Native American Law Blog

Article - "Indians Try to Keep Cases Away From High Court"

Not quite sure if I agree with the premise of the article or not...that the Tribes have and should be trying to keep Indian Law cases out of the US Supreme Court.....but our colleague Marcia Cole, writing in the National Law Journal writes an interesting and thought-provoking article on that notion.

You can find it HERE.

twp

Don't forget - the big conference of the year - FEDBAR at Buffalo Thunder

It's April 8 and 9, at Buffalo Thunder.  You can find the registration and other materials HERE. 

Sure to be a highlight - Elain Cobell, lead plaintiff in the huge class-action trust litigation that MAY be reaching a settlement will speak in one session. 

And if you look around carefully, you'll see your erstwhile blog editors in attendance.  Feel free to come up and say, "hello."  With luck and good connectivity, we'll even send in some blog entries from the site in near real-time.

twp

Tohono O'odham sues Interior Department over trust lands

From the Glendale (Az.) Star:

"In a legal move Monday, the Tohono O'odham Nation filed suit in District Court for the District of Columbia against the United States “for its failure to comply with the requirements of the Gila Bend Indian Reservation Lands Replacement Act (Pub. L. No. 99-503). That federal statute requires the Secretary of the Interior to acquire for the Nation new trust land to compensate the Nation for nearly 10,000 acres of its reservation lands destroyed as a result of the federal government's construction and operation of the Painted Rock Dam.

“It has been well over a year since the Nation asked the Department of the Interior (DOI) to take its Maricopa County land into trust. Even though the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Western Regional Office and BIA Headquarters stated publicly that the Nation's land meets the requirements of the Lands Replacement Act, nearly 10 months ago, DOI has failed to take the steps necessary to complete the process by which the Nation's Maricopa County land will be taken into trust.”

Tohono O'odham's suit seeks to compel the Interior Department to immediately comply with its statutory and trust obligations and accept trust title to the Nation's land."

See the full story HERE. 

twp

Another job opening in the field......

Job Title: Tribal Court Program Specialist
Location: Los Angeless, California      

The Tribal Law and Policy Institute is a non-profit organization that specializes in providing training, technical assistance, resource development and other services to enhance tribal justice systems across the nation. The Program Legal Specialist is an exempt, full time position. Responsibilities will include a wide range of duties related to current grant projects but will primarily focus on two grants funded by the United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance:

1. Tribal Drug Courts (Wellness Courts) Training and Technical  Assistance project designed to help tribal governments enhance tribal justice services and;
2. Collaborative Promising Practices and Curricula development.

Salary depends on qualifications and available funding. Excellent benefits package, including health/dental/vision and retirement. 

Primary Duties:
The Program Specialist must be a self-starter who is able to complete tasks with limited oversight, but also willing to seek guidance and consult regularly with the Executive Director and collaborating partners. Responsibilities will include, but will not be limited to:

• Project Manager for specific projects:
• Responsible for ensuring that these projects meet project time task plans and grant reporting deadlines on Grants Management System (GMS)
  1. Key contact for project meetings and conference calls, ensuring that meeting notes and follow up items are being completed
  2. Delivery of project goals as set forth by grant proposals
  3. Maintaining communication of project specifics with TLPI staff, board and consultants
  4. Coordination and supervision of consultant project tasks
  5. Coordination of Training and Technical Assistance services
  6. Maintenance of assessment tool and assessment reporting
  7. Interacts with funding agency and grant manager, as needed 
• Coordinates financial needs of project with Administrative Manager.
• Executes and coordinates Technical Assistance trainings with consultants and partners
• Development of resources and training materials, including curriculum, power point presentations, brochures, and other written materials for use in education and technical assistance trainings with Tribal nations and organizations
• Generates ideas for potential projects, funding opportunities, and flat rate contracts
• Writes grant proposals and grant reports, as necessary

Supervisory Responsibilities:
Shared supervisory authority over Program Assistants and Administrative Manager.

