Tribal Sovereignty Protection Initiative

Summary of September 11th Tribal Leaders Forum:
A Strategic Plan to Stop the Supreme Court's Erosion of Tribal Sovereignty
September 17, 2001

official NCAI document in Adobe Acrobat format

On September 11th, 2001, tribal leadership from across the country met in Washington, DC to discuss the recent cases of the U.S. Supreme Court that have attempted to diminish tribal sovereignty. In recent decisions such as Nevada v. Hicks and Atkinson Trading Co. v. Shirley the Supreme Court has demonstrated that it is on an accelerating trend toward removing tribal jurisdiction. The purpose of the forum was to discuss legislative, governance and litigation strategies to protect and reassert tribal jurisdiction.

The forum came upon the occasion of a great tragedy, terrorist attacks in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. that killed thousands of innocent people. The meeting was changed decidedly as the participants grieved and offered prayers for the victims and their families. Detained in the hotel by these circumstances, the tribal leadership continued their discussion of Supreme Court's efforts to remove the sovereign rights of Indian Nations, the need for tribal leaders to unify to protect these rights, and the heightened sense of loss caused by the day's terrible events.

The assembled tribal leaders reached a consensus to begin an organized effort to halt and reverse the Supreme Court's erosion of tribal sovereignty. Recognizing that this effort must be comprehensive in its approach, the leadership laid out an overall strategic plan. This plan is very ambitious and it was made clear that in order to achieve these goals,


Indian Nations must unify and commit time, resources and effort on a great scale. In summary, the strategic plan is as follows:

I. Develop Federal Legislation to Reaffirm Tribal Jurisdiction
II. Form a Supreme Court Project to Support and Coordinate Tribal Advocacy Before the Supreme Court
III. Promote Strategies for Tribal Governance that Will Protect Tribal Jurisdiction
IV. Increase Tribal Participation in the Selection of Federal Judiciary
V. Develop a Media and Advocacy Strategy That Will Inform Congress, the Public and Tribal Leadership About Tribal Governance and will Promote the Overall Initiative
VI. Implement a Fundraising Campaign to Support NCAI and NARF and Related Expenses in Promoting the Initiative

A large working group of tribal leaders and staff met the following day to begin organizing and the following is the beginning of their efforts:

Sovereignty Protection Steering Committee: This is a committee of tribal leaders to oversee and promote the efforts. All tribal leaders are invited to participate in this oversight committee. The Committee is chaired by President Kelsey Begaye of the Navajo Nation, and Chairman W. Ron Allen of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe. The Steering Committee is planning to meet again on October 18 in Reno, Nevada in conjunction with a meeting of the lntertribal Council of Nevada. Meeting information is attached.

Sovereignty Protection Working Group: The working group includes both the tribal leaders of the Steering Committee as well as the attorneys and other experts and staff who will work at the overall direction the steering committee. Once again, this group is open to all tribal attorneys, representatives and staff who are interested in committing time and developing legislative proposals, legal memoranda, media and advocacy plans and other resources to this effort. Various subgroups wilt be meeting and developing their work product as detailed below.


1) Legislative Committee
The purpose of this committee is to draft legislation that will reconfirm the Congressional recognition of tribal sovereignty in a manner that will cause the Supreme Court to support tribal jurisdiction. In addition to drafting legislation, the Legislative Options Committee will develop legislative strategies and approaches will be advantageous to passing the proposed bill. This group will make decisions based on the consensus of Tribal leaders and will meet periodically to discuss new developments and concerns. The Co-Chairs are John Echohawk and Susan Williams. A draft is under development and is to be presented for review by the Steering Committee at the October 1 8 meeting in Reno, Nevada. It is anticipated that a second draft will be ready for consideration at the NCAI Annual Session in Spokane, Washington the week of November 2 5-30, 2001.

At the workgroup meeting, the tribal leaders considered the question of whether this proposed legislation should narrowly target certain areas, such as jurisdiction over trust land, or whether it should be drafted to broadly support tribal regulatory, judicial and criminal jurisdiction on a territorial basis. In this matter, the leadership determined that they should heed the advice of Senator Daniel K. Inouye, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, and seek the full federal laws that that are necessary to protect tribal rights.

