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December 2021 Newsletter
Bozho,

Happy Winter Solstice, Holidays, and New Year! The Native Nations Law and Policy Center joins the rest of the world in eagerly bidding adieu to 2021. That said, we are grateful for the expansive advocacy taking place on behalf of tribal communities. Your continuing resilience is testament to Indigenous wisdom and the power of community. We are excited for a stimulating lineup of Indigenous legal events and scholarship on the horizon of 2022. But until then, we send our warmest wishes to you and your family in these days of the new light.

Megwetch,
 
Angela R. Riley (Citizen Potawatomi Nation)
Professor of Law and Director, Native Nations Law and Policy Center
2021 Year in Review
  • NNLPC Director Professor Angela R. Riley wrote an opinion article for the Washington Times with Professor Sonia K. Katyal and Rachel Lim of University of California at Berkeley. The Jeep Cherokee is not a tribute to Indians



  • Our alumna student, Geneva E.B. Thompson ('16), was appointed to Assistant Secretary for Tribal Affairs at the California Natural Resources Agency.






Tribal Legal Development Clinic
The Tribal Legal Development Clinic was busy in 2021 and was able to hold spring, summer, and fall clinics that allowed the law students to work directly with tribal leaders, officers, and attorneys to provide legal development services to Indian tribes.

Spring 2020:
  • The Clinic worked with Red Lake Nation. The Red Lake Nation is exploring codification strategies for implementing the special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction provisions for prosecuting non-Indian offenders on tribal lands. The Clinic assisted in research and drafted proposed language in partnership with the Tribe.


  • The Clinic worked with California Tribal Families Coalition. Clinic students researched how state child welfare law intersects with tribal law regarding customary adoption and artificial reproductive technology, all with the eye towards uplifting compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act.

Summer 2020:

Fall 2021:


As always, the Clinic welcomes project solicitations from tribes and tribal organizations. Inquire here!
A Collaborative White Paper Produced By The UCLA Tribal Legal Development Clinic and Pueblo Action Alliance
Starting in 2020 the Clinic and Pueblo Action Alliance joined together to work on a white paper to discuss the shortcomings of federal policy that are supposed to protect Indigenous people’s right to religious freedom, cultural and historic preservation, environmental and natural/cultural resource protection and environmental justice. This paper provides a discussion of co-management or co-stewardship strategies that provide tribes the jurisdictional authority over how public lands and it’s natural resources are managed.


Visit Pueblo Action Alliance's website to read more and download the white paper: https://www.puebloactionalliance.org/protectgreaterchaco
Graton Scholars
Our first cohort of Graton Scholar's joined us at UCLA Law Native Nations Law & Policy Center. Ashley Anderson, Shara Burwell and Rachel Hsu received full-tuition scholarships for their three years at the law school by a generous grant from the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria.

Please read more about them here.

Ashley Anderson (Cherokee)
Shara Burwell
(Leech Lake)
Rachel Hsu
Law Publications
NNLPC Director Professor Angela R. Riley has produced two law review publications: Decolonizing Indigenous Migration, California Law Review 2021 (with Kristen A. Carpenter) and The Ascension of Indigenous Cultural Property Law, Michigan Law Review (forthcoming).
TLDC Director Professor Lauren van Schilfgaarde has produced two law review publications: Kelly Gaines Stoner and Lauren van Schilfgaarde, Tribal Authority to Issue Civil Protection Orders, Tribal Law Journal, Vol. 21 (forthcoming) and Brett Shelton and Lauren van Schilfgaarde, Using Peacemaking to Indigenize Tribal Child Welfare, Columbia Journal of Race and Law.
UCLA Newsroom
Law students support Yurok Tribe effort to access culturally important species

The Tribal Legal Development Clinic and the Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic worked with the Yurok Tribe to research the legal barriers and opportunities for increasing tribal member access to participate in cultural harvesting on tribal ancestral territory.

Read more about the clinic's work with the Yurok Tribe in this article from the UCLA Newsroom.
Tribal Clinic Develops Toolkit to Help Indigenous Peoples Assert Their Rights

The “Tribal Implementation Toolkit” was developed by students and faculty in UCLA School of Law’s Tribal Legal Development Clinic, in collaboration with students and attorneys at the University of Colorado Law School and the Native American Rights Fund, or NARF.

Read more about the clinic's work on the Toolkit in this article from the UCLA Newsroom.
NNLPC Publications
Project to Implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the United States

The NNLPC is pleased to announce the launch of the “Tribal Implementation Toolkit.”

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.


Both the full color version of the Toolkit and the text-only versions are available here: https://un-declaration.narf.org/resources/
The Need for Confidentiality Protection within Tribal Cultural Resource Protection


The Tribal Legal Development Clinic is pleased to announce the publication of “The Need for Confidentiality Protection within Tribal Cultural Resource Protection”.

Researched and drafted as a Clinic project, this publication seeks to provide insight into the confidentiality concerns and barriers that tribes frequently encounter when attempting to protect their cultural resources. The publication then poses some potential strategies and policy fixes to address some of these barriers. This publication is available for free HERE.
Gatherings
With the continuing pandemic and many changing protocols we were not able to have many public facing events in 2021, however we were able to have a few UCLA community events this year in-person. We look forward to 2022 when we can see more of you!
2021 Graduates
2021 Event Recordings
Stay updated on upcoming events and watch videos of past events HERE.
The Ascension of Tribal Cultural Property Law

Watch recording HERE
Indigenous Peacemaking at the Intersection of Law and Culture

TLDC Highlight: The Need for Confidentiality within Tribal Cultural Resource Protection

Watch recording HERE
Book Talk: A Coalition of Lineages: The Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians

Watch recording HERE
Roundtable Debrief on the Cooley Oral Argument at the Supreme Court

Watch recording HERE
Implementing the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: The Tribal Toolkit

Watch recording HERE
United States v. Cooley: Threats to Tribal Police Power and Native Governance

Watch recording HERE
McGirt v. Oklahoma: Reflections on a Landmark Case and What We’ve Learned So Far

Watch recording HERE
Support
We want to extend our deepest thanks to San Manuel Band of Mission Indians and Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria for their generous help that enables the UCLA Law Native Nations Law and Policy Center and Tribal Legal Development Clinic to continue their work to enhance Indian nations’ laws and governmental institutions while advancing cultural resource protection.

If you would like to contribute to the Native Nations Law & Policy Center, you can donate HERE