Education and/or Experience:

• Required: Master’s degree (M.A.) in Public Administration, Public Policy, or other applicable advanced degree; previous experience with American Indian and Alaska Native justice issues a must; background in training and technical assistance; experience providing programming for tribal audiences; substantial experience (three + years) with American Indian/Alaska Native Tribal Court systems, including Tribal adult, juvenile, and/or family drug courts (wellness courts). Experience in program assessment.
• Strongly preferred: Juris Doctorate; Minimum of three (3) years of direct service experience working with Tribal communities and federal agencies. Tribal Wellness Court experience a plus. 

Language/Writing Skills:

• Required: Must possess strong written communication skills, including excellent grammar, spelling and proofreading skills. 
• Preferred: Experience in development of training materials, including training manuals, compilation of research, grant and other types of reports, power point presentations and basic business correspondence. Ability to read and interpret documents such as statutes, law enforcement reports, government or agency regulations and case law.

Communication/Presentation Skills:

• Required: Must possess strong oral communication skills. Demonstrated ability to communicate orally to a variety of audiences.  Ability to present educational workshops for Tribal nations and organizations on issues pertaining to related projects. Proven ability to communicate in a culturally sensitive environment. 

 Reasoning Ability:

• Required: Ability to solve practical problems as well as address the complex challenges related to working within Tribal communities and Tribal Court systems; also understanding and dealing with state and federal agencies.
• Preferred: Advanced understanding of federal Indian law and Tribal legal systems. Creativity, problem-solving, and a sense of humor are benefits in this position.

Organizational Skills:

• Required: Must be a highly organized and self-motivated individual with the ability to work independently.  Must be able to exercise initiative and effectively handle multiple priorities simultaneously, work cooperatively in a team environment, and complete assigned tasks in a timely manner. 

Other Skills and Abilities:

• Required: Proficient and/or demonstrated ability to learn a wide range of computer software- such as Office Word, Outlook, SharePoint, Access, Excel, Lexis Nexis and others. Travel is required – must be willing to travel.

How to Apply:
Submit, via email, a cover letter, resume, one writing sample, and three references to:

Jessica Allen, Administrative Manager
Tribal Law and Policy Institute
Email:  Jerry@tlpi.org, Heather@tlpi.org, Jessica@tlpi.org

Application deadline:
Wednesday – March 31, 2010

The Tribal Law and Policy Institute is an equal opportunity employer. Tribal citizens, women, and persons of color are encouraged to apply.

Sad to report the passing of a true giant in the world of Native American law

From the Yakima Herald:

"Longtime Yakama Nation attorney Tim Weaver left behind big shoes to fill, a tribal leader said Tuesday, a day after his death.

Weaver, a champion of American Indian law who battled in court for Yakama fishing rights, died at home Monday. He was 65.

He will be remembered as an aggressive attorney who was an advocate for tribal treaty fishing rights and who honored the Yakamas' way of life, said Yakama General Council Vice Chairwoman Mavis Kindness.

"Those who knew him, those that knew they could rely on him are going to miss him," she said Tuesday. "It's going to be a big void. It's going to be tough for us to find someone who was as aggressive as he was and as assertive."

Weaver spent 40 years representing the tribe in state and federal courts -- including two cases in U.S. Supreme Court -- over myriad issues, including fishing and water rights, zoning and development and natural resources.

Some Yakama tribal leaders considered Weaver a warrior who respected the tribe's way of life. They point to a 1974 case he successfully argued all the way to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which for the first time affirmed the tribe's authority to enforce its own fishing laws outside reservation boundaries."

