Indigenous Rights Movements & the Law

By Katarina Ziervogel Tamara Chipman, a 22-year-old woman from Moricetown First Nations in British Columbia first went missing on September 21, 2005 near Prince Rupert. Tamara was last seen hitchhiking from Prince Rupert to Terrace in British Columbia, on Highway 16, best known as the Highway of Tears, where several other women have gone missing or have been found murdered. The name “Highway of Tears” gives Highway 16 an ominous energy. It’s a long route for hitchhikers who once thought it was safe to travel the highway in beautiful British Columbia. Chipman’s aunt Gladys Radek did not foresee that the time she spent with Tamara in 2001 would be the last time she saw her. All families of missing and murdered Indigenous women unfortunately share that in common with Gladys, which led her to create a non-profit organization called “Walk4Justice”...

A federal judge has ordered the Biden administration to reinstate a drilling lease that has been in dispute for decades on land near the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.

A groundbreaking free-tuition program has administrators determining who qualifies. It’s harder than it looks.

Ohio State Professor Stephen Gavazzi learned a painful truth about Land Grant Universities — just after his book on the subject went to press. Now he’s working with a team of Ohio State researchers to find a path to healing harm done to indigenous tribes when they lost lands to fund the university through the Morrill Act of 1862.   Link to transcript

PEACH SPRINGS, Ariz. (AP) — Garnett Querta slips on his work gloves as he shifts the big rig he’s driving into park. Within seconds, he unrolls a fire hose and opens a hydrant, sending water flowing into one of the plastic tanks on the truck’s flat bed.

A collective voice for the victims who have been silenced

Over the past year, a wave of higher education institutions and state governments have worked to reduce the cost of college for Indigenous students. These tuition relief efforts come at a critical tim

A digitization program allows tribes to decide who can access oral histories.

Amira Dehmani, a 2022 Liljenquist Family Fellow at the Library of Congress, explores the role of the Cherokee Nation in the Civil War.

November is Native American Heritage Month, a time dedicated to celebrating the rich and diverse culture, history, and contributions of Native people.  Each year, the UW–Madison campus cultivates a diverse portfolio of events in recognition …

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 22, 2022 Contact: Rachel Lederman or Natali Segovia, Water Protector Legal Collective defense@waterprotectorlegal.org Earth Day this year marks an important day for Water Protectors who are still seeking accountability from Morton County and law enforcement for mass human rights violations committed over five years ago at Standing Rock. Today, Water Protectors filed an appeal in the Dundon v. Kirchmeier civil rights case. Dundon v. Kirchmeier is a federal civil rights

UA’s Federalist Society (FedSoc) asked NALSA to co-sponsor an Indian Child Welfare Act event and help them find a faculty member who could speak about its benefits. We asked FedSoc for more information about the event, and they informed us that they envisioned a well-rounded and educational discussion about the “positive and negative” impacts of ICWA in child welfare cases. Due to conflicting schedules, we were unable to help. It came to our attention that FedSoc titled the event, Separate but Equal Lives: The Indian Child Welfare Act and its Mistreatment of Native Children, which negates their goal of a well-rounded discussion and perpetuates harmful rhetoric about Native communities. We respectfully asked FedSoc to change the title days before it was published in the College of Law’s Weekly Bulletin, but they refused. We now respectfully request that the James E. Rogers College of Law require a title change. We also ask those who are interested in this subject to attend the two ICWA events this week that amplify Native peoples’ lived experiences to create a well-rounded perspective.

Since it was established last year, the Indigenous Resilience Center has added to its roster experts who have long worked with and for Native American communities. University leaders hope tribes can

The tribe recently renewed its campaign for Congress to seat its delegate in the House of Representatives -- a right stipulated by the 1835 Treaty of New Echota.

In the 21st century, many law schools offer Indian law but generally are still far behind the curve. Worse, when it is offered, the Indian law canon tends to be taught in ways that ignore contemporary tribal agency by emphasizing historical events over modern issues. This article gives examples of tribal court cases and tribal statutes law teachers can use to incorporate Indian law into virtually any common law course.

EXAMINATION OF THE UNITED STATES ALTERNATIVE (SHADOW) REPORT ANSWERING THE PRIVATE SECURITY AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES THEME OF REVIEW FOR THE UNITED STATESSubmitted by the Water Protector Legal Collective in collaboration with the International Organization for Self-Determination and EqualityJuly 22, 2022

Working Group III contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

The justices will decide whether the federal government has a duty to address the tribe's right to access Colorado River waters.

BRIEF OF AMICI CURIAE NATIONAL INDIGENOUS WOMEN’S RESOURCE CENTER, STEPHANIE BENALLY, AND SANDY WHITE HAWK, ET. AL. IN SUPPORT OF THE FEDERAL PARTIES AND TRIBAL DEFENDANTS

November is both National Native American Heritage Month and National Adoption Month . Tomorrow, November 9, the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a case that has implications related to both, Brackeen v. Haaland , which concerns the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA), 25 U.S.C. §§ 1

After decades of stripping away Native American identity from its students, a Catholic boarding school seeks to help the community heal.

By Joan Policastri Finding tribal law is hard. Professor Elizabeth Reese’s talk to IALL annual course attendees outlined the difficulties, the reasons those exist, and proposed ways in which she fe…

In this episode of the podcast we discuss the issue of the massive transfer of wealth from tribal nations who underwrote the founding of land-grant universities and how institutions are beginning to address and contend with difficult questions abo...

STEPPING OUT & STEPPING UP: THE LAND-GRANT TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION PROJECT Stepping Out of Our Comfort Zone & Stepping Up to Our Responsibilities

To Phenocia Bauerle, the words “land-grant college” carry a particular weight. A member of the Apsáalooke tribe, she grew up in Montana, a state where, as she puts it, “it’s understood what a land-grant institution means: It means Native land was taken.”

A federal judge has ruled Canadian energy firm Enbridge trespassed on Bad River tribal lands and profited at the tribe’s expense but stopped short of shutting down an oil and gas pipeline across the Bad River reservation.

The microcampus's initial curriculum will include the Indigenous Governance Program courses jointly offered by the James E. Rogers College of Law and Native Nations Institute for Leadership,