That is five more than required for the J.D.

This course is offered every academic year in the fall semester and is a pre-requisite for participation in the Margery Hunter Brown Indian Law Clinic (MHBILC), although the course can be taken concurrently with participation in the MHBILC upon approval of the MHBILC Director.

These courses may be offered every other academic year depending on student interest or which have been offered as summer courses and are generally divided according to the following areas of interest:

• Foundations
  • Advanced Problems in Indian Law
  • Tribal Courts/Tribal Law
  • Mastering American Indian Law
• Natural Resources
  • Advanced Indian Natural Resources Law
  • American Indian Natural Resources Law
  • Water Law
  • Indian Water Law
  • Protection of Wildlife and the Environment in Indian Country
  • Indian Land Issues
  • Indian Property Law
• Economic Development
  • Indian Gaming
  • Economic Development in Indian Country
  • Energy in Indian Country
  • Taxation & Finance in Indian Country
• Social Issues
  • Indian Child Welfare Act
  • American Indian Cultural and Religious Freedoms
  • Tribal Criminal Law and Procedure
  • Indian Health Law
  • Indigenous Cultural Preservation
  • Voting Rights in Indian Country
  • Art & Cultural Property
• Indian Law and Policy
  • Tribal-State Relations
  • Current Issues in Indian Law and Policy
  • Tribal-State Conflict of Law
  • Supreme Court Jurisprudence and Indian Country
  • Constitutional Issues Relating to Indian Legal Concepts
  • Public International Law
• Skills/Independent Study
  • Indian Law Research
  • National Native American Law Student Association (NNALSA) Moot Court Competition (only two credits of NNALSA Moot Court may count toward completion of the American Indian Law Certificate)
  • Independent study courses related to Indian law issues may be approved for consideration under the certificate program. (Students may only take up to two credits of Independent Study)

Take at least four credits in the Margery Hunter Brown Indian Law Clinic (MHBILC) or another clinic approved for consideration under the certificate program by the Director of the Indian Law Clinic and the Clinic Director. If a student takes more than four clinic credits in the Indian Law Clinic or an approved clinic, not more than four of the excess credits may be counted toward the nine credits of electives required for the certificate. (Note: Federal Indian Law is a pre-requisite for participation in the MHBILC, although the course can be taken concurrently with participation in the MHBILC upon approval of the MHBILC Director).

The Associate Dean's designate must review the topic and the final written product of every certificate program student to ensure that the work is appropriately related to an Indian law topic.

Federal Indian Law

Elective Course
Course Number: LAW 648
Credits: 3

This course examines the law that governs the relationship among American Indian tribes, the federal and state governments and those persons who may be subject to tribal jurisdiction. Students will learn about the evolution of federal Indian law from its late 18th century treaty-based origins to its early 21st century era of tribal self-determination. Specific topics for study and analysis include the foundational doctrines of original Indian title; inherent tribal sovereignty; congressional plenary authority over American Indian affairs; and the federal trust duty to protect American Indian lands and rights. These doctrines' impact on the contemporary lives, resources, cultures, and rights of the American Indian peoples will be evaluated within selected legal frameworks. These areas of analysis include: (a) civil and criminal jurisdiction within Indian country; (b) Indian natural resources law; (c) Indian environmental law; (d) Indian taxation; (e) Indian cultural and religious freedoms; (f) Indian child welfare law; (g) Indian gaming; (h) Indian economic development; (i) Indian reserved water rights; and (j) Indian hunting and fishing rights.

Tribal Courts / Tribal Law

Elective Course
Course Number: LAW 688
Credits: 3

This course is a study of tribal laws and tribal justice systems, both historically and currently, to evaluate the scope of tribal jurisdiction. This course examines a variety of tribal justice systems, including the tribes located in Montana to evaluate similarities and difference between tribal systems. This course compares tribal justice systems to state and federal systems of justice in the areas of criminal, civil, and regulatory laws. In doing so, this course delves exclusively into the laws of American Indian tribes and the cases decided by tribal courts. This course assists participants in navigating tribal courts and other indigenous dispute resolution forums, including the practice of law in Indian Country. Participants will come to learn that nearly all tribal jurisdictions can and do apply their own laws, not the laws of the United States or state law.

