Navajo Nation Law 2014 CLE Conference – Oct 24, 2014 – Early Bird Registration ends tomorrow 10/01 at 5 pm. Get your required annual Navajo Bar CLE credits here. New Mexico MCLE approval pending.
Click here for Agenda and Registration:
Category Archives: NABA-AZ
Professor Robert N. Clinton receives the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Native American Bar Association of Arizona
Congratulations to ILP’s Professor Robert N. Clinton who received the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Native American Bar Association of Arizona last Saturday at the 6th Annual NABA-AZ – The Seven Generations Annual Awards Dinner & Silent Auction.
Quote from Carole E. Goldberg, UCLA Law, Jonathan D. Varat Distinguished Professor of Law, Vice Chancellor, Academic Personnel. B.A. Smith College, 1968, J.D. Stanford, 1971
In the spirited exchanges over treatment of cases and doctrines, Bob was not shy about expressing his views, and more than held his own with more senior colleagues. His razor sharp analytical powers were on display from the start. It became my lifetime goal to stay on the right side of that blade. Over the next twenty years, I had occasion to learn from Bob’s many law review articles, including his classic explication of Indian country criminal jurisdiction – to this day called a “maze,” a term Bob coined – and his original designation of federal Indian policy as “colonialism.”
Some of the arguments about treatment of particular cases and doctrines, especially arguments between Bob and me, could get intense. Rebecca became very adept at ducking. But it was all done with respect and affection, and out of concern to make the casebook the best possible instrument for teaching federal Indian law. We even included a tribal court opinion that Bob had written, and proceeded to critique it in the Notes.
Congrats also goes out to the following ILP Alums:
Community Service Award: Diane Enos, President, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (Class of 1992)
NABA-AZ Member of the Year: Diandra D. Benally, Assistant General Counsel, Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation (Class of 2005)
Kevin Gover – Moving beyond the “imaginary Indians” perception
Please see the Washington Post article about Kevin Gover – Moving beyond the “imaginary Indians” perception.
Kevin Gover – Moving beyond the “imaginary Indians” perception at http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/fred-hiatt-moving-beyond-the-imaginary-indians-perception/2014/09/21/ea1ee614-3f3b-11e4-9587-5dafd96295f0_story.html
Congrats to ILP Alums from the Class of 2006 Steve Bodmer and Courtney Monteiro for being recipients of the 40 under 40 award!
Congrats to ILP Alums from the Class of 2006 Steve Bodmer and Courtney Monteiro for being recipients of the 40 under 40!
The National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development (NCAIED) is pleased to announce its 2014 “Native American 40 Under 40” award recipients have been selected. This prestigious award recognizes 40 emerging American Indian leaders from across Indian Country who have demonstrated leadership, initiative, and dedication and made significant contributions in business and/or in their community.
http://us8.campaign-archive2.com/?u=e712263dac83bf97d30c607ab&id=5accf007ce
Job Opportunity – The Environment and Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of Justice is seeking an experienced litigator
The Environment and Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of Justice is seeking an experienced litigator for its Appellate Section for a full-time position in Washington, DC.
Please note: If you applied in response to Announcement ENRD-14-025-EXC, which closed April 14, 2014, you need not re-apply. Your application will be considered for this announcement.
Justice seeks to attract, retain, and promote individuals of exceptional ability and talent from all walks of life. The work environment and atmosphere is open, diverse, collegial, and inclusive. There are active affinity groups for African-American; Asian-American; Hispanic; lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT); and Native American employees, which are open to all DOJ employees regardless of background. Justice fosters a work environment where people of all backgrounds and experiences may reach their full potential.
Thank you for your help in disseminating this vacancy announcement. This and other attorney vacancy announcements can be found at: http://www.justice.gov/legal-careers/attorneys-vacancies.
Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD)
Attorney, Washington, DC 20004, United States
ENRD-14-067-EXC
About the Office:
If you applied in response to Announcement ENRD-14-025-EXC, which closed April 14, 2014, you need not re-apply. Your application will be considered for this announcement.
About the Office: The Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) of the U.S. Department of Justice is seeking an experienced litigator for its Appellate Section for a full-time position in Washington, DC.
The Appellate Section is responsible for handling cases in the federal courts of appeals involving the ENRD for preparing appeal recommendations, and for preparing drafts for the Office of the Solicitor General of petitions and briefs in all ENRD cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. For more information about the Environment & Natural Resources Division, visit the Justice Department’s web site at: http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/.
Job Description:
Cases involve such subject matters as: air, water, and solid waste regulation; hazardous substance cleanups; public land and forest management; water rights; Indian treaty rights and Indian gaming; land condemnation; Fifth Amendment takings; fish and wildlife conservation; and criminal environmental prosecutions.
Qualifications:
Applicants must possess a J.D. degree, be an active member of the bar (any jurisdiction), and have at least five or more years of post-J.D. litigation/legal experience, and be a U.S. citizen. Applicants with U.S. Court of Appeals experience or with a background in environmental or natural resources law will be preferred.
You will be evaluated based on your qualifications for this position as evidenced by the experience you report relative to this position. Paid and unpaid experience will be considered.
This is a permanent appointment with a probationary period following a security clearance, for a full time position. Selected attorneys are eligible for employment benefits such as health and life insurance, the FERS retirement program, paid vacation and sick leave, and a public transportation subsidy.
Salary: Current salary and years of experience will determine the appropriate salary level. The possible salary range is GS-13 ($89,924 – $116,901); GS-14 ($106,263 – $138,136), and GS-15 ($124,995 – $157,100) per annum.
Travel: Periodic travel is required.
Application Process: Applications must be received by Tuesday, September 16, 2014.
Applicants must submit a current resume, cover letter highlighting relevant experience and salary history, a writing sample, and OF-306, Declaration for Federal Employment (found at this link: http://www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/of0306.pdf to:
U.S. Department of Justice, ENRD
Appellate Section
Attn: Aaron Avila, Assistant Chief
Please reference vacancy announcement number ENRD-14-067-EXC.
Email applications only, please to: ATTYAPPLY-APP.ENRD@USDOJ.GOV
Email links icon
No telephone calls, please.
Application Deadline: Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Relocation Expenses: Relocation expenses will not be authorized.
Number of Positions: 1
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Department Policies
Equal Employment Opportunity: The U.S. Department of Justice is an Equal Opportunity/Reasonable Accommodation Employer. Except where otherwise provided by law, there will be no discrimination because of color, race, religion, national origin, political affiliation, marital status, disability (physical or mental), age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, genetic information, status as a parent, membership or non-membership in an employee organization, on the basis of personal favoritism, or any other non-merit factor. The Department of Justice welcomes and encourages applications from persons with physical and mental disabilities. The Department is firmly committed to satisfying its affirmative obligations under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, to ensure that persons with disabilities have every opportunity to be hired and advanced on the basis of merit within the Department of Justice.
Reasonable Accommodations: This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities where appropriate. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the agency. Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.
Outreach and Recruitment for Qualified Applicants with Disabilities: The Department encourages qualified applicants with disabilities, including individuals with targeted/severe disabilities to apply in response to posted vacancy announcements. Qualified applicants with targeted/severe disabilities may be eligible for direct hire, non-competitive appointment under Schedule A (5 C.F.R. § 213.3102(u)) hiring authority. Individuals with targeted/severe disabilities are encouraged to register for the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Shared List of People with Disabilities (the Bender Disability Employment Registry) by submitting their resume to resume@benderconsult.com
Email links icon
and referencing “Federal Career Opportunities” in the subject line. Additional information about the Bender Registry is available at www.benderconsult.com [external link]. Individuals with disabilities may also contact one of the Department’s Disability Points of Contact (DPOC). See list of DPOCs.
