Law Commons^™

Sacrificing Sovereignty: How Tribal-State Tax Compacts Impact Economic Development In Indian Country, Pippa Browde

Faculty Law Review Articles

Economic development is a critical component of tribal sovereignty. When a state asserts taxing authority within Indian Country, there is potential for overlapping, or juridical, taxation over the same transaction. Actual or even potential juridical taxation threatens economic development opportunities for tribes. For many years, tribes and states have entered into intergovernmental agreements called tax compacts to reduce or eliminate juridical taxation. Existing literature has done little more than mention tax compacts with cursory cost-benefit analyses of the agreements. This is the first Article to critically examine the role tax compacts serve in promoting tribes’ economic development.

This Article analyzes …

The Power Of Reciprocity: How The Confederated Salish & Kootenai Water Compact Illuminates A Path Toward Natural Resources Reconciliation, Michelle Bryan

Faculty Law Review Articles

This article chronicles the negotiation and passage of the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes Water Compact, ratified in 2020, which has created one of the most innovative water management regimes envisioned among sovereigns. The Compact’s journey toward ratification is extraordinary, as the parties over the span of three decades worked to overcome historically entrenched racism and political opposition to craft a model that would provide enough water for all peoples and the fishery. Compounding the challenge, the Flathead Reservation itself contains vast swaths of checkerboard land held by non-Indians and a major federal irrigation project that has permanently altered the …

Taking Stock: Open Questions And Unfinished Business Under The Vawa Amendments To The Indian Civil Rights Act, Jordan Gross

Faculty Law Review Articles

The primary statutory tool for federal regulation of Tribal court criminal procedure is the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 (ICRA). ICRA replicated most of the procedural protections in the Bill of Rights applicable to the States, as then interpreted by the Supreme Court. ICRA also sets out procedures Tribes must extend to criminal defendants in their courts, caps their sentencing authority, and defines their criminal jurisdiction.

Some parts of Indian country are the most dangerous places in the United States today, particularly for indigenous women and girls. They are exposed to a higher level of personal violence than any …

From Zero-Sum To Economic Partners: Reframing State Tax Policies In Indian Country In The Post-Covid Economy, Pippa Browde

Faculty Law Review Articles

The disparate impact COVID-19 has had on Indian Country
reveals problems centuries in the making from the legacy of
colonialism. One of those problems is state encroachment in
Indian Country, including attempts to assert taxing authority
within Indian Country. The issue of the reaches of state taxing
authority in Indian Country has resulted in law that is both
uncertain and highly complex, chilling both outside investment
and economic development for tribes.
As the United States emerges from COVID-19, to focus only on the
toll exacted on tribes and their peoples ignores the tremendous
opportunities for states to right these historical …

Incorporation By Any Other Name? Comparing Congress' Federalization Of Tribal Court Criminal Procedure With The Supreme Court's Regulation Of State Courts, Jordan Gross

Faculty Law Review Articles

This Article examines the different experience of states and tribes with uniform national standards of criminal procedure imposed by the federal government. Part I describes the federal government’s displacement of indigenous justice in service of colonialist political goals, a policy that has contributed to the public safety crisis in Indian country today. Part II explains the constitutional criminal procedure jurisprudence the Court developed for states on which Congress has modeled ICRA’s criminal procedure provisions. In TLOA and VAWA 2013, Congress recognized that restoring tribal autonomy over wrongdoing in Indian country must be part of the federal policy response to the …

Mcgirt Policy Briefs: Cultural Resources, Monte Mills

Faculty Journal Articles & Other Writings

On July 9, 2020, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma. Although the only actual effect of that decision was on Mr. McGirt’s state court criminal conviction, rendering it invalid in light of the continuing existence of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation’s reservation, the implications of McGirt reverberated throughout Oklahoma and the nation. By rejecting Oklahoma’s arguments that the march to statehood had resulted in the implicit disestablishment of the Creek’s reservation (and, by analogy, those of the neighboring and similarly situated Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole Nations), Justice Gorsuch’s opinion on behalf of the Court’s …

