September 2015

Photo by Leo Dayish

Ya’at’eeh/Greetings, NNABA members:

I hope you are enjoying the NNABA newsletters. If you have any information or news you or your regional Association would like to include in future newsletters, please send your information/updates to [email protected].

Ahéhee’.

Respectfully,

Linda Benally
NNABA President, 2015-2016

NNABA IDENTIFIES PRIORITIES DURING 2015 STRATEGIC PLANNING SESSION

On July 29, 2015, the NNABA Board of Directors met in Chicago, Illinois for their annual Strategic Planning session, at which time they set priorities for this bar year and developed a 3-year strategic plan.

NNABA PRIORITIES:

1. Strengthen relationships with American Indian Bar Associations in Indian Country.
2. Grow NNABA membership and offer value-added programming, including:
• Holding a half-day day conference as part of NNABA Annual Meeting, with a plenary session speaker, and a reception after the conference.
• Partnering with regional bar associations to co-host webinars on professional development and relevant CLE topics.
3. Present findings of the Pursuit of Inclusion Report released in April 2015.
4. Raise funds to support NNABA operations.
5. Host Coalition of Bar Associations of Color (CBAC) Lobby Day in 2016.
6. Take positions on policy issues on matters important to Native Americans and Native governments.

Under the leadership of past-President Patty Ferguson Bohnee, NNABA held a strategic planning sessions in 2011 in Hollywood, FL, hosted by Director Robert Saunooke and sponsored by the Seminole Tribe of Florida. Since then, NNABA has held the following annual strategic planning sessions:

• 2012 at Gila River Indian Community hosted by Patty Ferguson-Bohnee
• 2013 in Phoenix, AZ hosted by Linda Benally and sponsored by APS
• 2014 in Phoenix, AZ hosted by Jennifer Weddle and sponsored by Greenberg Traurig
• 2015 in Chicago, IL hosted by President-Elect Weddle and sponsored by Greenberg Traurig

The NNABA Board of Directors thanks the directors who have hosted planning sessions and also thanks past sponsors for making the meetings possible.

NNABA Mission Statement:
Advancing Justice for Native Americans.

NNABA Vision:

• We strive for justice and effective legal representation for all American indigenous peoples and Native American lawyers.
• We foster the development of Native American lawyers and judges.
• We address social, cultural and legal issues affecting American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians.

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS: JOIN A NNABA COMMITTEE

NNABA established the following committees to carry out its work for this bar year. If you are interested in working on a committee, or would like more information, please contact [email protected]. Your input and participation is needed!

• CLE Committee
• Conference Committee
• Diversity Committee
• Membership Committee
• Legislative Day Committee
• Fundraising Committee
• Young Lawyers Committee (formed in 2014)

STATE BAR OF SOUTH DAKOTA, SOUTH DAKOTA INDIAN COUNTRY BAR ASSOCIATION AND NNABA FOUNDATION PARTNER IN LAW SCHOOL PIPELINE INITIATIVE

NNABA Foundation is proud to partner with Eric Shulte, President, State Bar of South Dakota, and the South Dakota Indian Country Bar Association to launch the Native American Pipeline to Law School project in Rapid City, South Dakota. Representatives from the State Bar of SD, SD Indian Country Bar Association and NNABA plan to visit tribal colleges and tribal high schools to provide information to Native American students about law school and law as a career.

In order to raise the visibility of Native American attorneys in the legal profession at large, to effectuate lasting reforms in the legal community, and to help build a pipeline to law school NNABA conducted the first-of-its-kind study of Native American attorneys in 2014: The Pursuit of Inclusion: An In-Depth Exploration of the Experiences and Perspectives of Native American Attorneys in the Legal Profession. When it launched the study NNABA leadership hoped others would use the findings to develop educational materials and programs that would help improve the recruitment, hiring, retention and advancement of Native American attorneys in the legal profession. The State Bar of South Dakota’s Native American Pipeline to Law School initiative does just that.

GAYE L. TENOSO INDIAN COUNTRY FELLOWSHIP – CLOSES ON SEPTEMBER 8, 2015

The Department of Justice’s Attorney General’s Honors Program includes the Gaye L. Tenoso Indian Country Fellowship. This is a three-year Fellowship open to all eligible Honors Program applicants, including current law students graduating in the coming academic year. Participating components, along with additional eligibility requirements, are listed at: http://www.justice.gov/legal-careers/honors-program-participating-components.

The Attorney General’s Honors Program (HP) is Justice's recruitment program for entry-level attorneys, and is the only way Justice hires law students directly out of law school. Judicial law clerks, full-time graduate law program (LLM) students, and law school graduates in qualifying full-time legal fellowships are also eligible.

The first opportunity for law students to apply for HP is the summer before their third year of law school. For the 2015-2016 Attorney General’s Honors Program, the on-line centralized electronic application will open July 31, 2015, and close September 8, 2015. For more information on the HP, visit: http://www.justice.gov/legal-careers/entry-level-attorneys.