Suitability and Citizenship: It is the policy of the Department to achieve a drug-free workplace and persons selected for employment will be required to pass a drug test which screens for illegal drug use prior to final appointment. Employment is also contingent upon the completion and satisfactory adjudication of a background investigation. Only U.S. citizens are eligible for employment with the Executive Office for Immigration Review and the United States Attorneys’ Offices. Unless otherwise indicated in a particular job advertisement, non-U.S. Citizens may apply for employment with other organizations, but should be advised that appointments of non-U.S. Citizens are extremely rare; such appointments would be possible only if necessary to accomplish the Department’s mission and would be subject to strict security requirements. Applicants who hold dual citizenship in the U.S. and another country will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Veterans: There is no formal rating system for applying veterans’ preference to attorney appointments in the excepted service; however, the Department of Justice considers veterans’ preference eligibility as a positive factor in attorney hiring. Applicants eligible for veterans’ preference must include that information in their cover letter or resume and attach supporting documentation (e.g., the DD 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty and other supporting documentation) to their submissions. Although the “point” system is not used, per se, applicants eligible to claim 10-point preference must submit Standard Form (SF) 15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference, and submit the supporting documentation required for the specific type of preference claimed (visit the OPM website, www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/SF15.pdf for a copy of SF 15, which lists the types of 10-point preferences and the required supporting document(s). Applicants should note that SF 15 requires supporting documentation associated with service- connected disabilities or receipt of nonservice-connected disability pensions to be dated 1991 or later except in the case of service members submitting official statements or retirement orders from a branch of the Armed Forces showing that his or her retirement was due to a permanent service-connected disability or that he/she was transferred to the permanent disability retired list (the statement or retirement orders must indicate that the disability is 10% or more).
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This and other vacancy announcements can be found under Attorney Vacancies and Volunteer Legal Internships. The Department of Justice cannot control further dissemination and/or posting of information contained in this vacancy announcement. Such posting and/or dissemination is not an endorsement by the Department of the organization or group disseminating and/or posting the information.
Movie Screening & Reception: The Cherokee Word for Water – Tuesday, September 16 at 5:15 pm
Movie Screening & Reception: The Cherokee Word for Water
Tuesday, September 16, 2014 / Armstrong Hall / Great Hall
5:15 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Free and Open to the Public. Cherokee Word for Water Movie Screening
Producers Kristina Kiehl and Charlie Soap will be on-hand for Q&A following the screening. Reception following the screen sponsored by Bank of America Merrill Lynch Native American Professional Network.
Hosted by the Indian Legal Program. Please join us. Please forward this invitation to your friends, family and colleagues.
See movie trailer at: http://tinyurl.com/CherokeeWord
Sign-up for free event tickets at: https://thecherokeewordforwater.eventbrite.com
Contact: Darlene.lester@asu.edu
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AN INSPIRING STORY ABOUT A REMARKABLE WOMAN
AND THE POWER OF COMMUNITY
“The Cherokee Word for Water is a very rare story because it is about the empowerment of people who have been made to feel they have no power.”
Gloria Steinem, Friend of Wilma Mankiller
The Cherokee Word for Water is a feature-length motion picture that tells the story of the work that led Wilma Mankiller to become the first modern woman Chief of the Cherokee Nation.
The movie is based on the true story of the Bell Waterline Project. Set in the early 1980s in the homes of a rural Oklahoma Cherokee community where many houses lack running water and others are little more than shacks. After centuries of being dehumanized and dispossessed of their land and identity, the people no longer feel they have power or control over their lives or future.
