Turtle Talk

The foundation of the modern corporation is built upon the separation of labor and capital. These entities were anathema to most Indigenous peoples when the Virginia Company was chartered in 1606 for the purpose of settling American lands. Over centuries of colonization federal law worked to assimilate Native Americans. Tribes were encouraged, even forced, to create their own corporate entities. Indelibly, consistent with their inherent sovereignty, Indigenous groups fused autochthonous legal principles into these corporate structures. Today, in the shadow of the #BLM movement and societal demands that corporations become more responsive to their communities and to the environment, shareholder primacy has reached its nadir. As corporate governance seeks to replace it with something stakeholder centered autochthonous principles gleaned from Indigenous corporations offer a way forward. These proposed reforms are as varied as the chthonic law they are built upon and range from making nature itself a corporate shareholder to issuing shares that gain voting rights only after they have been held to maturity.

Connecticut, Pequot, and Mohegan Allowed to Intervene and Assert Rule 19 Defense in MGM Challenge to Gaming Compacts

September 17, 2020Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here are the materials so far in MGM Resorts Global Development LLC v. Dept. of Interior (D.D.C.):

16 Interior Motion to Dismiss

24-1 State & Tribal Sovereigns Motion to Intervene

27 MGM Response to Motion to Dismiss

33 Reply in Support of Motion to Dismiss

34 MGM Opposition to Motion to Intervene

36 Reply in Support of Motion to Intervene

38 DCT Order Granting Motion to Intervene

We posted the complaint here.

High Country News: “Tribal nations face continued voter suppression”

September 17, 2020Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

20th Annual California Indian Law Conference and Honorees

September 16, 2020Monica Williamson

20th Annual California Indian Law Conference and Honorees

The virtual event will take place October 15-16, 2020.

Press release here.

The California Indian Law Association (CILA) is proud to announce that the Honorable Abby Abinanti is the 2020 recipient of CILA’s Outstanding Achievement in California Indian Law Award and Fatima Abbas and Lauren van Schilfgaarde are the co-recipients of the 2020 Outstanding Young Attorney awards.

Judge Abinanti, Fatima, and Lauren will be celebrated during a virtual honoring event on Friday, October 16, 2020 at 11:45 AM, during the 20th Annual California Indian Law Conference, October 15-16, 2020.

More information available at calindianlaw.org.

See the attached flyer for a detailed agenda.

“The Ghost Road” Promotional Materials

September 16, 2020September 16, 2020Matthew L.M. Fletcher

My new book, “The Ghost Road: Anishinaabe Responses to Indian-Hating,” will be published in October 2020 by Fulcrum Publishing. You can pre-order. Here is a Media Kit PDF.

Mark Trahant (ICT) on Native Lawyers Who Should Be Considered for SCOTUS

September 16, 2020Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is “The most important thing a president can do.”

An excerpt:

Yet there have always been Native American lawyers who could have served; the talent has always been there. It’s possible the next round of appointments could make history because so many Native American lawyers have the same or better legal experience than other appointments to the courts.

“Even over the past few years we have always had really great well qualified attorneys,” said Joel West Williams, Cherokee Nation, a senior attorney with Native American Rights Fund in Washington. “The biggest thing that has changed is they have worked their way into positions such as state supreme court justice — and that is a prime position from which to be selected.”

There are three Native Americans actively serving in the federal courts. President Barack Obama appointed U.S. District Judge Diane Humetewa, Hopi, in Arizona, and U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson, Native Hawaiian, in Hawaii. President Trump appointed U.S. District Judge Ada Elene Brown, Choctaw, in the Northern District of Texas.

There are three Native Americans now serving on state supreme courts, Justice Rachel Montoya-Lewis, Isleta Pueblo, in Washington, Ann McKeig, White Earth, and in Oklahoma, Dustin Rowe, Chickasaw.