THE PURSUIT OF INCLUSION: AN IN-DEPTH EXPLORATION OF THE EXPERIENCES AND PERSPECTIVES OF NATIVE AMERICAN ATTORNEYS IN THE LEGAL PROFESSION

NNABA released the first comprehensive research of Native American attorneys and spanned multiple practice settings of roughly 500 survey respondents who all identified as Native. "This comprehensive research is not only the first – but the only – research that examines the experiences of Native American attorneys across all practice settings. It presents a stark portrait of an entire group of attorneys systematically excluded from the legal profession,” said Mary Smith, NNABA Immediate Past President.

To learn more about the study, please click here.

ABA PASSES RESOLUTION 113 IN SUPPORT OF AMERICAN INDIAN CHILDREN

On August 4, 2015, the American Bar Association adopted Resolution 113, which adopts and urges prompt implementation by the Administration, Congress, and state and tribal governments of specific recommendations contained in the November 2014 report of the U.S. Attorney General’s Advisory Committee on American Indian/Alaska Native Children Exposed to Violence, entitled Ending Violence So Children Can Thrive. NNABA member Jerry Gardner and NNABA Board member Lauren van Schilfgaarde assisted in the drafting and initial push for the resolution through the ABA Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities. NNABA past-president Mary Smith introduced the resolution to the House of Delegates, and NNABA President-Elect Jennifer Weddle spoke in support of the resolution.

View the resolution.

NNABA RECEIVES AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENTS FOR 2016-2017

Each year, the ABA President-Elect makes approximately 600 appointments to standing and special committees, commissions and other entities and initiatives. The following NNABA directors and members have been appointed for the upcoming bar year.

• Center for Racial and Ethnic Diversity (Diversity Center): Director Lauren van Schilfgaarde
• Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession: President Linda Benally and Thomasina Realbird, NNABA Representative on ABA Young Lawyers Assembly
• Coalition on Racial and Ethnic Justice: Treasurer Patty Ferguson Bohnee
• Standing Committee on Law Library of Congress Advisory Committee: President-Elect Jennifer Weddle
• Foundation Board Director Jimmy Goodman: Board of Governors, Chair of the Board Governance Committee (which has oversight over Board policies, procedures and practices, with an emphasis on promoting improved board oversight over ABA activities and projects).

YOUNG LAWYERS’ COMMITTEE

The NNABA Young Lawyers Committee conducted its bimonthly meeting on August 14, 2015. This committee is open to new members, so please join. The committee will discuss happenings in the last two months; reports from subcommittees on Membership, Indian Country Policy, and Outreach; and plans for the future.

WHAT IS THE ABA CENTER FOR RACIAL AND ETHNIC DIVERSITY?

The Diversity Center is the "umbrella" entity for the four major groups within the ABA that address racial and ethnic diversity issues. The Center helps develop the parameters and goals for increasing diversity within the profession and serve as a guiding force in program development and innovation.

The Center is comprised of four main entities: Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession, Coalition on Racial and Ethnic Justice, the Council for Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Educational Pipeline and the Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights & Responsibilities. Through the efforts of these four entities, the ABA addresses the issue of diversity with a four-pronged approach focusing on racial and ethnic issues in the legal profession, social justice system, advancing students into the profession and ensuring that the voices of the Latino community across this nation are heard.

NNABA MEMBER PROFILE

NNABA would like to feature MEMBER PROFILES, which provide the opportunity for members to get to know each other and to point out the important work they are doing.

If you are a NNABA member, we welcome the opportunity to feature you on this page. Feel free to copy/paste this template as a guide, and submit your completed profile to [email protected]

REGIONAL AND STATE INDIAN BAR ASSOCIATION NEWS

Native American Bar Association – Arizona 7th Annual Seven Generations Awards Dinner & Silent Auction

September 26, 2015
Dinner – 7 p.m.
Wild Horse Pass Hotel & Casino
5040 Wild Horse Pass Blvd. in Chandler, AZ

For more information contact: Kate Rosier at [email protected]

California Indian Law Association 15th Annual Conference & Gala

October 15 & 16, 2015

At the Gala, CILA will present its Outstanding Achievement in California Indian Law Award. Last year, the award was presented to Dorothy Alther, Executive Director of the California Indian Legal Services.

At the conference, panel topics will include “Tribes and the Marijuana Industry,” “P.L. 280: A Path to Repeal,” “Water Rights and the Drought,” “Land Into Trust,” and a California Indian legislative and case law update. Additionally, presentations will be made on Indian law programs in California law schools and on the recent report Pursuit of Inclusion: An In-Depth Exploration of the Experiences and Perspectives of Native American Attorneys in the Legal Profession.

Visit www.calindianlaw.org to learn more.

Native American Rights Fund

November 5–7, 2015
45th Anniversary Celebration
CLE,Gala & Silent Auction, and Community Powwow
Denver, CO
Visit www.narf.org to learn more.

JOIN NNABA NOW!

Our Attorney Membership Form and Student Membership Form are available to download as PDF files. Benefits of being a NNABA member include access to a variety of new, nationwide job announcements by email and on this site. To join, click here. The membership year runs from April to April and dues are $75 per year. In addition to checks and money orders, NNABA accepts credit cards for payment of dues. If you have any questions about membership or experience any difficulty with downloading, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]