The Law of American Indians Posts
UVA Law Professor Sees Possible Threat to Native American Protections
A federal adoption law mandating that Native American children should be kept with Indian families whenever possible is under challenge by a white couple in Texas.
McGirt v. Oklahoma and the Past, Present, and Future of Reservation Boundaries
“Unlawful acts, performed long enough and with sufficient vigor, are never enough to amend the law.” So reads McGirt v. Oklahoma, the most important reservation boundary case in the history of the Supreme Court.
Department of Justice Invests More than $295.8 Million in Grants to Improve Public Safety, Serve Crime Victims in American Indian and Alaska Native Communities
On Sept. 30, 2020 the DOJ announced it has awarded more than $295.8 million to improve public safety, serve victims of crime and support youth programs in American Indian and Alaska Native communities.
House Passes Savanna’s Act Bill, Goes to President to be Signed into Law
On Sept. 21, 2002, Senator John Hoeven, chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, issued a statement after the U.S. House of Representatives passed Savanna’s Act, legislation he cosponsored that requires reporting on missing and murdered Native Americans.
The Other American Law
This Article brings to the fore the exclusion of tribal governments and their laws from our mainstream conception of “American law” and identifies this exclusion as both an inconsistent omission and a missed opportunity.
Native Youth Navigate Complex, Contradictory Jurisdictions
Unlike other children, Native American children can be tried and sentenced in tribal, state or federal justice systems. Once they make contact with the justice system, Native youth face unique complications that many don’t understand[.]
McGirt v. Oklahoma: Understanding What the Supreme Court’s Native American Treaty Rights Decision Is and Is Not
Confusion permeates the public arena as to what the U.S. Supreme Court recently did – and didn’t do – by ruling in favor of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, a federally recognized Native American tribe, and against the state in McGirt v. Oklahoma.
Opinion analysis: Justices toe hard line in affirming reservation status for eastern Oklahoma
On July 9, 2020 the Supreme Court of the United States held that land in northeastern Oklahoma reserved for the Creek Nation since the 19th century remains a reservation for the purpose of a federal statute that gives the federal government exclusive jurisdiction to try certain major crimes committed by “[a]ny Indian” in “the Indian country.”
Pandemics and Inherent Tribal Powers
This short essay argues for tribal regulatory powers over nonmembers in Indian country during a pandemic. This should be an easy argument, but federal Indian law makes it more complicated than it should be.
Tribal Economic Development – Indian Gaming
The following text is excerpted from Restatement of the Law, The Law of American Indians, Tentative Draft No. 4, Chapter. 4. Tribal Economic Development. The video included with this post provides an overview of the entire draft.