Law Commons^™

Reflections On The Restatement Of The Law Of American Indians, Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Washington Law Review

No abstract provided.

Eli-Tpitahatomek Tpaskuwakonol Waponahkik (How We, Native People, Reflect On The Law In The Dawnland), Michael-Corey F. Hinton, Erick J. Giles

Maine Law Review

Multiple nations within the Wabanaki Confederacy, including the Maliseet Nation, Mi’kmaq Nation, Passamaquoddy Tribe, and Penobscot Nation, were signatories to the July 19, 1776 Treaty of Watertown, which was the first ever treaty entered into by the United States of America following the Declaration of Independence. Following the Treaty of Watertown, Wabanaki warriors served directly under General George Washington and made critical contributions in support of the Americans’ Revolutionary War. Such contributions were made based on the Americans’ promise that the Wabanaki Nations’ lands, natural resources, and traditional ways of life would be forever protected by the fledgling United States. …

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

New Mexico Law Review

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 …

Preview — Denezpi V. United States (2022). Double Jeopardy In Indian Country, Paul A. Hutton Iii

Public Land & Resources Law Review

On February 22, the Supreme Court of the United States will decide the single issue of whether a Court of Indian Offenses constitutes a federal entity and, therefore, separate prosecutions in federal district court and a Court of Indian Offenses for the same act violates the Double Jeopardy Clause as prosecutions for the same offense.

Ute Indian Tribe Of The Uintah & Ouray Reservation V. U.S. Dep't Of Interior, Valan Anthos

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah & Ouray Reservation brought 16 claims against federal agencies and the State of Utah for alleged mismanagement of water resources held in trust and for alleged discrimination in water allocation. The United States District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed several of the claims as time-barred and others as lacking a proper statutory basis to create an enforceable trust duty. The remaining claims were transferred to the United States District Court of the District of Utah because the events occurred in Utah and most of the parties reside there.

Man Camps And Bad Men: Litigating Violence Against American Indian Women, Ana Condes

Northwestern University Law Review

The crisis of sexual violence plaguing Indian Country is made drastically worse by oil-pipeline construction, which often occurs near reservations. The “man camps” constructed to house pipeline workers are hotbeds of rape, domestic violence, and sex trafficking, and American Indian women are frequently targeted due to a perception that men will not be prosecuted for assaulting them. Victims have little recourse, facing underfunded police departments, indifferent prosecutors, and a federal government all too willing to turn a blind eye to the ongoing violence.

This Note proposes a litigation strategy for tribes to address the crisis and compel federal action. Litigation …

Mcgirt V. Oklahoma, Allison Barnwell

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The United States Supreme Court ruled that large areas of Oklahoma, including much of the City of Tulsa, are reservation land. The case arose from an Oklahoma state court’s conviction of Jimcy McGirt on several criminal offenses. Mr. McGirt argued the State of Oklahoma lacked jurisdiction to prosecute because he was an enrolled member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and committed his crimes on the Creek Reservation. Under the Major Crimes Act, only the federal government has the power to try tribal members for crimes committed on reservation lands. In a five to four decision, the Court held that …

2018 James R. Browning Symposium Keynote, Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Montana Law Review

No abstract provided.

Sovereign Metaphors In Indian Law, Gregory Ablavsky

Montana Law Review

This exploration reveals that tribes were not as anomalous as the Supreme Court of the United States has suggested. Even while the Court proclaimed the Tribes' uniqueness, it readily applied doctrines developed in the context of foreign nations, states and U.S. territories to Native nations, ignoring the differences between the situation of tribes and other sovereigns. This narrative about what tribes lack when compared to other sovereigns has become a constant, and pernicious, trope within the discourse of Indian law.

Tribal Nations And Congress's Power To Define Offences Against The Law Of Nations, John H. Dossett

Montana Law Review

The Framers of the Constitution founded the United States on a principle that the federal government has limited, enumerated powers. This Article advances the Offences Clause as an additional, and important, source of federal authority in Indian affairs, particularly for the Indian Child Welfare Act. There is considerable evidence that the Offences Clause was intended to authorize Congress to regulate relationships with tribal nations as well as foreign governments. This Article puts forth the Offences Clause as a response to the challenges raised by Justice Thomas and the State of Texas, including concerns about racial classification or overreach of commerce …

From Foundational Law To Limiting Principles In Federal Indian Law, Alexander T. Skibine

Montana Law Review

Federal Indian law has been "exceptional" in the sense of being distinctively compared to other areas of American Public Law. This Article analyzes areas of federal Indian Law where the application of exceptionalism and foundational principles is especially likely to motive the Supreme Court of the United States to search for limiting principles. The Article focuses on tribal sovereign immunity cases, tribal-state conflicts involving off-reservation treaty rights, and state taxing power within Indian reservations.