You can read more about our departed colleague HERE.  Our condolences go out to his family and friends.

twp

Workshop: Working with Native American Domestic Violence Survivors

April 6-7, 2010

8:30 am-4:30 pm

Fort McDowell, Arizona

Cost $50.00

 

This training is a two day training for advocates and professionals working with Native American domestic violence survivors. This training will expand your advocacy skills by learning about the impact of historical trauma and will cover topics regarding tribal/county/state/federal issues that can affect your advocacy response working with Native women.

 

For more information please contact the

Southwest Indigenous Women’s Coalition

602-266-8434 or

Arizona Coalition Against Domestic

Violence at 1-800-782-6400

To register please visit AzCADV website at www.azcadv.org or call at 1-800-782-6400

 

-CMD

Follow up on California case re: taxing per-capita payments

In the article TWP posted a few weeks ago regarding the California Court of Appeals ruling that the state could tax the per-capita payments received by a member of Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians living on the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indian reservation the member’s attorney stated that, “The law is if you live in Indian Country, and you're an Indian and you derive all the income from your tribe, on your tribe's land, you are supposed to be tax exempt.” What he is probably referring to is a 1973 US Supreme Court case called McClanahan v. Arizona State Tax Comm'n, 411 U.S. 164 (1973).

In that case the US Supreme Court found that the State of Arizona has no jurisdiction to impose a tax on the income of Navajo Indians residing on the Navajo Reservation and whose income is wholly derived from reservation sources, as is clear from the relevant treaty with the Navajos and federal statutes.

If you are interested in reading the case in its entirety click here.

-CMD

 

WELCOME, WELCOME, WELCOME a new Blog Editor, Ms. Carolyn Drouin, Esq.

I am quite pleased to announce that Ms. Carolyn Drouin has joined the blog as my fellow Blog Editor.

 

Carolyn M. Drouin is an Adjunct Instructor for the Law Advocates Program at Navajo Technical College in Crownpoint, Navajo Nation (NM) and the managing attorney of the DNA-People's Legal Services, Inc. Crownpoint Office.

After graduating from law school, Ms. Drouin moved to the Navajo Nation and served as a staff attorney in the Chinle DNA Office. There she assisted clients access relevant justice systems to address discrimination; secure legal protection for victims of abuse, assault, neglect, exploitation and fraud; help ensure economic stability and independence by protecting critical assets such as housing, cars, income, benefits, healthcare and educating clients to become economically self-sufficient and to avoid becoming trapped in a cycle of poverty. She was hired by Navajo Technical College in the spring of 2009 to teach Introduction to Law to students new to the Law Advocates Program. In August 2009, she was promoted to managing attorney and moved to manage her firm's Crownpoint office. She has found a slight niche in assisting the local silversmiths and craftspeople with taxation issues with both the state and federal governments. Since taking on the role as managing attorney, Carolyn has become a bit of a fixture in the Eastern Agency of the Navajo Nation. She is constantly on the road presenting at conferences, trainings, Chapter Houses, and Senior Centers on various legal issues that affect the local communities.  

Carolyn continues to teach for Navajo Technical College in the evenings and has taught Legal Research and Writing, Business Law, Advanced Business Law and Introduction to Law. Ms. Drouin’s classes are a hybrid; half of her students are physically present in her classroom at the main campus in Crownpoint and the other half attend class at the Chinle campus through a web conferencing system.

Prior to moving to the Navajo Nation, Ms. Drouin received her B.A., with distinction, from California State University at Monterey Bay. She was awarded the 2003 CSU Monterey Bay Presidential Award for Exemplary Student Achievement and gave the 2003 commencement valedictory address. Additionally, while attending CSU Monterey Bay, Ms. Drouin was selected and served as a Panetta Congressional Intern through Leon and Sylvia Panetta’s Public Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. She is a graduate of the Honors Lawyering Program at Golden Gate University School of Law, where she received her JD with a Specialization in Public Interest Law, with distinction, and was inducted into the Jesse W. Carter Society.

Carolyn is licensed to practice law in California, New Mexico, the Navajo Nation and before the United States Tax Court.

twp

PICTURES of 5th Annual Native Justice Powwow at University of Tulsa posted.....