Mcgirt Policy Briefs: Regulation Of The Environment And Natural Resources, Monte Mills

Faculty Journal Articles & Other Writings

On July 9, 2020, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma. Although the only actual effect of that decision was on Mr. McGirt’s state court criminal conviction, rendering it invalid in light of the continuing existence of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation’s reservation, the implications of McGirt reverberated throughout Oklahoma and the nation. By rejecting Oklahoma’s arguments that the march to statehood had resulted in the implicit disestablishment of the Creek’s reservation (and, by analogy, those of the neighboring and similarly situated Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Seminole Nations), Justice Gorsuch’s opinion on behalf of the Court’s …

Tax Burdens And Tribal Sovereignty: The Prohibition On Lavish And Extravagant Benefits Under The Tribal General Welfare Exclusion, Pippa Browde

Faculty Law Review Articles

This article examines a portion of a relatively new federal tax statute, the Tribal General Welfare Exclusion (TGWE), that allows qualified individuals an exclusion from gross income for payments received from American Indian/Alaska Native tribes for any "Indian general welfare benefit." Indian general welfare benefits are payments made to tribal members by the tribe pursuant to an Indian tribal government program for the promotion of general welfare, such as for health, education, or housing. The TGWE is intended, in part, to promote participation in American Indian tribal cultural and ceremonial practices. To that end, Indian general welfare benefits include payments …

Beyond The Belloni Decision: Sohappy V.Smith And The Modern Era Of Tribal Treaty Rights, Monte Mills

Faculty Law Review Articles

Indian tribes and their members are leading a revived political, legal, and social movement to protect the nation’s natural resources. In doing so, tribes and their allies employ many effective strategies but core to the movement are the historic promises made to tribes by the United States through treaties. Tribes are asserting treaty protected rights, which the United States Constitution upholds as the supreme law of the land, to defend the resources on which they and their ancestors have relied for generations. Those claims have resulted in significant legal victories, igniting a broader movement in favor of tribal sovereignty and …

Beyond Constitutional Frontiers: Tribal Rights, Resources, And Reform, Monte Mills

Faculty Journal Articles & Other Writings

The current era arguably poses the most complex and challenging environmental dilemmas in human history. With climate change, increasingly scarce resources, and exponentially expanding demand, traditional legal notions of standing, harm, and liability are being stretched and reshaped to accommodate a shifting set of values regarding natural resources and potentially respond to the moment. While these novel and innovative approaches are modestly reshaping the fields of natural resources and environmental law, however, the historical and time-honored claims of Indian tribes are also presenting avenues for rethinking the foundations of those areas of law. Arising both within and outside of the …

'Race, Racism, And American Law ': A Seminar From The Indigenous, Black, And Immigrant Legal Perspectives, Monte Mills, Eduardo R.C. Capulong, Andrew King-Ries

Faculty Law Review Articles

The events of fall 2016 exploded the myth of a post-racial America that some believed had been ushered in by Barack Obama’s presidency.1With the U.S. presidential campaign in full swing, soon-to-be President Donald Trump disparaged Muslims as terrorists, Mexicans as rapists and murderers, and African Americans as poor.2 Trump’s racist demagoguery came amidst the momentum of the Black Lives Matter,Standing Rock, and Dreamer movements—mass mobilizations that sought to end the police killings of Black people, protect Native American treaty rights, and grant immigrant minors legal status.3 Once again, the racial divide that has defined this nation since its inception 2019] …

Native American Cultural Dissonance & Dark Heritage Solutions, Victoria Parker

Student Scholarship

This paper argues that public institutions have an obligation to consider the weight of their responsibility to educate and inform the public about all forms of American history and heritage. Moreover, public institutions should embrace controversy, engage discourse and proactively work on exhibiting balanced representations by re-working or removing antiquated and false narratives surrounding Native American history. In this paper, I proffer solutions from case studies, examples, models, and my own perspective as a Native American tribal member, as to what public institutions and curators can do in the future to deal with cultural dissonance and creating awareness of (Native) …

Waiving Federal Sovereign Immunity In Original Actions Between States, Sandra B. Zellmer

