Credit is offered from a variety of academic departments, including Law (LAW), Native American Studies (NAS). Additional departments may offer credit; please check back often. Students may earn academic credits (in only one department per course) or CLEs.
Each course is listed with its corresponding Course Request Number (CRN), which is used to register for the course.
Because tribes are sovereign governments, the field of Indian Law encompasses distinct legal issues and legal sources. Researching both federal Indian law (the law of the relationship between tribal governments and the U.S. government) and tribal law (the law of individual tribes) requires a different set of tools and research skills than those students are introduced to in a basic legal research course. In this course, students will learn the skills and sources necessary to research general Indian law issues as well as the very specialized skills and sources used in researching the legal history of a tribe, including reserved treaty rights. The course will cover researching treaties, Indian land claims, statutory and case law, and tribal law. Students will actively participate in a research assignment throughout the course. May 29-June 1.
Instructor: Stacey Gordon, University of Montana
This course will focus on renewable energy projects on public and Indian lands. A special emphasis will be placed on rights of way under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and the issues that arise under the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act. The course will also cover related topics about natural resource issues on tribal lands. June 4-June 8.
instructor: Ted Boling & Patrice Kunesh, Deputy Solicitors, U.S. Dept. of Interior
A significant amount of land owned by the U.S. government is held for the benefit of the general public and must be managed in light of that purpose. Managers of federal public lands must balance a number of competing uses, including 1) preserving environmental, historical, and cultural resources; 2) protecting the environment and public health; and 3) accommodating religious practices. This course examines the domestic and international laws that govern this delicate balance. Examples of such laws include the Endangered Species Act, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, and the American Indian Religious Freedom Act. Students will also learn negotiation strategies, as the course will use role play and negotiations as a vehicle for learning and applying the substantive law. June 11-June 15.
Instructor: Melissa Tatum, Research Professor of Law & Associate Director, Indigenous Peoples Law & Policy Program
This course explores the identity, ownership, appropriation and repatriation of both tangible and intangible cultural property – those items which are of great significance to the cultural heritage and cultural survival of a people. The course considers the importance of the preservation of cultural property as a means of maintaining group identity, self-determination, and collective rights. It examines both international and domestic law governing these issues, and addresses such questions as: How should cultural property be defined? Can cultural property be protected under the existing intellectual property and cultural property regimes? How can we balance the protection of cultural property against the need or desire for its use in creative expression or scientific advancement? Although the course examines the cultural property of groups in general, it maintains a particular emphasis on the cultural property of indigenous peoples, including folklore, traditional knowledge, burial grounds, sacred sites and ancient ceremonies and traditions. June 18-June 22.
Instructors: Angela Riley, UCLA School of Law
This class will provide students a review of federal statutes, regulations, and case law pertaining to Indian gaming. Students will review legislative initiatives seeking to amend laws affecting Indian gaming, the gaming regulation system, and contemporary issues facing "gaming" tribes. Special emphasis will be placed on Montana tribal gaming concerns. June 25-June 29.
Instructor: Melissa Schlichting, Staff Attorney, National Indian Gaming Commission
Economic development for Indian Nations and their citizens is one of the most important topics in Indian law and policy today. Indian gaming gets all the headlines but the grinding poverty and lack of economic activity on reservations is a fact of life for almost all American Indians and their governments. This class will analyze this crucial topic and explore the practical and theoretical issues facing American Indian governments in bringing economic development to their reservations that is profitable, sustainable, and culturally appropriate. July 9-July 13.
Instructors: Gavin Clarkson, University of Houston Law Center