tribal economic development

Erik Jensen on Gaming on Newly-Acquired Indian Lands

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Erik Jensen has published “Indian Gaming on Newly Acquired Lands” in the Washburn Law Journal, and it is available on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

This symposium article examines the meaning of the term “Indian lands” – the lands that might become sites for Indian gaming-in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988. At its core, the term is unambiguous: it includes reservations and other lands that, at the time of IGRA’s enactment, were held in trust by the United States for the benefit of American Indian nations. But “Indian lands” can include much more. Indeed, it is possible for real estate having only the most tenuous historical connections with a tribe (perhaps having no connections at all) to become “Indian lands.” The treatment of so-called “newly acquired lands” has potentially far-reaching economic consequences for American Indian nations, but also for non-Indian populations, which can share in the benefits of tribal economic development. Along the way, the article discusses the basics of IGRA, recent developments affecting newly acquired lands, and whether an expansive conception of “Indian lands” is a good thing.

South Dakota Law Review Call for Papers: Tribal Economic Development

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

The South Dakota Law Review is looking for submissions for its annual symposium, “Economic Development in Indian Country: An Exploration of Policy, Law, and Culture“. Here is the letter.

Missouri Courts Interpret Tribal Sovereign Immunity for First Time

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

The case is Ogden v. Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska. From the opinion:

In March of 2006, Larry Ogden, after communication with the tribal chairman of the “Iowa Tribe Executive Committee,” moved to Missouri to accept employment as manager of a truck stop near I-29 in Holt County, Missouri, known as the “Squaw Creek Eagles Nest Plaza.” Several months later, Ogden was terminated from employment. Ogden sued the “Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska” (“Iowa Tribe”) for breach of an employment agreement and for wrongful discharge. The Iowa Tribe filed a motion to dismiss the petition based upon tribal sovereign immunity. The trial court granted the motion to dismiss. Ogden appeals. We affirm.

Colorado ex rel. Suthers v. Cash Advance — Rent a Tribe Case

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

We have written about this case before — the question of whether Cash Advance and others who are part-owned by Indian tribes can avoid suit from the Colorado AG for unfair consumer practices (yecch).

The Colorado Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s decision not to quash the subpoena directed against the tribe-owned Cash Advance defendant in this opinion — cash-advance-colorado-coa-opinion

The appellate briefs are here, and an additional amicus brief is here — amicus-brief-supporting-cash-advance (strangely, the brief doesn’t actually say who the amicus is…).

New Book: “Buffalo Inc.” by Sebastian Braun (UND)

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

From the University of Oklahoma Press:

Buffalo Inc.
American Indians and Economic Development
By Sebastian Felix Braun
<!–By Sebastian Felix Braun
–>
Buffalo as a business on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation

Some American Indian tribes on the Great Plains have turned to bison ranching in recent years as a culturally and ecologically sustainable economic development program. This book focuses on one enterprise on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation to determine whether such projects have fulfilled expectations and how they fit with traditional and contemporary Lakota values.

Continue reading →

Lewis & Clark Tribal Economic Development Symposium

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Lewis & Clark Law School:

Spring Symposium 2008 Schedule of Events

April 4, 2008 

8:00 – 8:30 a.m. Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:30 – 8:45 a.m. Welcoming Remarks

Dean Klonoff, Associate Dean Lisa LeSage

8:45 – 9:30 a.m. Keynote Address

Kevin Gover
Introductions by Professor Robert Miller

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Fletcher Op/Ed on the Off-Reservation Market

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Indian Country Today:

Tribes’ economic plans stifled by policy

© Indian Country Today February 01, 2008. All Rights Reserved

Posted: February 01, 2008 by: Matthew L.M. Fletcher

The region where the city of Detroit now rests used to be, centuries ago, a major trading market for the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples and others. A permanent community of Indian people from all around lived in the vicinity and thrived off of the marketplace, while most Indians who traded there would travel to the market periodically from their homelands. There are places like this all over North America, such as Chaco Canyon in New Mexico.

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KU Tribal Law and Governance Conference Agenda

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Kansas’s Tribal Law and Government Center is hosting the 2008 conference on Feb. 1, 2008. Speakers include Lance Morgan, Howard Valantra, Phil Frickey, Stacy Leeds, Angelique EagleWoman, Taylor Keen, Russ Brien, and others. Looks like a great field! H/T Legal Scholarship Blog:

The agenda is here.

Study on Gaming and the Income and Employment of American Indians

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Economics Letters, a study on Indian gaming and tribal member employment: “Is gaming the optimal strategy? The impact of gaming facilities on the income and employment of American Indians”: Article

From the abstract:

Continue reading →

Cash Advance Rent-A-Tribes?

Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

The Denver City and County Court thought so. In a case where the Colorado AG asked a Colorado trial court to issue subpoenas to internet money lenders owned by the Miami Nation of Oklahoma and the Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska. The tribal enterprises appeared for the purpose of contesting jurisdiction, raising tribal sovereign immunity as a bar to the subpoenas. The trial court denied the order. The case is now pending before the Colorado Court of Appeals.

If the characterization of this case on page 13 of this prepared statement before the House Subcommittee on Domestic Policy of the Committee on Oversight and Domestic Reform is even half accurate (the whole “rent-a-tribe” thing), then this is an ugly case. It is an ugly case regardless.

The Colorado Court of Appeals briefs are here:

Appellant Brief

Appellee Brief

Reply Brief