Advanced Problems in Federal Indian Law

Elective Course
Course Number: LAW 617
Credits: 3

This course focuses on how tribal attorneys and other advocates can assist contemporary tribal governments in achieving political, cultural, and economic self-determination. Tribal self-determination requires the development of effective means for the exercise of tribal sovereign powers. These means include the development of effective tribal justice systems, tribal governmental institutions, tribal administrative agencies, and tribal natural and cultural resource protection programs.

Mastering American Indian Law

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 617
Credits: 1

This course looks at fundamental aspects of American Indian law and provides a basic understanding of core Indian law principles, both on the federal and tribal level. The course familiarizes participants with the development of foundational concepts in the area of Indian law and addresses the continuing impact of federal legislation and court actions on tribal governance structures and principles of sovereignty. In addition to providing substantive information on legal principles associated with American Indian law, participants will engage in practical skill building exercises that build upon the substantive materials being covered. In doing so, this course is designed to introduce participants to the very broad field of American Indian law by looking at tribal and federal legal principles and policies in ten specific areas.

American Indian Natural Resources Law

Elective Course
Course Number: LAW 619
Credits: 3

This course is a study of the intersection of two of the most interesting and critical areas of the law, particularly for those of us west of the 100^th meridian. Regardless of your ultimate area of practice, as attorneys working in the western United States, you are more than likely to encounter fascinating issues (if not decades-long conflicts) over the rights to use scarce natural resources such as water, the sharing of common resources such as the public lands, and the role of the region’s first populations in deciding those issues. In fact, you are entering the legal profession during a time of incredible opportunity to help define (or re-define) the standards and policies by which the next generations will view these issues as the traditional concepts of natural resources law fade and are replaced by new approaches, often centrally involving tribal views. Though the subject matter of the course is broad and each individual issue could be its own separate study, the overall objective of the course is to provide you with a foundational understanding of tribal natural resource issues across this broad spectrum.

Advanced Problems in American Indian Natural Resources Law

Elective Course
Course Number: LAW 598
Credits: 3

This course focuses on how tribal attorneys and other advocates can effectively address tribal natural resources issues. The subject matter of the course will take an in-depth analysis of select tribal natural resource issues across Indian Country.

Water Law in Indian Country

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1

This course starts with an introduction to state, federal and Indian water law. It then addresses the unique attributes of Indian reserved and aboriginal water rights.  It includes discussions on protection of Indian water rights, state-tribal water disputes and the preemptive role of Congress in Indian Country.

Protection of Wildlife and the Environment in Indian Country

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1

This course examines tribal wildlife and environmental issues associated with land management and regulation in Indian country. The subject matter of the course will take an in-depth analysis of select tribal wildlife and environmental issues across Indian Country.

Energy Development in Indian Country

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1

This course traces the history of energy development and related issues in Indian Country, discusses the statutory, regulatory, and other legal issues that arise in that context, and provides participants with background and perspective on the issues currently facing Indian tribes interested in pursuing energy development. In doing so, it includes information about the social, cultural, and other policy issues faced by tribes when considering decisions about development and examine the federal government’s role in fulfilling its trust responsibilities to Indian tribes engaged in energy-related activities.

Environmental Justice in Indian Country

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1

The history of federal Indian law in the Supreme Court is dynamic, controversial, and inspiring. The history starts with earliest decades of the Supreme Court and tracks the growth of the American Republic to the present. As an institution, federal courts are reactionary. They cannot decide an issue without a party bringing suit in the first instance. And, though it is the Court's job to interpret the Constitution, in the Indian cases the Court has little or no constitutional text to interpret. Indian tribes in recent decades have outpaced the law in many ways. Through their commitment to tribal self-determination, Congress and the Executive have opened the door--and tribes have finally sprinted through. Each tribe is a laboratory for self-determination, business ideas, and intergovernmental relations. As a result, the federal courts have had fewer and fewer authorities to rely on to decide disputes, opening the door for the Supreme Court to exercise additional latitude in deciding Indian cases according to its own preferences. The anchor preventing the Court from taking the law into its own hands--the decades of federal law and policy dictating to tribes how to civilize themselves--has begun to rust away. And yet it is a dangerous time for Indian tribes.

