MHA Nation – Turtle Talk

Job vacancies are posted on Friday. Some announcements might still appear throughout the week. If you would like your Indian law job posted on Turtle Talk, please email indigenous@law.msu.edu.

Navajo Nation

Public Defender, Window Rock, AZ. Open until filled.

Ute Mountain Ute Tribe

Associate General Counsel, Justice Department. Applications are due by March 3 and consist of a cover letter, resume and references. The cover letter may be an email. All interested attorneys are encouraged to apply. Applications should be submitted to Peter Ortego, General Counsel at portego@utemountain.org , or call (970) 749 9816 with any questions.

Sitka Tribe of Alaska

Tribal Realty Officer/Tribal Court Specialist. Responsible for providing direct services to restricted property land owners and native allotment applicants within the Sheet’ka Kwaan under supervision of the Tribal Attorney. The Tribal Court Specialist responsibilities of this position requires providing support to the Tribal Court, working closely with the Tribal Court Judges, Tribal Attorney and Social Services department.

Confederated Tribes of Chehalis Reservation

ICWA Attorney for contract, Oakville, Wa. Contractor will advise and represent CTSS in Chehalis Tribal Court as well as other Tribal and State courts in all ICWA, dependency and vulnerable adult cases. Must have Juris Doctorate and five years directly related experience with a preference to American Indian/ Alaska Native communities. Must be an active member of the Washington State Bar Association and eligible for immediate admission to Tribal Court. Valid WA State license and insurability through our insurances, pass background check and pass pre-employment drug testing. Submit letter of interest and resume to: gfrancis@chehalistribe.org.

MHA Nation

Assistant Tribal Prosecutor/Special Assistant US Attorney, New Town, ND. Closing date 3/27/2017. Applications shall be in writing; to include a professional Resume, legal qualifications and any other submissions at the option of the applicant.

ACLU of Montana

Communications Strategist. Applications will be reviewed beginning the week of March 6, 2017 and will be accepted until the position is filled.

Yurok Tribe

Deputy General Counsel, Office of the Tribal Attorney. Open until filled.

Kevin Washburn on the Return of Lands to the MHA Nation from the United States

December 22, 2016Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Kevin Washburn has posted “Another Broken Promise Addressed with the Return of 25,000 Acres to the MHA Nation in North Dakota” on LinkedIn Pulse.

An excerpt:

In the late 1940s, the federal government took more than 150,000 acres from the Indian reservation of the Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold to build the Garrison Dam and create the lake behind it, known today as Lake Sakakawea. At the time, the project was important for flood control along the Missouri River. The Indian community was distraught to see so much arable land lost to it, but its interests were sacrificed to what was thought by federal officials to be the public good and the project moved forward.

In subsequent legislation, Congress promised to restore at least the small portion of the land that was ultimately determined not to be needed for this important flood control project. For seventy years, the Mandan Hidatsa and Arikara Nation waited patiently. Not quietly, but patiently. It was obvious that the project had taken far more land that it actually needed. MHA tribal leaders frequently met with federal officials and asked when the law would be followed (and the surplus land returned).

Seventy years later, the United States has finally lived up to this promise. Yesterday, the Army Corps announced that it would turn over 25,000 acres of land to the Department of the Interior to be placed in trust for the MHA Nation. The formal process required for this result has stopped and started several times over the years, and was never completed, until yesterday. I congratulate the Army Corps and President Obama’s Indian Affairs team for rectifying this historical injustice.