.

Simone Anter, Pascua Yaqui & Jicarilla Apache, University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law
Jacob Michael Glass, White Earth Nation, Mitchell Hamline School of Law
Simon Goldenberg, Lower Sioux Indian Community, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Arizona State University
Corin La Pointe-Aitchison, Athabaskan, Lewis & Clark Law School
Erica McMilin, Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians & Valley Indian Tribes,University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law
Christine Reyes, Tohono O’odham Nation, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Arizona State University
Heather Torres, San Ildefonso Pueblo & Navajo, University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law
Austin Ryan Vance, Southern Cheyenne, University of Oklahoma College of Law
Allyson Von Seggern, Three Affiliated Tribes of North Dakota & Menominee,Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Arizona State University
Lisa R. Wrazidlo, Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, James E. Roger College of Law, University of Arizona
April Youpee-Roll, Fort Peck Sioux, Alexander Blewett III School of Law, University of Montana

“These students exemplify hard work, commitment to their communities and dedication to advancing justice for Native Americans. The NNABA Foundation is delighted to support them on their journeys into law practice,” said NNABA Foundation President Jennifer Weddle.