The Law of People and Place: Field Course

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1

This course offers a place-based learning experience focuses on the law of the land through the myriad natural resource, environmental, governmental, legal, policy, and practical issues embedded in this region. We approach these issues by immersing ourselves in the place and working to understand the ways in which law and policy interact with it. Aside from the course faculty, students will hear from tribal representatives, private conservationists, federal land managers, and other stakeholders involved in management of the region. Themes explored include the myth and reality of public lands; wildlife management across jurisdictions; water law; cooperative management; and the intersection of tribal rights, sovereignty, and interests with federal, state, and private interests—both historical and continuing.

American Indian Land Issues

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1

This course reviews the origins of Indian land law and examines contemporary policy issues associate with territorial integrity.

American Indian Property Law

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1

This course reviews the origins of Cobell case, the legal history of it, and its resolution. This course exposes students to one of the most impressively plead and litigated cases in the history of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The course examines the original legal documents (complaint, briefs, and other materials) to go over the major points in the litigation. Some of the major aspects of the case include: (1) that the complaint proceeded under Sec. 702 of the APA, (2) class certification, (3) contempt hearing against various governmental officials, (4) affirmations of applying fundamental trust law to the Individual Indian Money Account, (5) legal settlement and legislative passage.

American Indian Estate Planning and Probate

Elective Course (SILP)

Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1

This course will focus on the historical policies behind, and the current provisions of, the American Indian Probate Reform Act. In particular, the Act's creation of the first federal Indian probate code, testate and intestate succession rules applicable to federal trust realty and personality, land consolidation opportunities for individuals and tribes, and tribal probate code development. Additionally, this course will explore estate planning options that individual trust land owners can use to control and distribute their trust lands during their lifetime and through the probate process.

Economic Development in Indian Country

Elective Course
Course Number: LAW 595 - Special Topics
Credits: 3

The successful development of vibrant and sustainable economies in Indian Country continues to present challenges for Indian tribes, their members and potential business partners, as well as federal, state and local governments. The unique legal status of Indian tribes and the consequences of that status inform these challenges and require a detailed examination of federal policy and Supreme Court jurisprudence. Thus, attorneys play a central role in understanding and advising their clients about the challenges of tribal economic development. This course aims to provide a foundational understanding of the legal issues surrounding economic development in Indian Country and then build on that foundation through examination of various types of actual or potential development, including natural resource development, gaming, online lending and other enterprises. Throughout the course, we will discover how history, federal policies, and the unique status of each tribe play a role in determining that tribe’s options for building an economic engine. We will also study practical issues, such as popular misconceptions about tribal status, which may affect business transactions in Indian Country. By the end of the course, participants will understand the foundational issues affecting all tribes and have the analytical framework to assess unique circumstances relevant for a particular tribe or development opportunity.

Consumer Protection in Indian Country

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1

This course will focus on opportunities and challenges for sustainable Economic Development in Indian Country.  The class will cover the growth of E-commerce as an economic sector with the potential for expanding the economic footprint on even the most remote tribal lands and reservations through online financial services opportunities.  The course will cover the various federal consumer protection laws and regulations that impact Tribal Governmental E-commerce lending, including tribal consumer protection laws.  Following completion of the course, students will have a basic understanding of E-commerce opportunities in Indian Country, structuring E-commerce businesses; the legal, jurisdictional, regulatory and consumer protection issues associated with Tribal Governmental E-commerce lending. The course will have a special emphasis on whether Congress granted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) the authority to regulate Tribal Governmental E-commerce lending under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

Indian Gaming

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1 

This class covers statutes, regulations, and case law pertaining to Indian gaming issues, with particular focus on the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.  Participants will learn about Indian gaming's origins and policy goals, how tribal gaming is regulated, the tribal-state compacting process required for casino-style gaming, and contemporary issues that are shaping the future of Indian gaming.

Taxation & Finance in Indian Country

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1 

Economic development is a critical component of tribal sovereignty. When a state asserts taxing authority within Indian Country, there is potential for overlapping, or juridical, taxation over the same transaction. Actual or even potential juridical taxation threatens economic development opportunities for tribes. For many years, tribes and states have entered into intergovernmental agreements called tax compacts to reduce or eliminate juridical taxation. Existing literature has done little more than mention tax compacts with cursory cost-benefit analyses of the agreements. This course will critically examine the role tax compacts serve in promoting tribes’ economic development and analyzes whether compacts live up to the promise of resolving juridical taxation in a manner that fosters economic development opportunities for tribes.

