Author Archives: Indian Legal Program

Cultures Under Water: Climate Impacts on Tribal Cultural Heritage – Attorney CLE Early Bird Registration ends TODAY!

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Cultures Under Water: Climate Impacts on Tribal Cultural Heritage CLE conference will be held Wednesday, December 6* – Friday, December 8, 2017 at the Memorial Union, Ventana Ballroom on ASU Tempe campus.

*Note: December 6 is evening only and will feature Before The Flood by Fisher Stevens. This film features Leonardo DiCaprio with contributions by many scientists and researchers from around the world, who meet and discuss the reality of climate change in various locations on five continents as they witness climate change firsthand.

On the evening of December 7, there will be a staged reading of nationally acclaimed playwright Mary Kathryn Nagle ’s play, Fairly Traceable. This play tells the story of two young attorneys – one a citizen of the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma, the other a citizen of the Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe in southern Louisiana – who are both fighting to save their Tribal Nations and families from climate change.  Click here to read reviews.

Registration at: law.asu.edu/climateimpacts

Download updated PDF flyer – Climate Impacts 102617

Questions? Contact Jennifer Williams at jennifer.h.williams@asu.edu or 480-727-0420.

Job Opportunity – Associate Attorney

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Yoder & Langford PC

Full-time associate position for attorney with 0-5 years’ experience.  Assignments would include both civil litigation and transactional work.  Firm practice includes health care, employee benefits and federal agency compliance/controversy work for a client base primarily consisting of Indian tribal governments and local municipalities.  Intellectual curiosity, dedication, and hard work is required.

For full job description, click here.

Standing Rock Documentary – 11/13 & 11/14

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The Simon Ortiz and Labriola Center Lecture Series on Indigenous Land, Culture, and Community is featuring Myron Dewey, a Standing Rock drone pilot who has made a documentary of his footage, titled Awake: A Dream from Standing Rock. The documentary will be screened on November 13 at Sun Devil Market Place, 660 S College Ave, Tempe, and on November 14 in Steel Auditorium, Heard Museum, 2301 N Central Ave, Phoenix.  The events begin at both sites with a reception followed by a screening of the documentary and a question and answer session.

Click here for press release about Myron and his documentary:

Standing Rock activist, filmmaker to speak at ASU indigenous series events

Myron Dewey (Newe-Numah/Paiute-Shoshone), a filmmaker, citizen journalist and educator is the featured speaker in ASU’s Simon Ortiz and Labriola Center Lecture on Indigenous Land, Culture, and Community for fall 2017.

With Josh Fox and James Spione, Dewey co-directed the documentary film “Awake: A Dream from Standing Rock,” which chronicles the #NoDAPL peaceful protests on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota.

ASU will host two screenings of “Awake”: the first on Monday, November 13 at Sun Devil Marketplace, 660 South College Avenue in Tempe and the second on Tuesday, November 14 at the Heard Museum, 2301 North Central Avenue in Phoenix. Both events begin with a reception at 6 p.m. followed by the film at 6:45 p.m. Dewey will be present for a Q & A after the screenings, which are free of charge and open to the public.

Dewey is from the Walker River Paiute Tribe, Agui Diccutta Band (Trout Eaters) on his father’s side and Bishop Paiute Tribe on his mother’s side. He holds AA and BS degrees from Haskell Indian Nations University and an MA from the University of Kansas. He is founder and owner of Digital Smoke Signals, a social media and film company.

Committed to what he calls “indigenizing media,” Dewey works to bridge the digital divide between mainstream media and native communities. He is an expert drone operator, youth media trainer, and language preservation app builder.

Henry Quintero, faculty advisor for Red Ink journal and an assistant professor of English in Indigenous Literature at ASU, believes Dewey is succeeding at this, primarily because Dewey’s work exists outside traditional confines of space and place. He “has transformed and Indigenized American journalism,” he said.

Premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2017, “Awake” has been called “powerful” by the Hollywood Reporter and “an evocative wake-up call told as a visual poem” by IndieWire. The film does not follow a single protagonist but instead forms a “pastiche” of narrative, mostly indigenous, voices. Myron Dewey’s drone footage adds both immediacy and perspective to the film, making him “one of the most closely followed journalists to come out of the movement” (IndieWire). For Dewey’s work, “Awake” won the Special Founders Prize for Citizen Journalism at the 2017 Traverse City Film Festival—a festival founded by legendary documentarian Michael Moore.

“Standing Rock and its opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline is one of the most significant events that has occurred in recent history in Indian Country,” said James Riding In, associate professor and interim director of American Indian Studies at ASU. “Myron Dewey’s film footage shot mostly from his drones represents an important development in journalism and the coverage of real-time events. His film is a testament to Indigenous resistance to abuses committed against people and the environment.”

