LAW COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

LAW-2386 Federal Indian Law and the Rights of

Indigenous Peoples in the U.S.

Prof. Lorie M. Graham,

3 credits day; 3 credits evening.

Students using this course to fulfill the experiential learning requirement may not also use this

same course to meet the legal writing requirement.

As a practicing attorney, you are more likely than ever to encounter Federal Indian law issues -

from complex business transactions to adoption to jurisdictional and choice of law questions.

This course will help you to develop some expertise in the field of Federal Indian Law, while

exploring other related areas of law that intersect with this field; such as constitutional law,

property law, family law, gaming law, and international human rights law.

The primary focus of this course is on defining and understanding the legal relationship that

exists among Native American Nations, the Federal Government, and States. The course also

considers the impact that U.S. federal Indian law is having globally, as Indigenous Peoples from

around the world move to establish internationally recognized rights to natural resources, land,

self-determination, and culture.

The grade for this course is determined by class participation and a series of short written

exercises, which are intended to reinforce your learning of the material throughout the

semester. There is no final paper or exam that has to be completed for this course.

This course is a suggested prerequisite for the Indigenous Peoples Rights Clinic, which focuses

on Federal Indian Law cases as well as International Human Rights cases.

Faculty comments

: This class combines history, law and policy to help you gain a competency

in a field of law known as Federal Indian law. This is a fast growing area of law that touches

upon a host of issues, from sovereign immunity to human rights, from child welfare to gaming,

from law enforcement under the Violence against Women Act to state and tribal compacts. If

you have any questions about the course, just email Professor Graham at

Enrollment is limited: 20

Elective Course

On List of Recommended Perspectives Courses

Meets International Law Concentration Requirements

May Fulfill Legal Writing Requirement

Meets Experiential Learning Requirement

LLM Course