Law of Indian Self Determination / Self-Governance

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1 

This course presents and analyzes questions regarding tribal governance that Indian Nations face: questions about membership, separation of powers, religious freedom, civil and criminal jurisdiction, cultural property and sacred sites, balancing cultural needs versus economic development, and others. Rather than approach these issues from a federal Indian law or federal government perspective; however, the course focuses on viewing all of these questions from the tribes' perspective.

Doing Business in Indian Country

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1 

The purpose of this course is to provide an introduction to tax law as it applies in Indian Country. Taxation in Indian Country presents unique and complicated problems that often turn on the status of land and individuals involved in a matter. This course will explore general principles and historical background of taxation in Indian Country as well as the role of federal, state, and tribal taxation authority within Indian Country.

Civil Regulatory and Adjudicatory Jurisdiction in Indian Country

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1 

The scope of the powers of Indian tribes is the fundamental question of American Indian law. This course will focus on tribal regulatory jurisdiction and will focus on a comparative analysis of tribal law cases that are also removed to federal court. In particular, this course will analyze how the federal courts respect tribal law decisions as well as the principles of tribal exhaustion.

Tribal Criminal Law and Procedure

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1 

This course provides information about crime and criminal jurisdiction in Indian country. Topics include an overview of the law affecting criminal jurisdiction, some of the unique criminal problems affecting Indian country, the traditional methods of resolving unacceptable behavioral problems within tribal communities, and the evolution of current responses to crime. Following completion of the course, students should have a basic understanding of the foundational principles of Indian law, as well as a more fully developed understanding of crime and law enforcement in Indian country.

Criminal Jurisdiction in Indian Country

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1 

This course provides information about crime and criminal jurisdiction in Indian Country.  Topics include an overview of the laws affecting criminal jurisdiction, some of the unique criminal problems affecting Indian Country, traditional methods of resolving unacceptable behavioral problems within tribal communities, and the evolution of current responses to crime within Indian Country.   Following completion of the course, students should have a basic understanding of the foundational principles relating to crime and law enforcement in Indian Country.

Domestic Violence in Indian Country

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1 

This course looks at the dynamics of domestic violence within Indian Country, the jurisdictional challenges associated with addressing this issue, the various federal and tribal law applicable to domestic violence situations, and what tools are being used in response to domestic violence within Indian Country.   Following completion of the course, students should have a basic understanding of the foundational principles relating domestic violence and the jurisdictional factors that impact effective enforcement of domestic violence laws within Indian Country.

Criminal Justice and Public Policy

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1 

This course covers the law and policy of Indian country criminal jurisdiction in the U.S., and offers a comparison of related law and policy of other common law countries with colonialist origins. This course examines the relationship among criminal jurisdiction law and policy, sovereignty, and the wellbeing of indigenous communities and individuals, and explores how indigenous and settler-colonial justice norms intersect and influence each other. Specific topics addressed include: (1) how wrongdoing in Indian country is defined, prosecuted and punished, (2) the allocation of Tribal, State, and federal jurisdiction over that conduct, (3) the “federalization” of Tribal court criminal procedure under federal law, and (4) the impact of these legal frameworks on Tribal sovereignty and public safety. We will also examine Canadian law and policy concerning indigenous communities and peoples from a comparative perspective.

American Indian Cultural and Religious Freedom

Elective Course
Course Number: LAW 595
Credits: 3

This course examines the unique aspects of cultural and religious practices exercised by the American Indian peoples. Course coverage will focus on the evolving judicial and legislative responses to the traditional and contemporary assertions by the American Indian peoples of their inherent right to the free exercise of their religious, cultural practices both on and off reservation, language preservation issues, educational impacts on tribal culture and how outside research impacts these rights. Particular emphasis will be given to the Indian peoples’ contemporary efforts to secure federal judicial and legislative protection of cultural practices. The major U.S. Supreme Court decisions regarding these rights will be assessed in terms of their effect on the Indian peoples’ religious and cultural freedoms. Additionally, those contemporary federal statutory and executive initiatives that seek to preserve these freedoms, pursuant to the federal government’s trust duty that it owes to the Indian peoples, will be analyzed.