Faculty Law Review Articles

There are tremendous disparities between high stakes original actions between states before the US. Supreme Court, where there is no waiver of federal sovereign immunity, and other types of cases in the lower courts, where a plethora of immunity waivers allow states and other parties to seek relief from the federal government for Fifth Amendment takings, unlawful agency action, and tort claims. Federal actions or omissions are often at the heart of the dispute, and federal involvement may be crucial for purposes of providing an equitable remedy to the state parties, but there is no reliable mechanism for bringing the …

Beyond A Zero-Sum Federal Trust Responsibility: Lessons From Federal Indian Energy Policy, Monte Mills

Faculty Law Review Articles

The federal government’s trust relationship with federally- recognized Indian tribes is a product of the last two centuries of Federal Indian Law and federal-tribal relations. For approximately the last 50 years, the federal government has sought to promote tribal self-determination as a means to carry out its trust responsibilities to Indian tribes; but the shadows of prior federal policies, based largely on notions of tribal incompetence and federal paternalism, remain. Perhaps no other policy arena better demonstrates the history, evolution, and promise for reform of the federal trust relationship than Federal Indian energy policy, or the range of federal statutes …

Through A Federal Habeas Corpus Glass, Darkly- Who Is Entitled To Effective Assistance Of Counsel In Tribal Court Under Icra And How Will We Know If They Got It?, Jordan Gross

Faculty Law Review Articles

Part I of this article is a history and analysis of the federal constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel. It explains how federal ineffective assistance of counsel jurisprudence has developed almost exclusively in the context of federal habeas review of state court convictions and rendered most federal ineffective assistance of counsel claims unviable. Part II explains the right to counsel in tribal court and the habeas corpus remedy available to tribal prisoners under ICRA. Part III identifies issues that will need to be addressed now that Congress has created a statutory ineffective assistance of counsel claim for tribal prisoners …

Valuing Sacred Tribal Waters Within Prior Appropriation, Michelle Bryan

Faculty Law Review Articles

Throughout the world water plays a central role in the spirituality of indigenous peoples. Focusing on the American West, this article first describes how tribal water needs touch upon the sacred and then explains how both federal law and state prior appropriation doctrine fail to adequately protect these important sacred views of water. Pivoting away from the classic federal law arguments, the article then advocates for an evolution in state water law regimes to provide yet unrecognized protections for tribal sacred waters. Because international law plays an increasing role in this issue, the article also explores case studies from Ireland, …

Oral Tradition And The Kennewick Man, Cathay Y. N. Smith

Faculty Law Review Articles

No abstract provided.

New Approaches To Energy Development In Indian Country: The Trust Relationship And Tribal Self-Determination At (Yet Another) Crossroads, Monte Mills

Faculty Journal Articles & Other Writings

Energy development in Indian country exists at the crossroads of tribal self-determination and the federal government's trust responsibility. This article reviews the foundations of this crossroads, describes recent developments, and analyzes pending proposals that may enhance both tribal sovereignty and energy development in Indian country.

Vawa 2013'S Right To Appointed Counsel On Tribal Court Proceedings- A Rising Tide That Lifts All Boats Or A Procedural Windfall For Non-Indian Defendants, Jordan Gross

Faculty Law Review Articles

This Article addresses a question that seems like it would be easy to answer, but is actually quite complex-when is an indigent defendant entitled to counsel at the public's expense in the United States? The answer is complex because it depends on what the indigent is charged with, what sentence he receives, and who prosecutes him. The Sixth Amendment guarantees an accused the assistance of counsel in "all criminal prosecutions."' The Supreme Court has said that the Sixth Amendment right to counsel includes the right to effective assistance of counsel, and the right to appointed counsel at public expense for …

And Justice For All, Someday: Indians, Alaska Natives Face Unique Obstacles, Maylinn Smith

Faculty Journal Articles & Other Writings

There are many conditions making access to justice more problematic for American Indians and Alaska Natives. Without adequate knowledge of tribal cultures, contemporary and historical issues impacting Indian peoples, and the laws applicable to Indian country, access to justice for American Indians and Alaska Natives can never be achieved.

