Our condolences to the family and friends of Professor and Dean David Getches

The field has lost one of its giants.

David Getches, a leading American Indian rights lawyer and former dean of the University of Colorado School of Law, has died from pancreatic cancer. He was 68, the Associated Press reports.

Getches worked on several groundbreaking Native court cases and was the founding director of the Native American Rights Fund.  Among American Indian rights cases litigated by Getches, the 1974 United States v. Washington case is cited by the National Congress of American Indians as the leading case on enforcement of tribal treaty rights. That case involved the fishing rights of Northwest tribes granted under treaties signed in the 1800s.

RIP