Indigenous Cultural Preservation

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1

This course explores the tangible and intangible aspects of Indigenous cultural heritage, and the role of the law in protecting Indigenous cultural heritage. Following completion of the course, students will understand how certain aspects of tribal culture, such as religious practices or tribal cultural patrimony, are protected under U.S. domestic law, applicable tribal laws, and international law.  Students will also be able to identify gaps within the existing law, for example with respect to the protection of Indigenous knowledge, and learn to generate effective policy arguments to respond to the interests of Indigenous peoples, both within the United States and other countries.  The historical context for these issues will be covered selectively, but the course focuses on the contemporary legal protection of Indigenous cultural heritage.

American Indian Art and Cultural Property

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1

The course will also look at the nature, ownership and protection of Indian Cultural knowledge and resources. The impacts of non-Indian research will be evaluated along with historical impacts of federal policies on tribal cultures. Several case studies will evaluate the success, if any, achieved by the relevant federal regulatory agencies through their implementation of these policies. Potential alternative legal theories that may provide new judicial or regulatory protection for all aspects of the Indian peoples' cultural and religious resources. Emphasis will be given to the on-going international legal effort to create a new and more encompassing indigenous cultural resources law that will prevent the unauthorized alienation or other loss of a people’s sacred objects of “cultural patrimony.”

American Indian Children and the Law

Elective Course
Course Number: LAW 691
Credits: 3

This course is a comprehensive study of tribal child welfare issues including the following: the examination of past federal policies which resulted in the removal of Indian children from their families and led to Congress passing the Indian Child Welfare Act; discussion of the legal requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act; various aspects of working with Indian families; potential conflicts with state and other federal laws; the difficulties in maintaining compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act; Indian child welfare in tribal court forums; tribal juvenile justice matters; and international Indigenous child welfare perspectives from Canada, South America, Australia, and Scandinavia. Though the subject matter of the course is broad and each individual issue could be its own separate study, the overall objective of the course is to provide you with a foundational understanding of tribal child welfare related issues across this broad spectrum.

Indian Child Welfare Act

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1

This course looks at past federal policies which resulted in the removal of Indian children from their families and led to Congress passing the Indian Child Welfare Act. The course discusses the legal requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act, various aspects of working with Indian families, potential conflicts with state and other federal laws, and the difficulties in getting compliance with the Act.

Indian Health Law

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1 

This course surveys federal Indian policy and law related to Indian health, including historical sources for Indian health service rights and obligations. Special attention will be given to the unique Indian health related matters in the state of Montana, including those programs implemented by the state as well as special tribal health programs.

Indian Education Law

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1 

This course surveys federal Indian policy and law related to Indian education, including historical sources for Indian education rights. Special attention will be given to the unique Indian education matters in the state of Montana, including those programs implemented by the state as well as special tribal education programs.

Voting Rights in Indian Country

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1 

This course will focus on Native American voting rights and will also build upon broader comparative questions about campaign finance, ethics and tribal law.

American Indian Diplomacy

Elective Course
Course Number: LAW 595
Credits: 3

This course is a comprehensive study of American Indian Diplomacy issues including the following: (1) the history of American Indian treaty-making; (2) the legal and political status of Indian treaties, accords, agreements, and negotiated settlements; (3) the doctrines of interpretations of Indian diplomatic arrangements; and (4) problem areas in Indigenous/ state diplomacy and ambiguous areas in treaty litigation that serve to distort the development of a cohesive body of law in this critical area. Though the subject matter of the course is broad and each individual issue could be its own separate study, the overall objective of the course is to provide you with a foundational understanding of American Indian diplomacy related issues across this broad spectrum.

Tribal-State Relations

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1

Relations between Indian tribes and states have raised complex legal and policy questions since before America’s founding. While the federal government’s trust relationship with Indian tribes is the central focus of Federal Indian Law, the on-the-ground relationships between tribal governments and their state counterparts often define the day-to-day challenges facing lawyers and policy-makers working on their behalf. This course provides a basis for understanding why tribes and states may be “deadliest enemies,” “mutually beneficial,” or something in between while exploring tribal-state relations in a range of substantive policy areas, including civil and criminal jurisdiction, treaty-related natural resources issues, gaming, taxation, and child welfare. The class concludes with a forum of tribal and state officials discussing current issues in relations between Montana and the tribes located within the state’s boundaries.

