Written by: Tatiana Nelson, Class of 2024

The 11^th annual John Paul Stevens Lecture took place on October 18^th at the University of Colorado Law School, hosting the first ever Tribal Court Justice to speak at the Stevens Lecture. Over 200 attendees packed the Wittemyer Courtroom in addition to hundreds of folks joining virtually. Opening remarks were given by Dean . Chief Justice of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation of Oklahoma Tribal Court engaged in a fireside chat with Professor , Director of the Byron White Center for the Study of American Constitutional Law, about tribal courts and their position as the “Third Sovereign” in the United States. The Stevens Lecture was co-hosted by the American Indian Law Program.

Stevens Lecture attendees packed the Wittemyer Courtroom.

Justice Riley began with a survey of Federal Indian Law and the role of tribal courts. There are over 400 tribal justice institutions throughout the United States today, whose practices range from peacekeeping and the use of panels of elders to the adversarial system that resembles that of state and federal courts. Tribal courts are essential to the sovereignty and self-determination of indigenous people, as these institutions allow for tribes to enforce their own laws and values. The Justice spoke about the complexities of criminal jurisdiction within Indian Country and the impact this has had largely on Indigenous women and girls, with 85% of Indigenous women having been subjected to violence at some point in their lives. The lack of tribal court jurisdiction to prosecute non-Indians on Indian land allows for the assault of Indigenous women in Indian Country at rates much higher than for other groups throughout the country.

Professor Malveaux then turned the Justice's attention towards recently decided and upcoming cases involving Indian Law in the United States Supreme Court. In the landmark case, the Court held that for the purposes of the Major Crimes Act, land reserved for the Creek Nation in eastern Oklahoma remains "Indian Country." Justice Riley noted how powerful it felt for herself and other tribal members to feel recognized by the United States Supreme Court. The opinion by Justice Gorsuch begins, "On the far end of the Trail of Tears was a promise." Justice Riley became emotional as she recalled these words and spoke of how consequential the decision was. Just two years later, in , however, the Court held that the federal government and the state have concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute crimes committed by non-Indians in Indian Country, which was a major blow to almost two hundred years of precedent. Justice Riley also remarked on the upcoming case Brackeen v. Haaland, which deals with a constitutional challenge to the (ICWA). She noted how the Court is all too willing to jettison well-settled precedent. This worries her given the gravity of what is at stake if ICWA is held unconstitutional, since the Act establishes minimum standards for the removal of Native American children and a preference that those removed be placed with extended family members or in Native foster homes.

Lastly, six students from various student group organizations at the University of Colorado Law School were selected to ask their own questions of the Chief Justice. Student questions ranged from ABA requirements to teach cross-cultural competency to the important milestones achieved by Indigenous people of Oklahoma to the incorporation of international human rights into tribal jurisprudence.

Chief Justice Riley shared how she grew up on a farm in rural Oklahoma and uses this unique upbringing to inform her perspective while hearing cases on her tribe's high court. She spoke of the very close connections she has with members of her tribe and how that impacts her role as Chief Justice. She stressed the importance of bringing context and empathy to all of the cases she hears. As far as the future of tribal courts and Indigenous Sovereignty, Justice Riley remains hopeful for two particular reasons: first, tribes are still here despite centuries of efforts of erasure by the federal government; and second, young people make up the most sophisticated generation in the history of the world, which has enabled an international movement for Indigenous rights. As Justice Riley put it, "Indian tribes are governing and living on behalf of seven generations after them," and it is precisely this long-view thinking that will ensure the survival of Indigenous people.

After the talk wrapped up, Professor , Director of the CU American Indian Law Program, gave closing remarks and introduced the student leadership from the Native American Law Students Association (NALSA). As is tradition when a member of the community adds something of value, Justice Riley and Professor Malveux were gifted blankets by NALSA.

Professor Kristen Carpenter, Director of the American Indian Law Program, and student leaders from NALSA present Chief Justice Riley and Professor Malveaux with gift blankets.

A reception open to all attendees followed the lecture, which allowed students, lawyers, scholars and community members the opportunity to meet Justice Riley and ask additional questions. An intimate dinner followed with invited guests with further opportunity for community building.

In the days that followed, students from the American Indian Law Clinic at Colorado Law reflected on this year's Stevens Lecture. Kate Newman, a second-year student attorney at the clinic noted, "I think it’s wonderful that the law school is highlighting Indigenous voices and that Chief Justice Riley very eloquently connected with people of all experience levels to bring attention to important native issues."

