LECTURES EXPLORE COURT CASE IMPLICATIONS FOR INDIAN COUNTRY, INDIAN

Nov. 13, 2003

LECTURES EXPLORE COURT CASE IMPLICATIONS FOR INDIAN COUNTRY, INDIAN LAW

The University of New Mexico's Native American Law Students Association will sponsor two lectures next week focused on court proceedings that have implications for Indian Country and federal Indian law.

The talks will take place at the UNM School of Law, rm. 2405.

John Echohawk, Pawnee, executive director of the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), will speak Tuesday, Nov. 18, from 12:20-1:15 p.m.

Echohawk, a UNM School of Law graduate, will discuss the proceeding Cobell v. Norton, the individual Indian trust funds suit against the Department of Interior, currently calculated at $137.5 billion. He will also discuss the U.S. Supreme Court recent decision to reexamine U.S. v. Lara, which will affect how NARF approaches any legislative fixes to recent decisions.

On Wednesday, Nov. 19th, Hilary Tompkins of the Navajo Nation, deputy legal counsel to New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, will speak from 12:30 - 1:15 p.m.

Tompkins will discuss the legal and policy issues that the State of New Mexico faces with regard to tribes in New Mexico.

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