Current Issues in Indian Law and Policy

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1

This course will examine the roots of federal Indian law and policy as established through the various policy periods of federal Indian law. In doing so, the course will examine specific policies and legislation in the field of federal Indian Law.

Supreme Court Jurisprudence and Indian Country

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1

The history of federal Indian law in the Supreme Court is dynamic, controversial, and inspiring. The history starts with earliest decades of the Supreme Court and tracks the growth of the American Republic to the present. As an institution, federal courts are reactionary. They cannot decide an issue without a party bringing suit in the first instance. And, though it is the Court's job to interpret the Constitution, in the Indian cases the Court has little or no constitutional text to interpret. Indian tribes in recent decades have outpaced the law in many ways. Through their commitment to tribal self-determination, Congress and the Executive have opened the door--and tribes have finally sprinted through. Each tribe is a laboratory for self-determination, business ideas, and intergovernmental relations. As a result, the federal courts have had fewer and fewer authorities to rely on to decide disputes, opening the door for the Supreme Court to exercise additional latitude in deciding Indian cases according to its own preferences. The anchor preventing the Court from taking the law into its own hands--the decades of federal law and policy dictating to tribes how to civilize themselves--has begun to rust away. And yet it is a dangerous time for Indian tribes.

Constitutional Issues Relating to Indian Legal Concepts

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1

This course will introduce participants to the distinctive constitutional issues arising from and affecting Indian country. The class will cover the legal history of federal Indian law, dating from pre-constitutional times to the modern era of federal Indian law beginning in 1959. In doing so, the course will examine the plenary power doctrine, the doctrine of reserved rights, the canons of construction, and the doctrine of implied repeals. The class will also address critical modern era cases and their impacts on contemporary tribal governance and Indian affairs.

MPA: Indian Tribes and Public Policy

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1

Public policy is, simply, what a government and its officials choose to do, or not do, about a societal issue or community problem. Elements of the policy process, from identification and formation to implementation and evaluation, exist across all systems of governance, and at all levels. Regardless of where one sits in the political system, there are opportunities to create real policy change. This course introduces students to the public policy process and aims to equip them with practical evaluation and engagement tools. With specific attention to contemporary policy issues and controversies in Indian Country, this course offers students the opportunity to improve their engagement with and understanding of public policy and its implementation. 

Indian Country Litigation

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1

Litigation in Indian Country involves an increasingly complex and challenging social, economic, and political environment, requiring sophisticated legal analysis and strong advocacy. This course will examine the law and tools necessary for engaging in litigation pertaining to Indian Country.

Indian Law Legislation Issues

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1

Federal Indian law and policy develops in the courts, in Congress, and in federal agencies.  This course will focus on the legislative and administrative processes in forming laws and regulations, but will also explore the relationship between the courts and these other forums by focusing on Congressional and administrative reactions to decisions in the Supreme Court and the lower courts. The content of the course will include recent developments in the Congress and the Executive Branch.

Native Hawaiian Law

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1

This course examines the evolution of the rights of Native Hawaiians to land and resources and the important statutes and case law affecting the Native Hawaiian community.  The course will particularly examine current cases, statutes, and regulations relating to the political status of Native Hawaiians under U.S. law and the efforts of the Native Hawaiian community in asserting political sovereignty, as well as developments in international law affecting indigenous peoples and, in particular, Native Hawaiians.  Areas of study will also include the traditional Hawaiian land tenure system and the conversion to a fee-simple land system (the Māhele), the public land trust (Government & Crown Lands of the Hawaiian Kingdom), the Congressionally enacted Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1921 and its current status, and traditional and customary access and gathering rights. 

Alaska Native Law and Policy

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1

The study of Alaska Native Law and Policy is a study “of the laws— and there are many— historically applied to Alaska Natives. Increasingly, it is the story of the Indigenous Peoples of Alaska remaking these laws into the tools of their own choosing, tools they are still fashioning. From the Iñupiaq of the North to the Athabascan and Yupiit of Alaska’s geographic center and western coast to the Alutiq of the North Pacific to the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian Indians of Southeast Alaska, Alaska Natives use skill and resolve to protect their patrimony, revive their rights to the subsistence way of life, assume control over their own health and social services, and successfully litigate their claims to sovereignty.”

