McGirt v. Oklahoma: Reflections on a Landmark Case and What We’ve Learned So Far
FEBRUARY 16, 2021
Video
The groundbreaking case of McGirt v. Oklahoma (2020) altered the landscape of criminal jurisdiction within the Muscogee (Creek) Nation reservation. Join us for a provocative conversation with the legal pioneers working on the front lines for more than six months now and hear their reflections on both successes and on-going challenges.
Guest speakers: Jonodev Chaudhuri, Ambassador, Muscogee (Creek) Nation; Sara Hill, Attorney General of the Cherokee Nation; Stacy Leeds, Dean Emeritus and Professor of Law, University of Arkansas School of Law
Moderated By: Angela R. Riley, Director, Native Nations Law and Policy Center, UCLA School of Law
United States v. Cooley: Threats to Tribal Police Power and Native Governance
MARCH 11, 2021
Video
On March 23rd the United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in US v. Cooley, a case addressing the scope of tribal police officers' power to temporarily detain and search non-Indians traveling through the reservation and suspected of violating state or federal law. Join us for a lively and gripping conversation with a remarkable panel of Indian country lawyers involved in the case as they discuss the legal and practical implications of Cooley's outcome for public safety on reservations.
Launch Event!
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Tribal Implementation Toolkit
APRIL 12, 2021
Video
The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is a standard-setting document that recognizes that Indigenous Peoples have rights to self-determination, equality, property, culture, religious freedom, health, and economic well-being, among many others. It calls on States to undertake legal reform that will remedy past violations and ensure current protections for Indigenous Peoples’ rights. The "Tribal Implementation Toolkit," produced in collaboration between the Native American Rights Fund, the University of Colorado Law School, and UCLA Law's Tribal Legal Development Clinic, considers how tribes can support and implement the Declaration through tribal lawmaking.
Learn more about the toolkit and the project to implement: https://un-declaration.narf.org/
Roundtable Debrief on the Cooley Oral Argument at the Supreme Court
APRIL 29, 2021
Video
Join our expert panel as we debrief on the U.S. Supreme Court’s oral arguments of U.S. v. Cooley regarding the extent of tribal police powers.
Book Talk: A Coalition of Lineages: The Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians
September 15, 2021
Video
The Indigenous people who were brought to Mission San Fernando, northwest of present-day Los Angeles, came from autonomous, lineage-based villages, connected through ceremonies, trade, and intermarriage. Our new book, "A Coalition of Lineages," depicts the dispossession, attempted detribalization, persistence, and multicultural adaptations of these lineages, including formation of an overlapping Mission Indian identity and tribal organization. Although most histories of mission Indians end with the closing of the missions, our book presents powerful evidence that the Fernandeño tribal community has continued into the present. Even as a Tribe seeking federal recognition, the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians has successfully pursued economic development, social welfare for its members, and engagement with federal, state, and local governments.
You can purchase the book at https://uapress.arizona.edu/book/a-coalition-of-lineages
TLDC Highlight: The Need for Confidentiality within Tribal Cultural Resource Protection
October 6, 2021
Video
In going about the work of protecting cultural resources, tribes find themselves in a bind. The protection of one resource almost always requires the exchange of another: sensitive tribal information. Tribes are compelled to reveal a staggering amount of detail to trigger protection for their cultural resources. This compulsion to reveal sensitive information fails to respect Indigenous cultural, intellectual, religious, and spiritual assets. This panel will discuss the current framework of cultural resource protection, the limited means by which tribes can protect their sensitive tribal information, and the need for more enhanced confidentiality protections. Read the publication here.
NNLPC Fall 2021 Speaker Series: Indigenous Peacemaking at the Intersection of Law and Culture
October 26, 2021
Video
UCLA and UCLA Law hosted a lecture based on the twin premises: "Why do harms matter still today?" and "What does healing look like?" Interventions supporting community-driven healing programs that prioritize collective rights are not consistently supported under the Indian Child Welfare Act (1978) and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (1990), as these legal tools have not resolved on-going conceptual issues of group rights, trauma, memory, and healing. Recognizing that truth needs to be told, and discomfort is a necessary part of healing, the speaker and hosts seek to understand more fully pathways for recognizing and addressing harms.
NNLPC Fall 2021 Speaker Series: The Ascension of Tribal Cultural Property Law
November 17, 2021
Video
This panel was a conversation with leading Indigenous rights scholars who discussed the growing impact of tribal law on issues related to Indigenous Peoples’ cultural and intellectual property.
