34th Annual WSBA Indian Law CLE - June 16 and 17, 2022
Related Practice: American Indian Law
Join the Washington State Bar Association Indian Law Section's Annual CLE. This two-day CLE will cover some of the most important developments and pressing issues affecting tribes in Washington and beyond.
To register, click here. For the full PDF of the agenda, please click here.
Agenda
Thursday, June 16 | 8am - 1pm
> Judicial Updates
This session will discuss facts and law of the most significant federal Indian law rulings of the past 12 months. Case summaries of these and all other recent rulings are found in the accompanying Judicial Update paper.
Thomas Schlosser - Morrisset, Schlosser, Jozwiak, & Somerville, Seattle
> Makah Whaling Rights and MMPA Waiver
The Makah Tribe expressly reserved its right to hunt and take whales in its treaty with the United States—a practice they voluntarily put on hold when the local whale populations had dramatically declined in the early part of the 20th century. Since the local gray whale population was deemed recovered and delisted under the Endangered Species Act in 1994, the Makah have sought to resume their hunts. This session explores the tremendous opposition, both in the courts of law and public opinion, the Makah Tribe have faced since resuming their hunting rights.
Trent Crable - Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, Seattle
> Ecology Department’s Refusal to Consider Unqualified Reserved Treaty Water Rights for Instream Flow
A recent case study of Ecology's refusal to consider impairment of senior unadjudicated Treaty-reserved water rights when approving new appropriations. This session will provide an overview of PCHB Case No. 20-071, the resulting settlement, and potential implications of Ecology's current permitting policy on waterways and basins without minimum instream flows or adjudicated Treaty-reserved water rights.
Shona Voelckers - Yakama Nation Office of Legal Counsel, Yakima
> State and Federal Consultation with Tribes: the Climate Change Commitment Bill and National Archives Case Studies
Sarah Roubidoux Lawson - Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt, Seattle
> Treasury Department Funding Distributions and Relations with Tribes
This session will discuss the experience of a tribal attorney who has been hired by the Department of Treasury, including a history of Treasury’s development of the Tribal Affairs Program, the services offered to tribes, and how tribal lawyers and staff should contact them. We will also review the guidance on the CARES and ARPA acts and the tribes’ flexibility in using those funds to meet local community needs.
Fatima Abbas - United States Department of Treasury
> Tribal Sovereign Immunity and Individual Liability of Tribal Officials
This session focuses on recent developments regarding the sovereign immunity of subordinate tribal entities, tribal officials, and tribal employees. The session includes overviews of the multi-factor, arm-of-the-tribe test courts increasingly apply to subordinate tribal entities; and of the remedy-focused analysis that may apply to claims against tribal officials and employees.
Chloe Thompson Villagomez - Foster Garvey, Seattle
Friday, June 17 | 8am - 1pm
> Tribal Laws and Accommodating Employee Vaccine Objections: Learning from the Pandemic
This session will take a look at how tribes, as public health authorities, have protected their own communities from COVID-19 with the roll out of vaccines. It will also review the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates in the workplace and their applicability to Tribes.
Elizabeth Coronado - Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board, Portland
> Growing Food Sovereignty Through Tribal Agricultural Enterprise
Establishing a tribal agricultural enterprise can support a tribe’s food sovereignty goals, but also presents unique legal issues. This presentation will contextualize tribal agricultural enterprise efforts within the tribal food sovereignty movement, and identify key questions that legal counsel may encounter.
Kate Marckworth - Yakama Nation Office of Legal Counsel, Yakima
> Brackeen in the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court granted cert in Brackeen v. Haaland in February. This presentation will discuss the questions presented to the Court and explain the issues in play.
Kate Fort - Michigan State University College of Law, East Lansing, MI
> Hemp and Other Economic Development Models
This session will explore the Tribal Hemp Programs pursuant to the USDA’s 2018 Farm Bill such as the economic development opportunities available to tribes through tribal hemp programs. The session will also cover how to approach and present the idea of a Tribal Hemp Program to a tribal client, and discuss the experience of drafting Tribal Hemp Codes with the help of the USDA and their processes.
Greg Guedel - Guedel Strategic Law, Edmond, OK / Derek Red Arrow Frank - Stokes Lawrence, Seattle / Alexandra Valin - University of Kansas Law School, Lawrence, KS
> Shopbell v. WDFW Fishing
State v. Shopbell/Paul teaches how to challenge state court criminal jurisdiction over Treaty fishers engaged in shellfish commerce within the U&A, under the US v. Washington Rafeedie Consent Decree. This presentation will discuss how the same legal principles apply to Treaty fin fish commerce.
Gabe Galanda - Galanda Broadman PLLC, Seattle
> Ethics Issues and Conflict of Interest Analyses in Small Legal Community
This presentation will discuss ethical issues and conflict of interest analyses in small legal communities.
Jeanne Marie Clavere - Washington State Bar Association, Seattle
To register, click here.
