NNABA History

The National Native American Bar Association:
Past, Present and Future

Representing Indian Nations not just Indian Lawyers. NNABA shares many of the same goals of diversity and increased understanding of our communities’ unique cultural and legal issues with minority bar associations. However, most of our lawyers are both U.S. citizens and citizens of their respective Tribal nations. Our members, therefore, also share the communal responsibility, either directly or indirectly, of protecting the governmental sovereignty of the more than 560 independent Native American Tribal governments in the United States.

History of the Formation of NNABA.  The National Native American Bar Association began in 1973 as the American Indian Lawyers Association. After a few name changes (American Indian Bar Association to Native American Bar Association), in 1980 we reorganized and developed a chapter system for state Indian bar associations, and we became the National Native American Bar Association. Each of the Chapters has a vote on the NNABA Board of Directors.  As the name Native American implies, NNABA represents the interests of all populations indigenous to the lands which are now collectively the United States: American Indians, Native Alaskans, and Native Hawaiians.

Goals of NNABA.

• Protect the sovereignty of Native Tribal nations
• Promote and protect the development of Tribal law and Tribal judicial systems
• Promote public understanding of the unique legal status of Native Americans
• Promote the recruitment and retention of Native American law students and law faculty
• Promote the appointment of Native Americans to the Tribal, State, and Federal judiciary
• Promote scholarship in federal Indian law and inclusion of Indian law in law school curriculums
• Promote inclusion of Indian Law on State Bar Exams, especially in states with Tribal governments (including states like Alaska, Oregon, California, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Maine, Wyoming, Connecticut, Louisiana and Florida. Indian Law is currently on the state bar in Washington, New Mexico, and South Dakota.)

Tribal Provisions in the U.S. Constitution. Indian Tribes are sovereign entities that have a government-to-government relationship with the U.S. federal government.  Tribal sovereignty is inherent and pre-dates the formation of the United States government. This sovereignty is both implicitly and explicitly recognized within the U.S. Constitution.  Indians or Indian Tribes are referenced three times in the U.S. Constitution. 

• The Commerce Clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 3) grants to Congress the power “To regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several states, and with the Indian Tribes.”
• The Apportionment Clause (Article I, Section 2, Clause 3) calls for “Representatives and direct taxes to be apportioned according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other persons.”
• The Fourteenth Amendment (Section 2) the Indians not taxed language is repeated.
  

Tribal Laws and Tribal Courts. As sovereign nations, Tribal governments have all of the same responsibilities as any government. They are responsible for the education, health, well-being, and safety of all of their citizens and residents. Tribes have their own laws, their own police forces, court systems, jails and legal infrastructure. NNABA membership consists of a number of attorneys (and some lay legal professionals) who work within Tribal legal systems.

Ethnic Fraud: Lying About Being Indian For Law School Entrance. Many of the concerns NNABA has we share with other minority groups such as increasing the number of minority lawyers and judges, and general sensitivity to minority issues. There is a one large systemic problem, however, that seems to be unique to the Indian community: Lying about being Native American on law school applications.

While few people would indicate they were Asian-American or African-American on a law school application unless it truly was a part of their identity, and would be expelled for dishonesty once discovered, for some reason there is a wide level of comfort with lying about being Native American. This is particularly disconcerting considering being Native American is not just an ethnic identity, but is an actual Tribal citizenship which carries with it a formal Tribal enrollment number, not unlike a social security number.

Despite numerous attempts by NNABA to get law schools to address this issue, they are quietly complicit because their silence helps pad their minority numbers. To highlight this issue, one only need look at the census data. From 1990-2000 the U.S. Census reported an increase of 228 Native American attorneys. During the same time period, ABA accredited law schools reported graduating nearly 2,500 Native Americans.

ABA law schools should be ashamed. Their complicity is one of the single largest factors preventing any real increase in the number of Native Americans in the legal profession.

Including Federal Indian Law in Law  School Curriculum. Despite the fact that Tribes are located in at least 35 states, Indian law is not integrated into the majority of law schools in America.  Most Constitutional Law and Civil Procedure classes do not even mention that there are in fact three (not two) distinct sovereigns and legal structures in eth Unites States. Law schools need to integrate Indian law into pre-existing curriculums, and, especially those with Tribes within their state, offer a full stand alone course in the specialty of federal Indian law. NNABA is happy to work with law schools interested in diversifying not only their student body, but their curriculum as well.

For more information, please visit our website www.nativeamericanbar.org. Heather Dawn Thompson is President-Elect of the National Native American Bar Association. Member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and a Harvard Law School graduate. Lawrence Baca, is former-President of the National Native American Bar Association, and current Board Member. He is Pawnee and also a graduate of Harvard Law School.