Led by Wilma Mankiller (played by Kimberly Guerrero, A&E’s Longmire) and fullblood Cherokee organizer Charlie Soap (played by Mo Brings Plenty, Netflix’s House of Cards), using the traditional concept of gadugi – working together to solve a problem, they inspired the community to trust each other, and reawaken universal indigenous values. Together with a community of volunteers they build nearly twenty miles of waterline to save their community. The successful completion of the waterline led to Wilma’s election as Chief, Wilma and Charlie’s marriage and sparked a movement of similar self-help projects across the Cherokee nation and in Indian country that continues to this day.
A long journey to bring this personal story to the screen, first-time filmmakers Charlie Soap directed and produced the film with Kristina Kiehl, women’s rights leader and friend of Wilma and Charlie, serving as Producer. The Cherokee Word for Water was executive produced by Paul Heller (My Left Foot) and Laurene Powell, co-directed by Tim Kelly with cinematography by Lisa Leone, and a screenplay from Tim Kelly and Louise Rubacky.
The Cherokee Word for Water was funded through the Wilma Mankiller Foundation to continue her legacy of social justice and community development in Indian Country. Support is tax deductible and profits fund positive portrayals of American Indians and programs for Indian communities across the country.
See Indian Country Today Article
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/04/15/telling-wilma-mankillers-story-cherokee-word-water-148725
facebook.com/thecherokeewordforwater
twitter.com/wordforwater
youtube.com/cw4w2009
Save the Date – Indian Legal Program Welcome Dinner – August 27, 2014
Please join us in welcoming the ILP’s newly admitted students of 2014.
Date: August 27, 2014
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Place: Round House Cafe, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Comm, 10005 E. Osbourne Rd, Scottsdale, AZ
The Indian Legal Program Welcome Dinner brings together faculty, current students, alumni, law school staff and administration, and legal and native communities to welcome the ILP’s 2014 incoming students. Please join us!
RSVP – Darlene Lester at darlene.lester@asu.edu or call 480-965-7715.
See below map to SRPMIC Two Waters Complex, 10005 E. Osbourne Rd, Scottsdale, AZ
Please see Google Directions at http://goo.gl/maps/qMgBL.
NABA-AZ APRIL 2014 MEMBER PROFILE: KEVIN POOLEY
Kevin Pooley is a second year JD candidate at the Sandra Day O’Connor College Of Law at Arizona State University. He graduated Cum Laude from Brigham Young University with degree in Philosophy. Kevin grew up in Arizona and has lived primarily in Flagstaff, Yuma, and Avondale. He is currently an intern for the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community Prosecutor’s Office. Kevin’s study interest include criminal law, evidence, and security transactions. In his spare spare time Kevin enjoys spending time with his wife and eight month old son.
Q&A
Why did you go to law school?
My family is the most important thing to me and I wanted to be in a line of work where I could support them in a respectable field. I also went to law school because I wanted to help Indian Country. When I was growing up, I was always told that my great-grandfather said that “the days of fighting with bows and arrows it over… the time has come for Indians to fight their fights with books and words.” That story inspired me to go into law.
What do you hope to have accomplished in your career five years from now?
Right now I am taking things one step at a time so my first goal is to graduate and pass the bar! After that I hope to get a job and then gain as much experience as I can.
Why are you a member of NABA-AZ?
I am a member a NABA-AZ because I feel they really care about what Native American lawyers are doing in the legal field and their communities. I am so impressed with how much they reach out to the law school to make us students feel welcome and excited for the future. They have provided many opportunities to network and get involved. They also have also provided many mentoring opportunities for students. Seeing the members’ hard work and dedication has been an inspiration to me.
NABA-AZ – Ann Marie Downes – March 2014 Member Profile
NABA-AZ is excited to present Ann Marie Bledsoe Downes as the March 2014 Member Profile. Read below to learn more about this wonderful person. NABA-AZ is grateful she is a member of our organization.