“We are so grateful to Justice Riley for sharing her experience and perspective,” remarked Professor Malveaux. “From experts in the field of American Indian Law to those learning about these issues for the first time, the universal feedback we’ve received is how inspiring and informative her presentation was.” 

“The experience of preparing for and conducting the fireside chat was eye-opening for me too,” Professor Malveaux added. “I can’t imagine going forward teaching my first year Civil Procedure class without recognizing the role of tribal courts and the importance of the “third sovereign.”

Professor Kristen Carpenter, Dean Lolita Buckner Inniss, Chief Justice Angela Riley, Professor Suzette Malveaux.

From left to right Byron White Center Fellows Tia Nelson, Essence Duncan, Francesca Lipinsky DeGette, with Fellows Madeleine Chalifoux-Gene, Michaela Calhoun, and Charlie Goodenow.

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Across the world, experts estimate that one language dies every two weeks, and with it, unique modes of communication, cultural knowledge, and religious practices. In the U.S.—as most tribal nations are battling language extinction and dormancy following federal assimilation policies—researchers in law and linguistics at the University of Colorado are working with Indigenous leaders to identify best practices in language revitalization and to propose reforms to law and policy.

The 54th Algonquian Conference: Launching the International Decade of Indigenous Languages, hosted by the Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies (CNAIS) and the University of Colorado Law School with support from an Innovative Seed Grant from the Research and Innovation Office (RIO) and the Department of Linguistics, will be held Thursday, October 20 through Sunday, October 23 at the law school. Speakers from the United Nations, U.S., and Canada will address both the causes of language loss and opportunities for revitalization.

“The United Nations declared the to address the dire situation of Indigenous languages globally and promote a plurilingual future where all peoples are free to speak and communicate in their mother tongues,” said Aleksei Tsykarev, Vice Chair of the . A lifelong language activist and human rights expert, Tsykarev will give the conference’s opening address on Thursday, Oct 20, at 5 p.m.

For American Indian tribes in the U.S., addressing language loss is an urgent matter. The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, for example, has reported only 2000 first language speakers out of a population of over 400,000 tribal members. These figures are not accidental. As the federal government’s revealed, the United States operated “boarding schools” for over 100 years to “assimilate” Indigenous children by requiring them learn English, Christianity, and manual labor. Children who spoke their Indigenous languages were punished, often severely so, and many died in these institutions. Intergenerational transmission of Indigenous languages nearly ceased, and Indigenous Peoples lost their traditional means of communication and speech, as well as religious, cultural, scientific, political, and familial practices relying on concepts and worldviews expressed in Indigenous languages.

“Language rights are human rights,” said Council Tree Professor of Law and Director of the American Indian Law Program . “Governments, including the United States, have an obligation to remedy past oppression and support Indigenous communities in their language revitalization.” Carpenter is co-chairing the conference with Professor Andy Cowell and Professor Alexis Palmer in the Department of Linguistics. 

The conference will culminate in a special issue of the University of Colorado Environmental Law Journal entitled Visions for the International Decade of Indigenous Languages, including Indigenous leaders’ hopes and expectations for the Decade, as well as current research computational linguistics and self-determination in language education.

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In this fireside chat titled, “,” Justice Riley will discuss Native Nations as the “third sovereign” within the legal framework of the United States. In conversation with Professor , Director of the Byron R. White Center, she will explain the role of tribal courts in ensuring justice in Indian country. Justice Riley's presentation, beginning at 5:30 pm, will take place at the Wolf Law building and will be followed by a Q&A with Colorado Law students. There is a special opportunity for in-person guests to attend a reception following the presentation at 6:30 pm.

"Justice Riley’s lecture marks the first time a justice of the high court of an Indigenous Nation has presented this prestigious lecture," Professor Malveaux explained, "This is a historic moment for our school and an exceptional opportunity for our community. We are absolutely thrilled to learn from her."

In 2003, Justice Riley became the first woman Justice of the Supreme Court of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation of Oklahoma. In 2010 and again in 2016, she was elected by her tribe's General Council as Chief Justice. She previously served as Co-Chair for the United Nations - Indigenous Peoples’ Partnership Policy Board, with a dedicated mission to implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. She has worked as an Evidentiary Hearing Officer for the Morongo Band of Mission Indians and currently sits as an Appellate Justice at the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians Court of Appeals and at the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians Court of Appeals.