We previously posted a notice about this event...and now are happy to say that pictures of last night's successful Powwow endeavor are posted on youtube in a slideshow that you can find HERE.

Enjoy.

twp

Conference to explore tribal role in future energy development

From our colleagues at ASU:

A conference focused on energy development and the role of tribes, now and in the future, is scheduled for March 25-26 in the Ventana Ballroom at ASU's Memorial Union.
"Tribal Energy Economies: Investing in a Sustainable Future" is sponsored by the Indian Legal Program at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law and the American Indian Policy Institute at ASU. The conference fee is $375 (by March 22), and $450 at the door. Register at http://www.regonline.com/builder/site/tab2.aspx?EventID=781817
The conference will assemble experts in project financing and energy development and will promote the exchange of ideas between tribal leaders, federal and state policymakers, attorneys, financiers and academicians.
"The College of Law is a national leader on both Indian Law and Law and Sustainability," said Paul Schiff Berman, Dean of the College of Law. "With this conference we will become a key player in the creation of energy and development strategies in Indian Country, and we will provide the intellectual resources so that mutually beneficial deals can be struck."
The Indian Legal Program is proud to sponsor the conference on the future of energy development in Indian Country, said Professor Rebecca Tsosie, Executive Director of the Indian Legal Program and an Affiliate Professor in ASU's American Indian Studies Program.

"The issue is of global and national importance, given the major shifts in energy policy that are likely to occur in response to climate change," said Tsosie, a Willard H. Pedrick Distinguished Research Scholar at the College of Law. "Indian nations are poised to become global leaders in this discussion, as they explore whether and how to develop renewable and alternative energy resources, in addition to conventional forms of energy production. Many tribal communities possess deeply embedded cultural norms of sustainability that can inform tribal energy policies, as well as national energy directives. We look forward to an active and inspirational set of presentations, and we are honored to host these leaders at ASU."
Energy production offers great potential for sustainable economic development in Indian country, said Professor Carl Artman, Director of the College of Law's Economic Development in Indian Country Program.
"The foundation of a tribal energy economy will be the land and infrastructure of the tribe, but success will be built on the imagination and determination of the leadership," Artman said. "This conference, the first of a series that will focus on tribal economic development, will bring together leaders from Indian country, policy development, business, and finance. It will provide a platform for veterans of traditional energy development to trade experiences with those on the precipice of new forms of production, while simultaneously providing both networking and learning opportunities." The conference is the first opportunity people will have to speak with and question the authors of new federal energy legislation, the Indian Energy Promotion and Parity Act of 2010. Recently introduced by U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, the bill seeks to address many of the challenges facing Indian tribes as they try to establish a foothold in the larger energy development industry. The proposed legislation contends with rights-of-way across Indian lands, inclusion of tribes in regional and state infrastructure planning, and financing matters.
Conference panels include: A Brief Look Back to the Past with and Eye to the Future, Federal Initiatives that Will Help Define the Future; The Impact of Current Legislation on Indian Country Energy Economies, The Business of RPS, Carbon Markets, and Indian Country, Renewable Energy on Indian Lands, Alternative Energy on Indian Lands, Logistics and Transmission, Financing of Energy Projects and Tribal Infrastructure and Sustainability.
Larry EchoHawk, Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs, and other invited panelists include tribal, governmental, financial and corporate experts, including representatives of the Osage Nation, the Navajo Nation, the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara, Quinault Indian Nation, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, the Campo Kumeyaay Nation, National Congress of American Indians, and the Gila River Indian Community.
Rep. Christopher Clark Deschene (D-St. Michaels), a panelist on the session, "The Impact of Current Legislation on Indian Country Energy Economies," said he is anticipating a productive and informative discussion of U.S. House and Senate energy policy development as it pertains to current energy projects in Indian Country.
"As Indian Country progresses into the 21st century, energy policy must be considered as a vital component to building economies and strengthening tribal sovereignty," Deschene said. "I believe tribes, corporations and utilities all recognize the importance of energy development in Indian Country."Participating energy entities include Ta-Té Topa (Four Winds) Energy Corp., TectaSolar, Oneida Seven Generations Corp, Warm Springs Power & Water Enterprises, Diné Power Authority, APS, Citizen's Wind, Solventerra LLC, and NativeEnergy. There also will be representatives of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior, the Arizona Legislature, the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Department of Agriculture for Rural Development, as well as numerous financial and legal experts.
Tracey LeBeau, a tribal energy attorney and Director of the Indian Country Renewable Energy Consortium (ICREC), will moderate the conference panel, "Logistics and Transmission, which will examine the critical importance of, obstacles and opportunities for energy infrastructure growth.
"All the energy generation in the world is only as good as our ability to get it to market," said LeBeau, Senior Managing Director at Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP in Phoenix. "A heretofore untapped critical mass of renewable resources is in Indian Country. Indian Country needs transmission and infrastructure investments and is ready to step up as partners, rather than simply hosts, for projects and for infrastructure."
The conference will offer the tools for Indian energy entrepreneurs to chart a course for tribes to increase their leverage now and create sustainable energy economies for the future. Participants will discuss strategies to promote investment and prepare tribes for a transition into sustainable energy economies, and examine the economic and cultural issues associated with large-scale build-outs on tribal lands.
"I hope participants will learn to look at energy, not just as a single event opportunity, but a chance for Indian communities, and those communities surrounding Indian Country, to look at the entire energy value chain -- infrastructure, manufacturing, renewable generation, green jobs, clean technology development," said ICREC Board President James Gray, Principal Chief of the Osage Nation, who will deliver the conference's introductory remarks. "And Indian Country isn't going anywhere. The jobs Native American tribes and corporations create will stay native to America."
The conference is designed for tribal leaders, directors, attorneys, and council members; bankers and financiers working in Indian country or in the traditional or renewable energy sector; energy engineering consultants and providers of technical professional services in architecture, building, engineering design and planning. For more information, contact Darlene Lester at 480-965-7715, or darlene.lester@asu.edu.