Indigenous Rights in International Law

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1

Indigenous peoples increasingly look to international law, and especially human rights instruments and institutions, in their efforts to survive as distinct communities with distinct cultures, political structures, and relationships to traditional lands. Accordingly, this course will study aspects of the substance and procedure of international human rights law as it pertains to indigenous peoples, examining these developments through varying perspectives -- doctrinal and political, pragmatic and critical. Thematically, course will examine the relationship of human rights to indigenous peoples’ own laws and traditions, the self-determination of states and peoples, and liberal democracy vis à vis other political traditions. More broadly, the focus on indigenous peoples provides a context for reflection on the extent to which international human rights law, with its classic focus on individual rights against the state, successfully addresses minority, group, and intercultural claims in our global society. Topically, students will become familiar with indigenous peoples’ involvement in the human rights movement both before and after WWII, and corresponding developments (drafting of instruments, claims, reports, hearings and cases) in the United Nations, Organization of American States, and other institutions. Particular attention will be paid to the U.N. General Assembly’s 2007 adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In addition, the course will focus on the challenges of implementing human rights standards to improve the situation of indigenous peoples in domestic settings, including the United States. We will study contemporary instances – with a focus on lawyering skills -- in which indigenous peoples have used the international human rights system to address issues in self-governance, land, and subsistence rights, the welfare of children and women, religion and sacred sites, intellectual and cultural property, education, climate change, natural resources, and economic development.

Tribal Customary Law Principles and Implementation

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 595 – Special Topics
Credits: 1

The purpose of this course is to introduce tribal customary law principles and how these principles are being introduced and implemented throughout the United States and Canada. In particular, this course will detail various methods for teaching Indigenous law in recognition of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, including the JID in Indigenous Law, the Indigenous Law Research Unit, and Indian Law camps.

Indian Law Research

Elective Course (SILP)
Course Number: LAW 611

Credits: 1 

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 an additional set of tools and research skills to 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 creating a tribal legal history throughout the course.

Tribal Law Advocacy

Elective Course (Wintersession)
Course Number: LAW 545

Credits: 1 

Welcome to ‘the Crucible of Sovereignty.’ The exercise of inherent sovereignty by the nation’s 574 federally recognized Indian tribes depends on qualified and dedicated lawyers and advocates. Whether within a tribal courtroom, before a tribal appellate body, in Tribal Council chambers, or in the day-to-day work demanded by these ‘third sovereigns,’ advocacy within a tribal law setting demands unique skills, qualifications, and knowledge. Tribal Law Advocacy aims to prepare students for that work by providing a skills-based simulation course requiring students to produce written and oral advocacy in a tribal law setting. This course is designed to simulate the issues and challenges presented to attorneys working in tribal courts and tribal governments. Therefore, the primary objectives of the course revolve around skills needed to competently address those issues and tackle those challenges.

Margery Hunter Brown Indian Law Clinic

Required Course (Clinic)
Course Number: LAW

Credits: Varies 

This course will require a combination of knowledge, skills, values, judgment, dedication, and hard work, just like the rest of your career will demand of you. While we cannot prepare you for everything that may happen to you over the course of your work as an attorney, or however you might choose to use your law degree, our goal is to help you understand the importance of making something from your experience. Therefore, we will work with you to: Actively engage in your work by planning, doing, reflecting, and integrating what we’ve learned to enhance your practice and, by doing so, develop your capacity for self-reflection as key to continuous learning, self-improvement, and self-development; Strengthen your practical understanding of the substantive and procedural areas of law in which you will be working; Build on various fundamental lawyering skills, particularly the identification of legal issues, legal research and analysis, problem-solving, communication, organization and management, document-drafting, and cross-cultural competence; Diversify your communication skills through interactions with clients, constituents, attorneys, officials, members of the public, or others. Ideally, these interactions will also help you recognize your role as an attorney and how to collaborate with a range of individuals and interests; Do work that makes a difference to the citizens and communities of our local area, state, region, and, in some instances, nation and world.

National Native American Law Student Association (NNALSA) Moot Court Competition

Elective Course
Course Number: LAW 666

Credits: Varies

Students may be approved to compete in the annual NNALSA moot court competition.

Independent Study Courses

Elective Course

Course Number: LAW

Credits: Varies

Independent Studies related to Indian law issues may be approved for consideration under the certificate program. (Students may only take up to two credits of Independent Study)