Ann Marie Bledsoe Downes currently serves as the Interim Executive Director of the Indian Law Program at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at ASU. She recently completed a short term appointment as the Interim President of Little Priest Tribal College and has served in various administrative roles at the Indian Legal Program. Ann Marie has taught courses in Advanced Legal Research and Writing in Indian Law and co-teaches Contemporary Issues in Tribal Economic Development. Prior to joining the Indian Legal Program, she served as the Policy Advisor for Tribal Affairs to former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano. Ann Marie previously served as president of Little Priest Tribal College located in Winnebago, NE. As President, she was responsible for the day-to-day administration and program implementation at Little Priest Tribal College and assisted the college in attaining 10 years of continued accreditation. During her tenure as President she was also a member of the White House Initiative on Tribal Colleges and Universities. In the early 1990’s she served as a Gaming Commissioner on the Hoopa Valley Tribal Gaming Commission and then for her own tribe’s gaming commission for a short time in 2000. She is a member of the Little Priest Tribal College Board of Trustees and as a member of the Board of Directors for the tribal corporation, Ho-Chunk, Inc. She is an enrolled member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska.
Q&A
1. Are you a native Arizonan? If not, where are you from? If so, have you spent a significant amount of time living somewhere else different from this state?
I am originally from Nebraska. I grew up on the Winnebago reservation in northeast Nebraska and lived there until I left to attend law school at ASU. I have lived in both northern and southern California but have spent most of my life in either Nebraska or Arizona.
2. How did you decide to become a lawyer? Did you always want to practice Indian law and/or work for a tribe? Why or why not?
I knew I wanted to be a lawyer at a very young age. My tribe had been fighting to have a new IHS hospital built in our community for a number of years and every so often our tribal leadership would come to the public school on the reservation to encourage us to stay in school and get an education. They would regularly mention our fight for this hospital and would emphasize the fact we had treaty rights and sovereignty. I knew that these words, these concepts, had a meaning beyond what even my tribal leadership was expressing. I knew in order to learn more about these legal principles and to be an advocate like my leaders, I had to go to law school. I never thought I would practice law. I was just looking for answers. My undergraduate degree is in 7-12 Social Sciences education so I thought I would be a social studies teacher and spend the rest of my time helping to fight to get resources to our community and to change the way people thought about my tribe. I’ll never forget the first week of my position as President of Little Priest. About my third day on the job I received a card from the tribal council inviting me to the groundbreaking for our new hospital. It was a decades old fight, but we had finally won.
3. To date, what do you think is your most notable accomplishment – either legal or personal?
I am extremely proud of the work I did at Little Priest Tribal College. We completed an accreditation visit during my last year there and were awarded continuing accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission. This work is a total team effort but I was a young professional with a very steep learning curve. To accomplish continued accreditation for my tribe’s Tribal College will forever be a highlight of my professional career. In my personal life I am very proud of my family. My husband and I have worked very hard to create a marriage that is a partnership. My kids are successful and happy and I hope they see our marriage as a good model to emulate in their future relationships.
4. Is there anything in your career that you have not yet accomplished that you have set as a goal for yourself? If so, what is that? If not, do you plan to retire at some point or try another career?
This is the toughest question for me. I’ve been fortunate enough to achieve so much of what I set out to do. I work in Indian legal education, I get to teach, support students as they pursue their goals, work for my community by being on various boards and my family supports me and keeps me balanced. (Well, for the most part. Any working mom knows it is easier said than done!) So, I feel like new goals are a bit greedy. With that said, I do miss being in the classroom and hope I get opportunity to teach again soon. As a long term goal, I have recently considered going back to Nebraska someday and either working for our tribal economic development corporation or even running for our tribal council.
5. Why did you join NABA-AZ? What would you like to see the organization do or accomplish in the near and/or distant future?
I remember when the organization was first started and I was excited to see how it would grow. The website still has elements of those early days when my colleague and friend, Kate Rosier helped to develop the initial webpage. I think the organization has had tremendous growth in such a short time. There is an active and committed group of people who have really allowed the organization to make huge impact with limited resources. In the long term, I think we want to be the organization that students and lawyers think of first when they are looking for a resource to help them connect with other lawyers in the field. Our activities should raise the visibility of Indian law and tribal law both locally and nationally, as well as highlight the number of great lawyers in Arizona who practice in that area.