Major Crimes Act doesn't apply if you only have "Indian heritage?"

From the Billings (Montana) Gazette:

"An appeals court on Tuesday threw out the convictions of two Montana men with American Indian heritage after ruling their bloodlines and affiliations did not merit prosecution under the law that establishes federal jursidiction over serious crimes on tribal lands.

The men successfully appealed their convictions on the grounds that they were not American Indians for purposes of prosecution under the Major Crimes Act.

U.S. Attorney Michael W. Cotter said his office was reviewing the ruling to determine whether it would seek a retrial.

"Although we are disappointed with the results of the opinion in these cases, we welcome additional clarity in this gray area of the law," he said in a statement."

See the full story HERE.

twp

Followup - Navajo Supreme Court puts hold on cases pending assessment of changes in Dine' Fundamental Law

From the Navajo Times story:

The Navajo Nation Supreme Court has pushed back two high-profile cases by a month in the wake of a new law that the court says could enhance the Navajo Nation Council's immunity against lawsuits, and may not be valid.

The law in question limits the use of Diné Fundamental Law to Peacemaker Court, and the justices said in two orders issued March 4 that this raises questions in both cases, because both sides rely heavily on Fundamental Law in their briefs.

The cases at hand are Timothy Nelson v. Joe Shirley Jr. and his initiative committee, in which a Western Agency voter is seeking to overturn the Dec. 15 special election that reduced the council from 88 to 24 members; and Office of the President v. Navajo Nation Council, in which the council is appealing a Dec. 14 ruling that reinstated Shirley after the council put him on leave.

