There have been a long series of federal cases in Minnesota involving tribal court child welfare jurisdiction over non-member children residing on the reservation (Watso, Nguyen). Most recently, Watso v. Piper was dismissed. The magistrate’s decision (that was upheld), is particularly well written.
Watso v. Jacobson here
Americans for Tribal Court Equality here
Eric Eberhard and Heather Kendall-Miller Honored With 2018 Lawrence R. Baca Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Federal Indian Law
The Federal Bar Association Indian Law Section is proud to announce that Professor Eric Eberhard and Heather Kendall-Miller are the 2018 recipients of the Lawrence R. Baca Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Federal Indian Law.
Eric and Heather will be honored at two luncheons on April 5 and 6, 2018, respectively, at the Federal Bar Association’s Annual Conference on Federal Indian Law at the Talking Stick Resort, on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community near Scottsdale, Arizona.
Eric has advocated for American Indian rights for over 45 years. Having started his tribal legal career at DNA Legal Services in Window Rock, Arizona in 1973, he went on to serve as the Executive Director of the Navajo Nation’s Washington, DC office; Staff Director and Counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs; Chair of Dorsey & Whitney’s Indian and Gaming Law Practice Group; and now Affiliate Assistant Professor at the University of Washington School of Law.
Heather (Athabascan) has advocated for Alaska Native rights for over 25 years. After clerking for the Alaska Supreme Court and working as a Skadden Fellow and staff attorney for the Alaska Service Corporation, she joined the Native American Rights Fund, where she has worked since 1994. She argued Alaska v. Native Village of Venetie before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1998. Heather received her J.D. from Harvard Law School.
“Congratulations to two exceptional attorneys for their lifetime commitment to the development of Federal Indian Law,” said Federal Bar Association Indian Law Section Chair Tracy Toulou. “We look forward to honoring them.”
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Note: Archival photos of Eric, at DNA Legal Services in the 1970s, and Heather, with Billy Frank, attached
Here.
In this case, as early as 2014, the State, through the Department, had reason to believe and, as asserted in its various petition averments and request for the District Court to proceed under ICWA, did believe that L.D. was an Indian child by affiliation with the Chippewa Cree Tribe. Though it gave due notice to the Tribe of the pendency of the initial foster care and subsequent parental rights termination proceedings, there is no evidence that the Department ever formally sought or received a conclusive tribal determination that L.D. was or was not eligible for tribal enrollment. Instead, the Department passively relied on the inaction of the Tribe and the assertions or beliefs of the parents that L.D. was not eligible for tribal membership. However otherwise reasonable, this passive reliance was insufficient to satisfy the Department’s ICWA burden to actively investigate further and ultimately make formal inquiry with the Tribe for a conclusive determination of L.D.’s membership eligibility.
Also, with briefing (a rarity in ICWA cases)!
The Supreme Court of Oklahoma and the Sovereignty Symposium, Inc. are sponsoring a writing competition open to all students enrolled in an accredited law school in the United States, its territories or Canada.
In conjunction with Sovereignty Symposium XXXI, which will be held June 6-7, 2018 at the Skirvin Hilton Hotel, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, a scholarly collection of legal and historical writings will be presented to all participants. Legal libraries all over the United States regularly solicit copies of the publications for their collections. The subject matter of the paper may be on any area of the law relating to Native Americans or other indigenous peoples. First, second, and third prizes in the amounts of $750.00; $500.00; and $250.00 will be awarded. The winning entry will also be published in the 2018 Symposium compendium of materials. Second and third place entries will be published if space permits.
The entries in the writing competition must be not less than thirty (30) single-spaced pages nor more than fifty (50) single-spaced pages in length. The paper used shall be 8-1/2” x 11” in size. The title of the paper, the name of the author and a current mailing address and telephone number must be placed on a cover page. Only the title of the paper should appear at the top of the first page of the text. The author’s name should appear on the cover page only. Papers must be submitted in Word or Word Perfect format. E-mail the formatted version to kyle.shifflett@oscn.net. Use a 12-point font in Times New Roman format. Again, the document should be single spaced. The left and right margins must be 2”; the top and bottom margins must be 1.5”.
Papers are evaluated for: Timelines of Subject; Originality; Legal Analysis; Use of Authority; Creativity of Arguments; Strength and Logic of Conclusions; Grammar; Punctuation and Writing Style.
Entries must be received no later than May 1, 2018. Publication releases will be required prior to payment of prize money. Email entries to e-mail Kyle.shifflett@oscn.net.
Here are the materials in Kodiak Oil & Gas (USA) Inc. v. Burr (D.N.D.):
29-9 mha nation supreme court opinion
45 tribal judge motion to dismiss
46 burr response to motion for pi
48 tribal judge response to motion for pi
54 kodiak reply in support of motion for pi
62 tribal judge reply in support of mtd
Here is the petition captioned Sharp Image Gaming, Inc. v. Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians:
Question presented:
Whether a collateral agreement to a management contract for an Indian gaming operation is subject to approval by the National Indian Gaming Commission only if the collateral agreement itself provides for management of all or part of the operation.
Lower court materials here.
Turtle Talk 
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