Awards will be presented at the 17th Annual ILP Alumni & Friends Awards Ceremony & Reception to be held April 7, 2016 (5-7 p.m.) at Shadow Lounge, Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. We hope you will join us to celebrate their recognition!
Please send your RSVP to ILP@asu.edu by Friday, April 1, 2016.
Professor Patty Ferguson-Bohnee has released the article, The History of Indian Voting Rights in Arizona: Overcoming Decades of Voter Suppression, to SSRN.
Abstract:
Native Americans “have experienced a long history of disenfranchisement as a matter of law and of practice.” This comes from a complicated and contradictory history of laws and policy that has recognized tribes as separate sovereigns, reduced tribal status to that of domestic dependent nations, sought to remove, relocate, or assimilate tribal citizens, terminated numerous indigenous nations, and has now moved to a policy of tribal self-government. Unfortunately, the right to vote for Arizona’s first people has only recently been achieved, and there are continuing threats to the electoral franchise.
Voter suppression has been used to discourage or prevent Indian people from voting in Arizona. Voter qualifications such as literacy tests were used to prevent Indians from participating in elections for approximately fifty years. Once Native Americans started voting, redistricting and vote dilution were used to reduce the effectiveness of the Native vote.
This article will review the history of Indian voting rights in Arizona. The author begins by reviewing the history of Native American voting rights and the history of voting discrimination against Native Americans in Arizona. The Voting Rights Act turned the corner for Native people to participate in the state and federal election processes. The article then discusses the current challenges faced by Native American voters and specifically discuss the voter ID law passed in 2004. The voter ID law is a roadblock that impedes full participation by all Arizona Indians. The last part of the article focuses on strategies to protect Indian voting rights. Notwithstanding the Supreme Court’s invalidation of the Section 5 coverage formula in Shelby County, tribes should consider proactive measures to ensure that tribal citizens can participate in elections.
Happy to announce this year’s award recipients! Congratulations to Benjamin Hanley and Charles W. Galbraith for their dedication and leadership in Indian Country.
Awards will be presented at the 17th Annual ILP Alumni & Friends Awards Ceremony & Reception to be held April 7, 2016 (5-7 p.m.) at Shadow Lounge, Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. We hope you will join us to celebrate their recognition! Don’t forget to send your RSVP to ILP@asu.edu by April 1, 2016.
Mark your calendars!!
Lunch Lecture with Steve Bodmer– April 6 (12:15pm) in Room 114, Armstrong Hall.
Food will be reserved to those who RSVP to ILP@asu.edu. We hope you will join us!
The Office of Attorney General is now hiring an Assistant Attorney General IV, Health, with at least eight years of relevant experience, including experience in health law. The Office of Attorney General represents the interests of the Tohono O’odham Nation in tribal, state, and federal venues.
The Nation offers generous benefits including paid holidays, sick and annual leave, low cost medical, dental, and vision insurance. Applicants must pass a background check. Send resume, legal writing sample, and three references to Acting Attorney General Laura Berglan via email at laura.berglan@tonation-nsn.gov.
Little River Band of Ottawa Indians
Position: Staff Attorney-Legal Department
(1 – Full Time – Contractual)
Summary: The Tribal Staff Attorney is a member of the Tribe’s unified Legal Department. The principal duty of the Tribal Staff Attorney is to provide in-house legal services to the Tribe. The duties and obligations of the Tribal Staff Attorney are primarily governed by the Tribe’s Unified Legal Department Act of 2015.
Employment Qualifications: A qualified candidate offers the following:
• J.D. Degree from an ABA-accredited law school; and
• one or more years of law practice experience with a law firm, legal department, non-profit, or legal services organization; and
• a working knowledge of Federal Indian Law; and
• a current license to practice law in any U.S. state.
• If not licensed in Michigan, must obtain license to practice law in Michigan and in the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians Tribal Court within six months of hire.
Pay Grade: E8
Hiring Range: $75,545 – $100,182
Status: Exempt; Contracted, Bi-Weekly pay
Application Instructions:
Obtain an application form and a copy of the position description by contacting Human Resources at:
LRBOI HR Department, 2608 Government Center Dr, Manistee, MI 49660
phone: (231) 398-6859; Email: jobs@lrboi-nsn.gov ; www.lrboi-nsn.gov
To apply, please submit completed application, cover letter and resume (please include license number), no later than 5 p.m. on April 12, 2016 to:
LRBOI HR Department, 2608 Government Center Dr, Manistee, MI 49660
fax: (231) 398-9101; Email: jobs@lrboi-nsn.gov
Conditions of employment with the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians Tribal Government include: passing a pre-employment drug test and background investigation. Candidates for this position will be required to have dependable transportation available to them without notice. For further information, please contact the LRBOI HR Department.
Current judicial vacancies include:
Superior Court in Pima County
Judge
Commissioner
Superior Court in Pinal County
Judge
Tempe Municipal Court
Presiding Judge
Professor Robert J. Miller has released a book chapter on SSRN. You can download the chapter on American Indian Entrepreneurship for free. The Abstract is also below.
Abstract:
Almost none of the 300 Indian reservations located in the lower forty-eight states possess functioning economies in which reservation residents and visitors can purchase the goods and services commonly available in the U.S…. economy. A private, free market economy obviously requires private business owners, i.e., entrepreneurs. The percentage of private business ownership among American Indians, however, is by far the lowest for any identifiable group in the U.S. and this fact alone contributes greatly to the poverty and lack of economic activity on reservations. Consequently, to assist Indian nations and communities to unlock their wealth and to improve their economic and social conditions, tribal governments and others need to focus on increasing the number of on-reservation Indian entrepreneurs and creating more privately owned businesses and private-sector economies on reservations.
American Indian Studies is a proud sponsor of an upcoming public talk by Gila River Indian Community Governor Stephen Roe Lewis. In addition to serving in the executive office at Gila River, Governor Lewis is a graduate of ASU with a degree in American Indian Studies.
Wednesday, February 13 (11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.)
Memorial Union, Alumni Lounge