Stung by recent rulings that invoked Diné Fundamental Law, the council in January passed a bill to prevent the courts from basing rulings on Fundamental Law. The hastily drawn legislation did not address what would become of cases already in process that cite Fundamental Law, such as the election challenge that most delegates are openly supporting.

You can read the full story HERE.

twp

Interesting internship available

NEW JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OUTREACH EFFORT TO VICTIMS 
OF RADIATION EXPOSURE ANNOUNCED 
Program Will Include Paid Internship Program for Students 
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today announced a new internship program that will employ students part-time to conduct intensive outreach efforts with Native Americans and their families whose work in the uranium industry during the Cold War benefitted the United States but exposed them to radiation and may entitle them to compensation under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA). The internship will be based in the Four Corners region (Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona) and include a two-week training program in Washington, D.C., where college and graduate students will learn about the RECA Program, a compensation system established by Congress in 1990 and administered by the Civil Division of the Department of Justice. 
RECA seeks to compensate individuals who contracted certain cancers or other serious diseases after being exposed to radiation through nuclear weapons tests or work in the uranium mining industry between 1942 and 1971. Although the program has awarded compensation to individuals residing in every state, most applications are filed by people living in the Four Corners region. Culture, tradition and custom sometimes present special concerns for Native American claimants that may make successful claims more difficult when compared with the general population of RECA claimants. Students will be recruited from tribal communities in the Four Corners region and will receive instruction in federal law, government service and community outreach. 
“The RECA program is an important part of the Attorney General’s commitment to this administration’s work in strengthening the nation-to-nation relationship with tribal governments,” said Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “We want to ensure that all eligible applicants have access to the RECA program, which is why we’re continually seeking to improve our outreach efforts. In addition to helping us reach those Cold War Patriots who are suffering and are entitled to compensation, this internship program will provide much needed summer jobs to bright students looking for an opportunity to serve.” 
Under RECA, people in the following claimant categories may receive payments: uranium miners, millers and ore transporters; people who were present at nuclear weapons tests; and people who lived in certain areas “downwind” of the Nevada Nuclear Test Site. The law also requires sensitivity toward “established law, tradition and custom of the particular affected 
Indian tribe.” The outreach efforts are intended to inform people about the program and help eligible claimants apply for payments. 
Assistant Attorney General West will speak to students at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Ariz., about the RECA Internship on March 29, 2010. He will also speak to students at the University of New Mexico in Gallup, N.M., on March 30 and at Diné College in Shiprock, N.M., on March 31. 
The RECA Internship will cover all travel costs as well as room and board for interns and pay a small stipend to cover incidental expenses. While the RECA program will sponsor the internships, a contractor, not the U.S. government, will employ the selected students. 
In order to be eligible for the RECA Internship, applicants must be students in good standing. Two Washington, D.C., training sessions will be offered: June 7 to 18, 2010, and July 26 to August 6, 2010. The deadline for applicants for the June training session is April 15, 2010. The deadline for the July training session is May 1, 2010. Applications will be available online at www.justice.gov/civil/Employment.htm on March 10, 2010, or interested students may contact RECA staff at (202) 616-4304 or civil.reca@usdoj.gov to have an application mailed to them. 
# # # 
10-233 
DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, PLEASE USE THE CONTACTS IN THE MESSAGE OR CALL THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS AT 202-514-2007.

twp

Upcoming conference on Crimes Against Children in Indian Country

Our colleagues at Fox Valley Technical College will be conducting the named conference April 6-8, along with a special 7-hour training opportunity in Native Youth Gangs.  You can find the signups and information on their website HERE.

twp

If you're getting per-cap payments, live on your own reservation (at least in California)

There's no practical place to live on the 240 acres section of land that constitutes the 29 Palms Band of Indians reservation.

However, they have a casino....and the members get per-cap payments.  

BUT, if you don't want California to tax your per-cap as income, even though you're a tribal member, even though you happen to be living in Indian Country (just on another tribe's reservation, in this instance, the member in question was living on the Cauhilla Band's reservation), you better move onto your OWN tribe's lands.

