Indigenous, Indian, and Aboriginal Law Commons^™

Garden Of Truth, Sarah Deer

Faculty Scholarship

On Oct. 27, 2011, a report entitled “Garden of Truth: The Prostitution and Trafficking of Native Women in Minnesota” was released in St. Paul, Minn. The report was the culmination of a three-year research project conducted in Minnesota by two nonprofit organizations: the Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition, a grassroots organization of Native American women that is based in St. Paul and focuses on outreach and awareness for survivors of sexual assault, and Prostitution Research and Education, a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco. This unique collaboration between advocates of Native American women and social scientists has produced a …

Nagpra In Colorado: A Success Story, Cecily Harms

University of Colorado Law Review

A primary goal of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) is to correct the human rights violations committed against Native Americans from centuries of grave looting, stealing, and improper sales of cultural items. In the twenty-two years since NAGPRA's passage, the human rights foundation of the Act has been overshadowed by struggles regarding interpretation and implementation. The museums and Native American tribes of Colorado have not lost sight of NAGPRA's human rights foundation, however. Their commitment to the spirit of NAGPRA is evident in the museums' and tribes' approach to basic implementation and taking the initiative to …

Conducting Research With Tribal Communities: Sovereignty, Ethics, And Data-Sharing Issues, Catherine O’Neill, Anna Harding, Barbara Harper, Dave Stone, Patricia Berger, Stuart Harris, Jamie Donatuto

Faculty Articles

When conducting research with American Indian tribes, informed consent beyond conventional Institutional Review Board (IRB) review is needed because there may be potential for adverse consequences at a community or governmental level that are unrecognized by academic researchers. This paper reviews sovereignty, research ethics, and data-sharing considerations when doing community-based participatory health-related or natural resource-related research with American Indian nations and presents a model material and data-sharing agreement that meets tribal and university requirements. Only tribal nations themselves can identify potential adverse outcomes, and they can do this only if they understand the assumptions and methods of the proposed research. …

Buying America From The Indians: Johnson V. Mcintosh And The History Of Native Land Rights, Blake Watson

Books and Book Chapters by University of Dayton Faculty

The backstory on the court decision that defined and limited American Indian property rights.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Johnson v. McIntosh established the basic principles that govern American Indian property rights to this day. In the case, more than one Anglo-American purchaser claimed title to the same land in what is now southern Illinois. The Piankeshaw Indians had deeded the land twice—once to speculators in 1775, and again, thirty years later, to the United States by treaty. The Court decided in favor of William McIntosh, who had bought the land from the U.S. government. Writing for the majority, …

Mabo Misinterpreted: The Unfortunate Legacy Of Legislative Distortion Of Justice Brennan’S Judgment, Kent Mcneil

Articles & Book Chapters

The High Court's bold decision in Mabo v Queensland [No 2] undoubtedly changed the legal landscape in Australia in very positive ways. For the first time, Australian common law acknowledged that the Indigenous peoples have land rights based on occupation of land in accordance with their traditional laws and customs. The Court denounced the racial discrimination inherent in past denial of these rights and outlined legal doctrines that could be used to resolve Indigenous land claims in present-day Australia. This led to the enactment of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) (NTA), by which the Commonwealth Parliament created a complex …

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 …

The Crazy Horse Malt Liquor Case: From Tradition To Modernity And Halfway Back (Part Iii Of South Dakota Law Review Trilogy), Frank Pommersheim

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Mrs. Dred Scott: A Genre Bender?, Lolita Buckner Inniss

Publications

No abstract provided.

David Getches: A Tribute To A Leader And Scholar, Matthew L.M. Fletcher, Kristen A. Carpenter

Publications

No abstract provided.

Soft-Voiced Warrior Song, Donald G. Mcintntyre

Tribal Law Journal

Soft-Voiced Warrior Song is a mixed media construction. The piece started with a basic image of a man’s head, using black acrylic paint on a white canvas. This is to suggest that in the beginning things were, for the most part, black and white. The laws of engagement were simple. It was essential to maintain harmony with one’s environment. Among the Anishinabek, to sustain this balance, the Soft-Voiced-Warrior-Song was employed; this was a way of recognizing your place within the environment to determine if diplomacy or war was the most likely to return unity. Song was a method of listening …

Picuris Pueblo Tribal Court Handbook (2012), Tribal Law Journal Staff

Tribal Law Journal

This handbook helps take some of the mystery out of practicing in tribal courts. Without the necessary information to learn new rules and protocols many attorneys are understandably reluctant to practice in a new jurisdiction. As a result, tribal courts are underused or misused. This handbook is intended to help attorneys and advocates become more aware of the various individual tribal court systems and to learn their rules and protocol.