6. Do you have any advice for new lawyers? If so, what is it?
Find a good mentor and be patient. The role you are to play as a lawyer doesn’t always reveal itself the first, second or even third year out of law school. Find someone who will help guide you both personally and professionally. Use your law degree to do good.
Changes in Indian law, reservations to be examined at College of Law’s annual William C. Canby Jr. Lecture
For Immediate Release
For more information contact:
Julie Gunderson, 480-727-5458, julie.gunderson@asu.edu
Changes in Indian law, reservations to be examined at College of Law’s annual William C. Canby Jr. Lecture
Reid Peyton Chambers, a former Associate Solicitor for Indian Affairs with the U.S Department of Interior and founding partner in a law firm dedicated to representing Indian tribes nationwide, will deliver the Seventh Annual William C. Canby Jr. Lecture on Friday, Jan. 31, at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. Chambers, who has dedicated his career to teaching Indian law and representing Indian tribes, will give a talk titled, “Reflections on the Changes in Indian Law and Indian Reservations from 1969 to the Present.”
“It’s a personal story for me,” Chambers said. “I’ll be giving my assessment of the changes I’ve seen on reservations and in Indian law since I first began my career in the late 1960s.”
Chambers said one of those significant changes began when Indian leaders on reservations began pushing for tribal sovereignty.
“Before the 1960s the federal government was paternalistic when it came to how they controlled Indian reservations,” Chambers said. “Tribal leaders wanted to get rid of that kind of control and establish their own governments.”
Chambers said that beginning in the late 1960s, the federal government for virtually the first time ever became willing to listen to the demands of Indian leaders, and policies from both Lyndon B. Johnson’s Administration and Richard M. Nixon’s Administration led to tribal governments reasserting sovereignty over their reservations. Chambers said it then became the goal of lawyers representing tribes to affirm in court that tribes did have a right to govern their reservations, as well as to protect tribes’ other treaty rights such as to water and to hunt and fish.
The lecture, presented by the Indian Legal Program (ILP) at the College of Law at Arizona State University, is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. in the Great Hall of Armstrong Hall on the Tempe campus. It is free and open to the public, and will be followed by a reception in the Steptoe & Johnson Rotunda.
The lecture honors Judge William C. Canby Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, a founding faculty member of the College of Law. Judge Canby taught the first classes in Indian law there and was instrumental in creating the ILP.
Chambers, served as Associate Solicitor of Indian Affairs of the U.S. Department of the Interior from 1973 to 1976. He was the Department’s chief legal officer responsible for Indian and Alaska Native matters. Chambers then joined the late Marvin J. Sonosky, a longtime attorney for Indian tribes, and Harry R. Sachse to found the law firm that is now Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse, Endreson & Perry, LLP. The firm specializes in Indian law.
Robert Clinton, Foundation Professor of Law at the College of Law, who invited Chambers to speak at the College of Law said Chambers experience in the field over the last four decades makes him the ideal candidate to speak to the changes that have taken place.
“He has the broadest and widest perspective of anyone in the country, on how Indian law has developed,” Clinton said.
Chambers has taught a seminar on federal Indian law at Georgetown University Law Center and at Yale Law School. He also co-authored the 1982-revised edition of Felix S. Cohen’s landmark treatise on federal Indian law and has published numerous articles.
Chambers taught law for three years as a professor at the University of California at Los Angeles and worked extensively with the Native American Rights Fund and California Indian Legal Services.
For more info or to RSVP to attend in person: please visit http://conferences.asucollegeoflaw.com/canby2014/
If you cannot attend a live webcast of this event will be available at law.asu.edu/CanbyLecture2014.