Tribal Courts Part Ii: Crow, Ft. Belknap, Fort Peck And Northern Cheyenne, Cynthia Ford

Faculty Journal Articles & Other Writings

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Broken Landscape: Indians, Indian Tribes, And The Constitution, Raymond Cross

Faculty Journal Articles & Other Writings

The author reviews Frank Pommersheim's book, Broken Landscape: Indians, Indian Tribes, and the Constitution. The author finds the book a deserving read because it recognizes that Indian law, when used thoughtfully and appropriately, can substantially assist the Indian peoples in their self-determination efforts. However, contrary to Pommersheim's suggestions in his introduction that Indian law's role is to ultimately free the Indian peoples from their dependency on the federal government, the author suggests that instead the Indian peoples themselves -- and not lawyers, courts, or legislatures -- must decide when, and if, they will choose to exit their present state …

Development's Victim Or Its Beneficiary?: The Impact Of Oil And Gas Development On The Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, Raymond Cross

Faculty Law Review Articles

This article assesses whether oil and gas development on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, given the critical geographic, legal, and socio-cultural differences which set it apart from the rest of North Dakota, will bring with it potentially devastating and unmanageable impacts that may overwhelm the tribal people of that reservation. The article seeks to fill an analytic gap in the existing oil and gas scholarship that has not, in the author's estimation, given sufficient regard to development's unique rights and impacts in Indian Country.

Keeping The American Indian Rancher On The Land: A Socio-Legal Analysis Of The Rise And The Demise Of American Indian Ranching On The Northern Great Plains, Raymond Cross

Faculty Law Review Articles

This article evaluates the phenomenon of Indian ranching from its rise in the late nineteenth century to its potential demise in the early years of the twenty-first century. The article examines the many intertwined factors -- political, economic, cultural, ecological, and spiritual -- that account for Indian ranching's rise, as well as its impending demise. The article asserts that Indian ranching could well have become the Indian-civilizing strategy that helped bridge the vast socioeconomic gulf that existed, and still exists, between the Indian and non-Indian peoples of the northern Great Plains. The article concludes that Indian ranching's impending demise can …

The Original Understanding Of The Indian Commerce Clause, Robert G. Natelson

Faculty Law Review Articles

This article is a comprehensive analysis of the original meaning of and understanding behind the Constitution's Indian Commerce Clause under which Congress claims plenary and exclusive power over federal affairs with Indian tribes. The author concludes that, as originally understood, congressional power over the tribes was to be neither plenary nor exclusive.

Book Review: "Coyote Warrior", Stacey L. Gordon

Faculty Journal Articles & Other Writings

The author reviews the book, "Coyote Warrior," by Paul VanDevelder, which documents tribal chairman Martin Cross's political fight to prevent the building of Garrison Dam and the latter legal battles his son, Raymond Cross, fought to win compensation for the land tribes were forced to give up when the dam was built.

A New Corps Of Discovery For Missouri River Management, Sandra B. Zellmer

Faculty Law Review Articles

No abstract provided.

Sustaining Geographies Of Hope: Cultural Resources On Public Lands, Sandra B. Zellmer

Faculty Law Review Articles

No abstract provided.

Tribes As Rich Nations, Raymond Cross

Faculty Law Review Articles

This article critiques the contemporary doctrine of Indian tribal self-determination thirty years after its inception in President Richard M. Nixon's famed 1970 Indian Message to Congress.

The first part focuses on the three most prominent strategies for tribal self-determination: 1) tribal strategy that seeks to "morph" their inherent and reserved sovereign powers into tribal regulatory powers that are effective throughout Indian Country; 2) tribal strategy that seeks to develop and assert economic sovereignty over their lands, resources, and commercial relationships as a means of revitalizing Indian Country; and 3) tribal strategy that seeks to reassert traditional cultural and religious beliefs …

Conserving Ecosystems Through The Secretarial Order On Tribal Rights, Sandra B. Zellmer

Faculty Law Review Articles

No abstract provided.