October 8, 2007

Federal Recognition Resources

To research the federal recognition (aka federal acknowledgment) process for American Indian tribes at the National Indian Law Library, start at this web page: http://www.narf.org/nill/resources/recog.htm

A list of tribes recognized as of 2007 is linked, in addition to Bureau of Indian Affairs Acknowledgment Database showing the status of tribes. (last updated August, 2004)

The library has numerous materials on federal recognition. Go to the library's catalog (http://nillcat.narf.org) and type "federal recognition" in the subject field. A new book at the library on this process is Forgotten tribes : unrecognized Indians and the federal acknowledgment process / Mark Edwin Miller. Federal recognition documents for various tribes can be found, and numerous journal articles on the acknowledgment process.

Contact the library for more assistance.

October 5, 2007

A Practical Guide to the Indian Child Welfare Act


BOULDER, CO-NARF is proud to announce the publication of its new "Practical Guide to the Indian Child Welfare Act." The Guide, available both on the Internet and in print, is a powerful resource tool for tribal, state and federal entities involved in Indian child custody proceedings. Among the wealth of contents and resources is frequently asked questions with answers falling under 22 topics, including:

Application of the ICWA
Jurisdiction
Who has rights under the Act
Intervention
Role of Tribal Courts
Tribal State Agreements
Foster placement & removal
Resources

The Internet version, available at www.narf.org/icwa, also contains more than 1,000 full-text resources.

The ICWA Practical Guide Project was generously funded by the Administration for Native Americans, with supplemental funding by the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, and supported by NICWA as a key partner. NARF and an Advisory Board-made up of multi-disciplinary team consisting of members of tribal courts, tribal ICWA departments, state governments, Indian law practitioners, Native non-profit organizations, law firms and urban Indian centers-provided guidance on the comprehensive content of the guide. To order a copy of the Guide, print a free copy, or access the expanded Internet edition, please visit: www.narf.org/icwa.

September 19, 2007

Federal Indian Law and Tribal Law Research Guides Updated 9/07

The Library has updated two important Guides to doing Indian law research

Indian law is a growing area of law, as many of the more than 560 federally recognized tribes and Alaska Native Villages exercise their sovereignty and self-governance, as well as develop their economies. Many western states have significant populations of American Indians, and trust lands cover more than fifty-five million acres in the United States. A sign of the growing importance of Indian law is that the New Mexico, South Dakota and Washington State Bar Associations have decided to add a question on Indian law on their state bar exams. This article, set out in two parts, and originally published in the Colorado Lawyer, attempts to provide some practical tips for the Indian law researcher. Part I focuses on federal Indian law research. Although hundreds of pages could be written on researching federal Indian law, this article focuses on providing basic tips related to common questions received by the National Indian Law Library (“ NILL” ) and the best sources of information to answer those questions.

Part II focuses on tribal law research. Tribal law is law developed by the tribes, which applies within their territories and to their members. Tribal law can be a difficult area of law to research, because few primary and secondary resources are published or distributed to the public. Despite the lack of commercial publication, tribal law resources have become more accessible in the past six years, primarily on the Internet. However, locating the right resources often requires patience and tenacity and the skilled researcher should be aware of who to contact for assistance.