Cherokee author Steve Russell’s new book is out – as blogged by Matthew Fletcher. Steve humbly failed to shamelessly self-promote this, so I’ll do it for him. Congrats Steve and happy semi-retirement! The book can be purchased (at a very reasonable price) by Carolina Academic Press here.
Congress finally passed the Tribal Law and Order Act and it awaits Obama’s signature. The full text to the Act is here. The big news is that tribal court sentencing powers are increased to three years and/or $15,000 in some instances and that there are new provisions for accountability when a US attorney declines to prosecute an Indian Country criminal matter.
Judge J. Matthew Martin (Associate Judge at EBCI) has a new law review article out The Nature and Extent of the Exercise of Criminal Jurisdiction by the Cherokee Supreme Court: 1823-1835 at 32 North Carolina Central Law Rev. 27 (2009). The most interesting part of the article is the evidence that the Cherokee Nation did exercise criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians (albiet over the non-Indians’ objection). It’s on westlaw and an earlier version of the final piece is here.
The Annual Tribal Law Conference at the KU School of Law will be held this year in conjunction with the Four Tribes in Kansas’ Native Nations Law Symposium. Day one (Feb 11th) at KU Law. Day two (Feb. 12th) at Prairie Band Casino and Resort. Agenda and on-line registration here. Among the topics are tribal economic development, gaming, tribal court jurisdiction, probate reform and ethics in tribal government. Cherokee Nation tribal citizens Stacy Leeds, Mark Dodd, and Melody McCoy are among the speakers.
LAWRENCE — Most people think of Indian treaty making as a convention of the past, but a leading tribal scholar will make a case for its resurgence during the 13th annual Tribal Law and Government Conference at the University of Kansas School of Law. Robert Clinton, Foundation Professor of Law at the Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, will present “The Return of Indian Treaty Making” during the event, set to run from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13, at the Gridiron Room in the Burge Union, 1601 Irving Hill Road. His presentation is part of a lineup that represents a forward-focused view of tribal law and governance. “The speakers are experts in their field and represent a good interdisciplinary cross-section of law and policy,” said Stacy Leeds, professor of law and director of the Tribal Law and Government Center at the KU School of Law. “In contrast to many conferences that focus on federal case decisions and federal law as it relates to Indian tribes, the speakers at this conference will offer observations on the role of tribal law and tribal governments. “They each will discuss new approaches or new perspectives on tribal decision making and tribal governance with an eye toward the future. The presentations will not dwell on the history of federal Indian law and policy but instead, on the future of indigenous law and policy making.” In addition to Clinton, who is chief justice of the Winnebago Supreme Court and associate justice of other tribal courts, conference presenters will include: — Patrice Kunesh, University of South Dakota School of Law, “Tribal Self-Determination in the Age of Scarcity”
Tribal law conference casts eye on future of indigenous policy making
— Aliza Organick, Washburn University School of Law, “Teaching Culture in the Classroom: Tribal Law and Best Practices in Legal Education”
— Steve Russell, Indiana University, “Sequoyah Rising: Doing What We Can with What We’ve Got”
— Christine Zuni-Cruz, University of New Mexico School of Law, “‘Who are You?’ Indigenous Identity and the Lines of Tribe”
— Jeff Corntassel, University of Victoria School of Law, “Indigenous Governance Amidst the Forced Federalism Era”
I’ve gotten several calls and emails for more information on the recent federal lawsuit, so I will post the following earlier federal cases as background sources for the history buffs among us who want to read the full text of these decisions.
The Cherokee Nation has initiated a new lawsuit against a few freedmen individuals and the Secretary of Interior seeking a federal ruling on the citizenship question. The case is styled Cherokee Nation v. Nash (and others) and here’s the complaint that was filed in the Northern District. To summarize, the Cherokee Nation argues that the freedmen have no continuing federal right to tribal citizenship because the freedmen provisions of the Treaty of 1866 were abrogated by Congress when it passed the Five Tribes Act in 1906.
You may recognize the Defendant Nash as being the lead Plaintiff in the class action freedmen lawsuit that is currently pending in the Cherokee Nation judiciary. In Nash v. Cherokee Nation, the freedmen have filed a motion for summary judgment with respect to the 1866 Treaty. To summarize, the freedmen argue that the freedmen provisions of the Treaty of 1866 are still binding federal/tribal law.
You may also recall that there is another pending federal lawsuit on this issue in the DC district court. In that case, a group of freedmen initiated a lawsuit against the Department of the Interior and did not name the Cherokee Nation as a defendant. The Cherokee Nation was allowed to intervene in the lawsuit and the case was dismissed as against the Cherokee Nation government on sovereign immunity grounds. The case is, however proceeding on the merits, as against the Principal Chief and other tribal officers on the grounds that they are acting outside of their authority in violation of federal law, ie. the 1866 Treaty.
These three cases proceed simultaneously for now.
KU's annual Tribal Law & Government Center Conference
will be held on February 13th, 2009 in Lawrence, Kansas.
The conference is free of charge and open to the public, but please register in advance
| 8:30-9 a.m. | Registration and Coffee |
| 9-9:30 a.m. | Welcome and Introductions Stacy L. Leeds, Professor of Law and Director, Tribal Law & Government Center, University of Kansas School of Law Gail Agrawal, Dean and Professor of Law, University of Kansas School of Law |
| 9:30-10:20 a.m. | "Tribal Self-Determination in the Age of Scarcity" Patrice Kunesh, Professor of Law, University of South Dakota School of Law |
| 10:20-10:40 a.m. | BREAK |
| 10:40-11:30 a.m. | "Teaching Culture in the Classroom: Tribal Law and Best Practices in Legal Education" Aliza Organick, Professor of Law, Washburn University School of Law |
| 11:40 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | "Sequoyah Rising: Doing What We Can With What We've Got" Steve Russell, Professor, University of Indiana |
| 12:30-1:30 p.m. | LUNCH on own |
| 1:30-2:20 p.m. | "The Return of Indian Treaty Making" Robert Clinton, Foundation Professor of Law, Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law |
| 2:30-3:20 p.m. | "'Who Are You?' Indigenous Identity and the Lines of Tribe" Christine Zuni-Cruz, Professor of Law, University of New Mexico School of Law |
| 3:20-3:40 p.m. | BREAK |
| 3:40-4:30 p.m. | "Indigenous Governance Amidst the Forced Federalism Era" Jeff Corntassel, Associate Professor, University of Victoria School of Law |
| 4:30 p.m. | Closing Remarks |
As I previously mentioned, we are starting a new feature aimed at promoting the publications of Cherokee scholars. The first entry is Professor Jeff Corntassel's new book entitled "Forced Federalism: Contemporary Challenges to Indigenous Nationhood" published by OU Press in 2008. Jeff has been kind enough to share a link to the first chapter of the book which can be downloaded in pdf here. The author also has a personal website.
I have had several requests for legal documents relating to the allotment of Cherokee lands. The full text of the Curtis Act and the 1902 Cherokee Agreement have now been added to the Cherokee Documents page of this blog. The Curtis Act is the federal legislation paving the way for the allotment of the Five Tribes’ lands. The 1902 Agreement is the Cherokee-specific allotment process adopted by vote of the Cherokee citizens at that time.