So says the California Court of Appeals.  The case will be taken to the state's Supreme Court.

See the full story HERE.

twp

How teaching Indian Law online works....

With tribes and reservations scattered all over the United States, many in the remotest parts of the country, but all with a crying need for legal services and education, how do you provide it?

Here's one college that's taking a whack at it, and it seems to be working....Montana State University is teaching Indian Law courses, leading to a certificate, online.

Your humble blog editor, for those who don't know, teaches for full-blown online law school, Concord Law School of Kaplan University.  We don't have courses in Indian Law - YET.  But there will come a time when a student will be able to get a complete legal education, to include a concentration in Indian Law, online.  I am certain of it.

You can read the full story of what MSU is doing HERE.

twp

More legal turmoil in Hopi tribal government

The Hopi Tribe's new Tribal Chairman has formally and officially asked some members of the Tribal Council to step down from their posts, based on claims that they were improperly chosen for those positions.  This is backed up by an opinion from the fairly-newly-reconstituted Hopi Appellate Court.

The Council members in question decline to do so.

So it looks like things will continue to be unsettled in Hopi tribal government for awhile....this on the heels of disputes over, and resignations of, the previous Tribal Chairman and Vice-Chairman.  

See the full story HERE in the Navajo-Hopi Observer.

twp

Important 10th Circuit decision - Osage Nation reservation dis-established

You can read the full opinion by the 10th Circuit HERE, thanks to our colleagues on the Turtletalk blog.

It's an important issue and an important case - put simply, if the Osage Nation still had a reservation, it's members wouldn't have to pay state taxes therein.  If not, then the members WOULD have to pay the taxes.  The State of Oklahoma, of course, wants the money.  

The federal district court said that the reservation was disestablished.  The 10th Circuit agrees.  Prediction - we'll see a cert. petition to the Supreme Court on this one (which will probably decline to hear the case).

twp

University of Tulsa Law School offers Native American Pre Law Day and Powwow

Thinking about law as a career? Come see whether law school is for you! Learn how you can prepare now for a career in Law. Prominent Native American attorneys will discuss their backgrounds and careers, specialists will provide information about the law school admissions process and how to finance a legal education, and current Indian law students will tell what law school is really like! Native American Pre Law Day will be held at the University of Tulsa College of Law on Saturday, March 20th, 2010, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. This event, made possible through a grant from the Law School Admission Council, is being co-sponsored by The University of Tulsa College of Law, Oklahoma City University School of Law, and The University of Oklahoma College of Law. All American Indian college and senior high school students and other Native Americans considering law school are invited to attend. A limited number of scholarships are available to assist with transportation and hotel costs for students outside easy driving distance of Tulsa. Space is limited, and registration is on a first come first serve basis. Please register in advance. Walk-ins are welcomed only as space permits. Following the Native American Pre-Law Day, all attendees of the pre-law event, their families, the Native American Community, and others interested in attending a traditional powwow, are invited to attend The University of Tulsa College of Law Annual Native Justice Powwow from 3:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. in the Allen Chapman Activity Center on The University of Tulsa campus. The Native Justice Powwow will honor tribal attorneys, police, and court personnel.

You can find the registration form HERE.

Personal note:  You MAY find your humble blog editor there, depending on how schedules work out.

twp

Followup - Senecas v. NY state over cigarettes, Round # (we've lost track)

Here's the latest:  "Seneca Nation officials will "vigorously oppose" all state efforts to "interfere" with its economy, reports Barry E. Snyder Sr., Seneca Nation president.

His comments come after Gov. David Paterson's office rescinded a state tax department policy to not collect taxes on Indian cigarette sales. Paterson also proposed regulations limiting the amount of tax-free cigarettes that may legally be supplied to Native American nations or tribes."

See the full story HERE.

twp