On Indian Children And The Fifth Amendment, Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Montana Law Review

No abstract provided.

United States V. Gillette: A Tiny Prairie Casenote Opening A Window On The Enveloping Fog Obscuring The Indian Civil Rights Act Of 1968, Frank Pommersheim

Montana Law Review

United States v. Gillette is one of the first reported cases on the new post-United States v. Bryant road. As of yet, there is no reliable (legal) GPS to point the way. This "tiny prairie" casenote is not meant to focus on the answers, but rather clarify the questions and to widen the discussion as the journey continues.

Reclaiming The Navajo Range: Resolving The Conflict Between Grazing Rights And Development, Ezra Rosser

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

Grazing is fundamental to Navajo identity, yet management of the Navajo range remains highly problematic. This Essay connects the federal government's devastating livestock reduction effort of the 1930s with the inability of the Navajo Nation to place meaningful limits on grazing and the power of grazing permittees. It argues that the Navajo Nation should consider reasserting the tribe's traditional understanding that property rights depend on use as a way to create space for reservation development.

The Tribal Franchise: An Expression Of Tribal Sovereignty And A Potential Solution To The Problem Of Mass Disenrollment, Brent Mulvaney

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Indian Child Welfare Act Annual Case Law Update And Commentary, Kathryn Fort, Adrian T. Smith

American Indian Law Journal

There are, on average, 200 appellate cases addressing the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) annually—though this number includes published and unpublished opinions. There are usually around thirty reported state appellate court cases involving ICWA issues every year. There has never been a systematic look at the cases on appeal including an analysis of who is appealing, what the primary issues are on appeal, and what trends are present. This article seeks to fill that void.

This article provides a comprehensive catalog of published ICWA jurisprudence from across all fifty states in 2017. Designed as a quick reference for the ICWA …

I See You - A Story From The Haudenosaunee, Simone Anter J.D.

American Indian Law Journal

A young Apache woman sits on a bench outside of her university classroom; next to her is a stack of law books. She has just come from the first day of her first-year property class, where the professor lectured about the origins of property law devoid of any mention of Native people. As she sits she notices an individual walking along the sidewalk, towards her. This person wears a baseball hat with the Washington Redskins’ logo embellished on the front, a grotesque caricature of an “Indian.” The person’s attire includes a T-shirt featuring a skull wearing a feathered headdress, probably …

Cdib: The Role Of The Certificate Of Degree Of Indian Blood In Defining Native American Legal Identity, Paul Spruhan

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

August 2016 - August 2017 Case Law On American Indians, Thomas P. Schlosser

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Native American Rights & Adoption By Non-Indian Families: The Manipulation And Distortion Of Public Opinion To Overthrow Icwa, Harman Bual

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Tribal Exclusion Authority: Its Sovereign Basis With Recommendations For Federal Support, Jeremy Wood

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

United States V. Osage Wind, Llc, Summer Carmack

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The Osage Nation, as owner of the beneficial interest in its mineral estate, issues federally-approved leases to persons and entities who wish to conduct mineral development on its lands. After an energy-development company, Osage Wind, leased privately-owned surface lands within Tribal reservation boundaries and began to excavate minerals for purposes of constructing a wind farm, the United States brought suit on the Tribe’s behalf. In the ensuing litigation, the Osage Nation insisted that Osage Wind should have obtained a mineral lease from the Tribe before beginning its work. In its decision, the Tenth Circuit applied one of the Indian law …

United States V. Gila Valley Irrigation District, Ryan L. Hickey

Public Land & Resources Law Review

Attempts to alter water use agreements, especially those spanning back decades or even centuries, elicit intense scrutiny from water rights holders. In United States v. Gila Valley Irrigation Dist., the Ninth Circuit upheld application of a 1935 Decree apportioning water among various regional entities, including two Indian tribes, to bar a mineral company from transferring water rights between properties within the Gila River drainage.

Justice Scalia And Tonto Fistfight In Heaven, Ray Martin

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Master's Tools: Tribal Sovereignty And Tribal Self-Governance Contracting/Compacting, Danielle Delaney

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Imaginary Lines, Real Consequences: The Effect Of The Militarization Of The United States-Mexico Border On Indigenous Peoples, Joseph Kowalski

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Improving Native American Tribes’ Voice In International Climate Change Negotiations, Jin Hyung Lee

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Swinomish Indian Tribal Community V. Bnsf Railway Co. And Its Effect On Litigation Challenging Bia’S New Rights-Of-Way Regulations, Kaelen Brodie

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Case Law On American Indians: August 2015—August 2016, Thomas P. Schlosser

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Back To The Negotiating Table: Designing A Tribal-State Compact For Alabama, William H. Holley

UNLV Gaming Law Journal

No abstract provided.