Judicial Selection Methods, Tribal Politics, And Strong Government: Navajo Nation At The Crossroads, Bethany Sullivan

Tribal Law Journal

This article by Bethany Sullivan examines the judicial selection methods of the Navajo Nation and its impact on the Navajo Nation. After surveying the various methods of judicial selection by both the United State and Navajo Nation, the author explores potential changes to the existing selection methods of the Navajo Nation. Ultimately, however, the author argues for the maintenance of the existing selection methods and warns against future efforts to reform the Navajo appointive system.

Northern Cheyenne Tribe: Traditional Law And Constitutional Reform, Sheldon C. Spotted Elk

Tribal Law Journal

This profile by Sheldon C. Spotted Elk examines the U.S. Government's infringement on the Northern Cheyenne's political sovereignty. Most significantly, this profile examines the relationship between the oral history of the Northern Cheyenne and its impact on traditional tribal governance and law. Following the Northern Cheyenne's adoption of a modern constitution, many members fought to continue living under a traditional constitution. Ultimately, the Northern Cheyenne a written IRA compatible constitution while maintaining an oral constitution. The delicate balance allows the Northern Cheyenne to address modern issues while also keeping the fundamental traditional and customary law of the tribe alive.

Lines Of Tribe, Christine Zuni Cruz

Faculty Scholarship

It is important to begin by explaining why I take the title of my essay from the statement in President Barack Obama's 2009 Inaugural Address: "the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve." During the address, his words affected me and they remained with me long afterward. President Obama may very well have meant what he said in a metaphoric or figurative sense; I have certainly been provided with many interpretations and assurances by most that a literal meaning was not his intent and that he instead spoke in a good way of the beneficial melting of divisions between us." It …

Remarks, James Anaya

Publications

These remarks were delivered at the Closing Plenary--Indigenous Peoples and International Law: A Conversation with UN Special Rapporteur James Anaya and Inter-American Commission Rapporteur Dinah Shelton.

Inextricably Political: Race, Membership, And Tribal Sovereignty, Sarah Krakoff

Publications

Courts address equal protection questions about the distinct legal treatment of American Indian tribes in the following dichotomous way: are classifications concerning American Indians "racial or political?" If the classification is political (i.e., based on federally recognized tribal status or membership in a federally recognized tribe) then courts will not subject it to heightened scrutiny. If the classification is racial rather than political, then courts may apply heightened scrutiny. This Article challenges the dichotomy itself. The legal categories "tribe" and "tribal member" are themselves political, and reflect the ways in which tribes and tribal members have been racialized by U.S. …

Limiting Principles And Empowering Practices In American Indian Religious Freedoms, Kristen A. Carpenter

Publications

Employment Division v. Smith was a watershed moment in First Amendment law, with the Supreme Court holding that neutral statutes of general applicability could not burden the free exercise of religion. Congress's subsequent attempts, including the passage of Religious Freedom Restoration Act and Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, to revive legal protections for religious practice through the legislative and administrative process have received tremendous attention from legal scholars. Lost in this conversation, however, have been the American Indians at the center of the Smith case. Indeed, for them, the decision criminalizing the possession of their peyote sacrament was …

Heeding The Clarion Call For Sustainable, Spiritual Western Landscapes: Will The People Be Granted A New Forest Service?, Charles Wilkinson, Daniel Cordalis

Publications

No abstract provided.

Territory, Wilderness, Property, And Reservation: Land And Religion In Native American Supreme Court Cases, Kathleen Sands

American Indian Law Review

In two trilogies of Supreme Court Decisions, both involving Native Americans, land is a key metaphor, figuring variously as property, territory, wilderness, and reservation. The first trilogy, written by Chief Justice John Marshall, comprises Johnson v. M'Intosh (1823), Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831), and Worcester v. Georgia (1832). The second trilogy concerns Native American claims for religious freedom under the First Amendment and includes Bowen v. Roy (1986), Lyng v. Northwest Cemetery Protective Association (1988), and Employment Division of Oregon v. Smith (1990). The Marshal cases attempted to legitimate the transformation of land from wilderness to territory and property, and …

The Use Of The Alaskan Native Claims Settlement Act To Justify Disparate Treatment Of Alaska's Tribes, Natalie Landreth, Erin Dougherty

American Indian Law Review

No abstract provided.