The Simon Ortiz and Labriola Center Lecture on Indigenous Land, Culture, and Community at Arizona State University addresses topics and issues across disciplines in the arts, humanities, sciences, and politics. Underscoring indigenous American experiences and perspectives, this series seeks to create and celebrate knowledge that evolves from an inclusive indigenous worldview and that is applicable to all walks of life.

ASU sponsors include the American Indian Studies Program, ASU Library, Department of English, Labriola National American Indian Data Center, Office of American Indian Initiatives, and Red Ink Initiative. The Heard Museum is a community partner.

For more information, visit the series website.

Cultures Under Water: Climate Impacts on Tribal Cultural Heritage – Attorney CLE Early Bird Registration closes Next Week!

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Cultures Under Water: Climate Impacts on Tribal Cultural Heritage Conference will be held Wednesday, December 6 – Friday, December 8, 2017 at the Memorial Union, Ventana Ballroom on ASU Tempe campus.

Registration at: law.asu.edu/climateimpacts

Download PDF flyer.

Questions? Contact Jennifer Williams at jennifer.h.williams@asu.edu or 480-727-0420.

Job Opportunity – Maricopa County Superior Court Vacancy

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Applications Being Accepted for a Vacancy on the Maricopa County Superior Court

Applications are being accepted for a vacancy on the Superior Court in Maricopa County created by the retirement of Judge William L. Brotherton, Jr.

The Maricopa County Commission on Trial Court Appointments will review applications, interview selected applicants, and recommend at least three nominees for the vacancy to Governor Doug Ducey, who will appoint the new judge.

The most current judicial application form (revised January 2017) can be downloaded at the Judicial Department website: www.azcourts.gov/jnc. Applications may also be obtained from the Administrative Office of the Courts, Human Resources Department, 1501 W. Washington, Suite 221, Phoenix, by calling (602) 452-3311, or by sending an electronic mail request to jnc@courts.az.gov.

Applicants must be at least 30 years of age, of good moral character, and admitted to the practice of law in Arizona, as well as a resident of Arizona, for the past five years, and a resident of Maricopa County for the past year.   

A signed original application with all attachments and a searchable .pdf version of the application and attachments must be submitted to the Administrative Office of the Courts, Human Resources Department, 1501 W. Washington, Suite 221, Phoenix, AZ, 85007, by 3:00 p.m. on November 13, 2017. 

Applicants for the recent vacancies in Maricopa County DO NOT need to reapply to be considered for the new vacancy.

The Commission may, at its discretion, use the applications filed for this vacancy to nominate candidates for any additional vacancies known to the Commission before the screening meeting for this vacancy is held. 

All meetings of the Maricopa County Commission on Trial Court Appointments are open to the public.  Meeting dates will be announced.

Effective January 1, 2018, the new judge will be paid $149,382.60 annually.

Job Opportunity – Policy Advisor

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The Arizona House Democratic Caucus seeks an experienced and hardworking individual to join our team of policy advisors.

Position Description:
A Policy Advisor provides strategic guidance to the chief of staff and elected officials regarding specific policy area issues. A policy advisor is required to research, analyze and offer advice about potential and existing legislation. The ideal candidate will be proactive, work well in a fast-paced environment, and have experience in public policy and the legislative process.

Duties and Responsibilities:
· Staff legislative committees and policy issues.
· Monitor bills as they proceed through the legislative process.
· Draft bills and amendments with assistance from legislative drafting attorneys.
· Compile information about the impact of legislation through research and discussion
ith stakeholders, lobbyists, and allied groups.
· Brief Democratic House Members on legislation.
· Prepare written summaries and make oral presentations about legislation.
· Respond to constituent inquiries.
· Draft briefing papers and talking points on assigned issues and legislation.
· Assist other lead staff with community outreach and media relations efforts as needed in assigned legislative subject areas.
· Support other team members on other duties as assigned or required.

Preferred Qualifications:
· Bachelor’s degree (Master’s degree or Law degree preferred).
· Knowledge of and experience with legislative processes and government institutions.
· Strong analytical, research, writing and oral presentation skills.
· Professionalism, confidentiality, and integrity.
· Ability to succeed in a busy and demanding work environment, juggling multiple projects and deadlines independently.
· Willingness to be part of a team that works closely and collectively to advance the goals of Caucus Members and colleagues.
· Knowledge of policy issues currently being considered by the Arizona Legislature.
· Knowledge of environmental, natural resource, and water issues preferred.

Compensation:
Salary is negotiable based on experience and education. Benefits include health, dental, vision, and retirement.

To Apply:
Please submit a cover letter, resume, and three references to caragon@azleg.gov by Wednesday, November 1, 2017. Please include “Policy Advisor Candidate, YOUR NAME” in the subject line. For questions please call 602-926-5848.

Click the following link to download PDF Policy_Advisor_Job_Description