Indian Law Research

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Indian Law Research

• Guide Indian Law Research

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Definitions

• Indian
• Indian Tribe
• Federally Recognized Tribe
• Indian Country
• Reservations
• Allotted land
• Dependent Indian communities

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Washington Reservations
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Washington Reservations and the Lands the
Indians Ceded
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Muckleshoot Reservation
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U.S. Reservations
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Sovereignty

• Indian tribes are sovereign
• Inherent rights to self-determination
• But federal government can limit sovereignty

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Treaties

• Pre-1871
• See links from guide
• Problem find provisions in treaties with
  Northwest tribes about fishing rights. Compare
  provisions for Duwamish, Makah, Yakama

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Tribal Codes

• See links from guide
• Problem Your client lives in Sequim. She is
  afraid of her ex-boyfriend who lives on the Makah
  reservation. Can she petition for an order of
  protection?

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Federal Trust Responsibility

• The governments conduct, as disclosed in
  the acts of those who represent it in dealings
  with the Indians, should . . . be judged by the
  most exacting fiduciary standards.
• Seminole Nation v. U.S. (1942)

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Jurisdiction

• Civil / Criminal
• PL 280 (1953)
• Tribe
• State
• Federal

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Major Federal Statutes

• Indian Civil Rights Act (1968)
• Indian Self-Determination and Education
  Assistance Act (1975)
• Indian Child Welfare Act (1978)
• American Indian Religious Freedom Act (1978)
• Native American Graves Protection and
  Repatriation Act (1990)

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Hypo 1

• Ingrid Hansen has been taking care of her
  sisters two children while her sister was
  deployed in Iraq. She has learned that her sister
  was killed, and she would like to make the
  custody permanent.
• Questions?

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• (Can you find Washington state regs on adopting
  Indian children?)

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Hypo 2

• The Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees
  union has been approached by staff at the Tulalip
  Casino. Can the employees there unionize? Will
  the NLRB have jurisdiction?

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Indian Claims Commission
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BIA

• Cobell litigation

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Taxes

• Natl Council State Legislatures, Piecing
  Together the State-Tribal Tax Puzzle
• Wash. Dept of Revenue
• Indian Country
• Indian Guide to Washington State Excise Taxes
  (2004)