Indian Lawyers News

There are 3 types of tribal land. First we have the tribal trust lands, which is land that is held by the tribe itself and usually where the tribal headquarters is located. Tribal trust land may also be where schools, medical facilities, and businesses are located. Oftentimes, hunting and fishing land is also on tribal trust land. This is land owned by the tribe, and they're held in trust by the United States for the benefit of the tribe.
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Periods of Federal Indian Policy

"Federal policy towards Indian tribes has moved in various decades, from a physical extripation, to measured separatism, to removal, to assimilation, to self-determination – sometimes at the same time. "
~Prof. Matthew L.M. Fletcher
Between the 1820s and the 1850s, the idea was that settlers desire for land, natural resources ad resolution of conflicts could be accomplished, by removing Indian tribes to lands far away from settlers. The United States negotiated a number of removal treaties after the War of 1812, gut the process moved slowly and settlers appetite for land outpaced land cessions by tribes.
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Marshall Trilogy Federal Indian Law

The Marshall Trilogy are the three foundational Indian law cases. Johnson v. M'Intosh in 1823 was the first of the three, and was the first Indian law case decided by the U.S. Supreme court. Johnson v. M'Intosh was land dispute and the nature of ejectment involving non-Indians. It was considered an Indian law case, even though there were no Indians involved in the case.
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Civil Jurisdiction on Tribal Land

Civil Jurisdiction on Tribal Land. Joel West Williams, a Staff Attorney at the Native American Rights Fund and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas. He obtained degrees in Psychology and Religious Studies from Naropa University. At Naropa, he was awarded the President’s Leadership Scholarship and his senior project in the religious studies department focused on Cherokee history and religion.
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History of Federal State Tribal Child Welfare Relations

The history of federal policy toward Indian children and families generally tracks along with the history of federal tribal policy. This process was a difficult one, as it was mostly devoted to extermination or assimilation of tribes, and eradication of tribal culture. The history of child welfare relations with the federal government, and later state child welfare relations, tracks a similar course.
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Intro Indian Child Welfare Act 1978

The rise and decline of the Existing Indian Family exception, the EIF. The EIF was created by state courts starting in 1982, as a means to circumvent the Indian Child Welfare Act in cases where the child has an allegedly attenuated relationship with the tribe.
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