2) Supreme Court Project Committee
The Supreme Court Project Committee will develop a proposal in order to facilitate a change in the Supreme Court's perception of Tribal advocacy. By taking formal action to improve coordination amongst the Tribes and their counsel, the committee will function as a clearinghouse for Tribes across Indian Country. The Supreme Court Project committee will serve as an advisory forum to Tribes and address cases pending before the Supreme Court. Additionally, the Supreme Court project would foster discussion amongst the Tribes about which cases might serve as the best vehicles for obtaining Court victories of general importance to the Tribes. In the short term, NARF and NCAI will coordinate discussions about tribal cases pending on the Supreme Court docket. This Committee is chaired by Chairman Apesanekwat of the Menominee Tribe, and John Echohawk of NARF.


3) Federal Judiciary Project Committee
This Committee will work to help develop an organization or entity that will educate the White House and the Congress on the role of federal judicial appointments on the sovereign rights of Indian Nations; educate tribal leaders and federal decisionmakers on the backgrounds and qualifications of prospective nominees to the federal judiciary regarding tribal sovereignty and Indian rights; build coalitions with education and advocacy groups involved in the judicial appointment process; and educate and support prospective Indian nominees on the process for appointment to the federal bench. This Committee is being coordinated by Wilson Pipestem of letan Consulting and NCAI.

4) Education and Public Outreach
The Education and Public Outreach Committee will have dual components that operate to educate and inform a diverse audience on critical issues, past and present, that Tribal nations must contend with on a daily basis.
a) Internal- Tribal Governance Committee
The Committee will work with Tribal Leaders and their communities to assist in strengthening the political and jurisdictional infrastructures within the Tribes. At a minimum, the Committee will review governance practices in addition to identifying and collecting best processes and procedures for issues that are likely to set up litigation conflicts over tribal sovereignty. The purpose of this sub-committee is to help educate and disseminate information to tribal leadership about the need to protect tribal sovereignty through coordinated action on legislation and litigation. Chairman W. Ron Allen of the Jamestown S'Klaliam Tribe is the Chair of this Committee.
b) External- Education
The purpose of this sub-committee is to educate Federal, State, and Local Legislators, along with the general public, on the importance of maintaining/restoring Tribal Sovereignty and the its value to Tribal communities through a public outreach campaign. This campaign, with its comprehensive educational goal, will strive to change the general public's perception of Tribal Sovereignty and demonstrate that the coexistence of tribal government with federal and state governments is possible and necessary for the survival of Indian people. This Committee is chaired by Ed Thomas, President of Tlingit Haida Central Council, and Liz Hill of NCAI.

5) Fundraising (Sovereignty Protection Fund)
This committee will raise funds by identifying and soliciting financial sources, including Tribes, law firms, individuals, and other organizations, for monetary contributions. In addition, the "Fund" committee will create activities that will bring awareness to the issue at hand and stress the importance of raising capital to achieve our goal of passing a comprehensive bill to protect Tribal sovereignty. The Chairs of this Committee are Michael Anderson of Monteau, Peebles & Crowell, and Fawn Sharp, Quinault Indian Nation tribal attorney.

Conclusion: At the meeting, tribal leadership from every region of the country concluded that they must initiate a unified national effort to protect tribal sovereignty in the face of the threats posed by the Supreme Court. It was made very clear that tribal leaders must put forward a great collective effort for this initiative to succeed. Four national tribal organizations, NCAI, NARF, the National American Indian Court Judges Association and the National Indian Gaming Association coordinated in putting together the first meeting, and we invite all other tribal organizations to join with us. In particular, the regional intertribal organizations will be critical in helping to inform the tribes in all regions. Further notices and information will be forthcoming from NCAI.


Please contact NCAI at 202-466-7767 if we can be of assistance in providing further information on the Tribal Sovereignty Protection Initiative.