The Basics of Federal Indian Law

January 21, 2006

Elizabeth Furse will introduce this session with an overview of major eras of federal Indian policy since the founding of the US government. Participants explore the exercise of power by federal legislative, judicial and executive branches, and their effects on tribal societies.

The seminar will feature videos of John Echohawk (Pawnee), Roy Sampsel (Wyandotte/Choctaw), and Gay Kingman (Cheyenne River Sioux).

John Echohawk, the first graduate a law program for Native Americans at the University of New Mexico, is the co-founder of the Native American Rights Fund (NARF). He has fought for justice on behalf of tribes across the country and continues work on the landmark Cobell v. Norton case at the Boulder-based NARF.

Roy Sampsel is a former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Policy, Department of Interior, and Executive Director of Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. He believes that tribes have unusual skills as natural resource managers. Sampsel’s breadth of experience enables him to be a bridge between tribes and federal agencies.

Gay Kingman is an educator and founder of a tribal college who carried her work for tribes into the national political sphere. As Public Relations Director for the National Indian Gaming Association, she conducted a successful and award-winning campaign, “Schools vs. Yachts,” to counter the anti-Indian congressional lobbying of Donald Trump.

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