Indian Law Lab
| Professor Maggie Blackhawk Open to 2L & 3L students Maximum 8 students | Fall and Spring semesters 4 credits* No prerequisites or co-requisites but Constitutional Law, Federal Indian Law, or Federal Courts is recommended. |
Introduction
Over the past five years, the NYU-Yale American Indian Sovereignty Project has been at the forefront of federal Indian law, constitutional law, and Native American history through research, advocacy, and educational initiatives. With respect to intervention in the courts, to date, the Sovereignty Project has submitted six amicus briefs to the Supreme Court of the United States, four of which have been cited either in Court opinions or from the bench during oral argument, and more to the lower federal courts. The Project’s brief in Haaland v. Brackeen (2023) was the most cited amicus brief in the Court’s majority and concurring opinions and was done in partnership with the American Historical Association and Organization of American Historians—the nation’s two largest historical associations. This brief marked the first time that either organization had submitted an amicus brief in an Indian law case.
The Indian Law Lab will continue this work on amicus briefs, as well as work directly with litigants and their counsel to shape merits arguments on cases that involve Indian law issues—with some reaching beyond more conventional “Indian law” cases. Lab work will also include matters long-requested by tribal governments and leading organizations in the field: including tracking cases in the lower federal courts and researching and crafting draft legislative “fixes” that override or clarify federal court decisions. Beyond these areas, the Lab could advise tribal governments and work on matters specific to Native peoples in New York state and beyond.
Lab students will participate in the research and writing for briefs and will contribute to all facets of the Sovereignty Project’s work, including tracking Indian law cases in the lower federal courts. Students will also collaborate with Sovereignty Project formal partners, including the Tribal Supreme Court Project, coordinated by the Native American Rights Fund and the National Congress of American Indians, and Jenner & Block’s Supreme Court and Native America law practice groups.
The Lab will train students in developing and implementing legal strategies in federal Indian law, including litigation, legal and historical research, case tracking, and legislative drafting. Students will collaborate with the NYU-Yale American Indian Sovereignty Project, and will train under its directors Professor Maggie Blackhawk (NYU Law) and Professor Ned Blackhawk (Yale History), as well as clinical fellow Sonora Taffa. The Lab will offer students experience in historical research, appellate litigation, impact litigation, and hands-on experience in the complex and challenging field of federal Indian law. In addition to legal research, the Lab will also train students to conduct the same caliber of historical primary source and archival research that has recently been cited in landmark Supreme Court opinions.
Course Description
Fieldwork
Students will be assigned to specific cases in teams of two after the first seminar. They will (i) study federal Indian law and the development of the doctrine; (ii) interact with the Sovereignty Project’s partner organizations, Indian law practitioners, and relevant stakeholders in tribal nations to understand the landscape of appellate and impact litigation within federal Indian law; (iii) engage in historical and legal research; (iv) draft legal briefs for ongoing federal court cases related to Indian law; (v) draft reports, briefing papers, and public statements, as needed; and/or (vi) engage with tribal nations or regions of the United States. Where appropriate, students may also contribute to ongoing data collection projects and archival research efforts, as well as develop materials that support broader scholarly or public-facing initiatives.
Seminar
The seminar portion of the Lab meets for 2 hours per week for 13 weeks. Tailored to the projects that students will be working on, the seminar will include sessions that explain the meaning of key cases and core concepts in federal Indian law and Native American history, such as Indigenous sovereignty and American colonialism. The seminar will also include sessions focused on developing practical skills with respect to (i) engaging with Indian law practitioners and Sovereignty Project partners; (ii) documenting and tracking ongoing Indian law cases by drafting summaries and significance statements for each case; (iii) facilitating subsequent advocacy by helping identify opportunities to brief cases at the federal or district court levels; (iv) conducting legal and historical research for developing amicus briefs for ongoing federal court cases in Indian law; and (v) compiling research and recommendations for legislative fixes related to rulings that threaten tribal sovereignty.
Application Procedure
Students should submit an application, resume and transcript on-line via CAMS. Applicants may be contacted for an interview.
* 4 credits includes 2 clinical/fieldwork credits and 2 academic seminar credits.