Education

Save the Date: N. Scott Momaday at U-M

Sarah M Donnelly1 Comment

The Inaugural Robert F. Berkhofer, Jr. Lecture
in Native American Studies

An Evening with N. Scott
Momaday

Friday, March 11, 2016
6:00 – 7:30 PM
Michigan League Ballroom
Reception to follow lecture

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, Native American scholar, and poet N. Scott Momaday has been hailed as “the dean of American Indian writers” by the New York Times.  He crafts — in language and imagery — majestic landscapes of a sacred culture.

Named a UNESCO Artist for Peace and Oklahoma’s poet laureate, he was also a recipient of the 2007 National Medal of Arts, presented by President George W. Bush.  Momaday was the first Native American to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel, House Made of Dawn, widely considered to be the start of the Native American Renaissance.  His most recent volume, Again the Far Morning: New and Selected Poems, was released in 2011.

His other awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship and the “Mondello,” Italy’s highest literary honor. His works include The Way to Rainy Mountain, The Names: A Memoir, The Ancient Child, and a new collection, Three Plays, which celebrates Kiowa history and culture.  He was featured in the Ken Burns documentary, The West, that showcased his masterful retelling of Kiowa history and mythology.

For more information, contact Scott Lyons, Director of Native
American Studies at U-M (lyonssr@umich.edu).

Robert F. Berkhofer, Jr. (1931-2012) was an historian and a leading scholar in the field of Native American studies. The author of many influential books, including The White Man’s Indian: Images of the American Indian from Columbus to the Present (1978), Berkhofer taught at Michigan from 1973-1991.  This annual lecture on Native American Studies honors his work and legacy.

Guardian Series on America’s Poorest Towns Includes Gila River

Sarah M Donnelly

Link to article here.

 

New University of North Dakota Nickname!

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

They’re the Flickertails Fighting Hawks.

Here is “After Decades of Hand-Wringing, U. of North Dakota Has a New Nickname.”

Menominee Tribe Files Complaint Against DEA and DOJ

Sarah M Donnelly2 Comments

Doc. 1 – Complaint for Declaratory Judgment

Previous post concerning raid on the Menominee Indian Reservation here.

The Menominee Tribe is seeking a court decision on whether the Tribe’s college can grow hemp under its own law and under the Agricultural Act of 2014 (the current Farm Bill).

“Native American culture feels effects of boarding schools decades after system closed”

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here, from the Grand Traverse Record-Eagle.

Fletcher on the Growing Market for Indian Lawyering

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Tribal College Journal, “The Growing Market for Indian Lawyering,” posted on SSRN.

Tribal College Journal Feature Stories on Federal Indian Law

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here (unfortunately behind a paywall):

The Growing Market for Indian Lawyering
By Matthew L.M. Fletcher
American Indians are sorely underrepresented in the legal profession. But there is a greater need for more Native attorneys now than ever. By offering lay advocate, paralegal, or pre-law programs, TCUs can make a major difference. TCJ PAID CONTENT

Producing a Tribal Citizenry Literate in Law and Jurisprudence
By Stephen Wall
As the most legislated people in America, tribal citizens can benefit immensely from a legal education offered from a critical and culturally specific perspective. And tribal colleges are ideally suited for the task. TCJ PAID CONTENT

Teaching Indian Law and Creating Agents of Change
By Christopher M. Harrington
Teaching tribal college students about Indian law and policy can be an emotional and challenging endeavor. The process, however, can galvanize and empower them to work for change in their own communities and in Indian Country as a whole. TCJ PAID CONTENT

Designing and Teaching an Introduction to Federal Indian Law
By Wynema Morris
There are a variety of factors that should be considered when designing the curriculum for a course on Indian law. Students should learn to read for content, interpret legal language and symbols, and gain an understanding of who makes, implements, and interprets the law. TCJ PAID CONTENT

NIGC Internship Announcement

Sarah M Donnelly

Details about the Summer 2016 internship program can be found here.

Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Sues Interior over Bureau of Indian Education Reorganization

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here is the complaint in Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe v. Jewell (D. S.D.):

1 Complaint

An excerpt:

Plaintiff, an Indian Tribe operating under grants from or contracts with the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (Public Laws 93-638 and 100-297, as amended), and upon whose reservation the Defendant directly operates a BIE-run school, seeks a permanent injunction pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. Rule 65, a Writ of Mandamus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1361 and 1362, and Declaratory Relief pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2201 et seq., and an Order to enforce compliance with the terms of the Settlement Agreement and Stipulated Final Judgment entered by this Court in Yankton Sioux Tribe, et al. v. Kempthorne, et al, #4:06-cv-04091-KES (DSD) to enjoin Defendants from proceeding with their announced plan to restructure the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian Education (hereinafter “BIE”), and its subsidiary offices and staff in a manner that will reduce and/or eliminate its legal obligations to Indian Tribes, Tribal Schools, and ultimately to the individual Tribal member students of those schools, including the Plaintiff, under the United States Constitution, treaties with the various Indian tribes, federal statutes, regulations, or policies, in a manner that is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion given to the Executive Branch to carry out the United States Congress’ legislative mandates, and/or violation of federal law or regulation.

Yurok Tribe Now Accepting Law Clerk Applications for Spring and Summer 2016

Sarah M Donnelly

A complete description and application instructions here.