A renowned expert in her field, she also serves as Professor of Law and American Indian Studies at UCLA Law. She is Special Advisor to the university's Chancellor on Native American and Indigenous Affairs and directs the law school's Native Nations Law and Policy Center as well as the J.D./M.A. joint degree program in Law and American Indian Studies. Professor Riley's research focuses on Indigenous peoples’ rights, with a particular emphasis on cultural property and Native governance. Her work has been published in the nation’s leading legal journals, including the Yale Law Journal, Stanford Law Review, Columbia Law Review, California Law Review, Georgetown Law Journal and numerous others. She received her undergraduate degree at the University of Oklahoma and her law degree from Harvard Law School. 

Professor Riley is a member of the American Law Institute and a co-editor of the Cohen's Handbook on Federal Indian Law. She taught as the Oneida Indian Nation Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School in Fall 2015 and co-teaches the Nation Building course at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She has been recognized by numerous legal institutions where she has been invited to lecture on her knowledge of law and specializations in Native American and Ingenious rights. Some of these institutions include Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, The University of Arizona, along with many more established institutions. 

One general CLE credit is pending for Colorado attorneys. (Colorado Law Students: This is a C.A.R.E. Pledge eligible event.)

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Last spring, University of Colorado Law School Professor concluded two terms as the North American member of the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Her work connecting international human rights standards to domestic policy, however, is far from over.

Kristen Carpenter addresses the High Level Closing of the International Year of Indigenous Languages, Los Pinos, Mexico, 2019.

From 2017 until 2021, Professor Kristen A. Carpenter served on the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP). EMRIP is a subsidiary body of the U.N.’s Human Rights Council, charged with advising the council on the human rights of Indigenous Peoples. More specifically, EMRIP is mandated to “assist states and Indigenous Peoples in realizing the aims of the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.”

Comprising seven individuals, EMRIP is tasked with advancing Indigenous Peoples’ human rights around the world. During her two terms, Carpenter worked on matters involving Indigenous Peoples in Brazil, Canada, Democratic Republic of Congo, Finland, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States. She provided advice on issues including Indigenous Peoples’ rights in the context of migration and borders; free, prior, and informed consent; land; the well-being of children; and cultural rights.

Alexey Tsykarev, former EMRIP member from the Russian Federation and Eastern Europe, said that Carpenter was “strong and strategic, smart and open-minded, while speaking at the U.N. General Assembly, meeting ambassadors, drafting studies, and leading negotiations. She showed compassion and solidarity even with those who had different views; her sense of justice and ability to build on collective wisdom were a source of inspiration.”

Carpenter notes that she could not have taken the position without the support of colleagues and students at Colorado Law.

Indigenous Peoples in International Law

Colorado Law has a decades-long commitment to federal Indian law, going back to American Indian alumni of the late 1960s and early 1970s including Vine Deloria ('70) and Thomas Fredericks ('72). The late Dean David H. Getches, along with Professors Rick Collins, Carla Fredericks, Sarah Krakoff, Jill Tompkins, and Charles Wilkinson, established an unparalleled reputation for scholarship, teaching, and service to tribes in the U.S. through Colorado Law’s American Indian Law Program.

With the arrival of Dean S. James Anaya, the law school embraced the internationalization of the field. Before becoming dean, Anaya served for six years as the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and authored major texts on Indigenous Peoples and self-determination. When the EMRIP position in North America opened, Anaya encouraged Carpenter to enter into the nomination and vetting process, including letters of support from Indigenous Peoples and interviews by a group of ambassadors based in Geneva.

Once appointed by the president of the Human Rights Council in 2017, however, Carpenter’s first trip was not to an international destination but rather to Oklahoma. Judge Greg Bigler invited Carpenter to meet with Muscogee, Cherokee, Shawnee, Euchee, and Seminole ceremonial leaders who had been following activities at the U.N. since the 1970s when the Muscogee leader Philip Deere had gone to Geneva advocate for his people.

“For us as traditional people, the goal of engaging with the U.N. is to better protect our unique identity, culture, and society,” Bigler said.

For Carpenter, the visit emphasized the importance of being grounded at home. “It was clear to me that while I might be traveling all over the world, I should keep the concerns and values of American Indian cultural leaders very close to my heart,” she said.

Kristen Carpenter with tribal ceremonial leaders in Oklahoma.

Making a Difference

In 2019 Carpenter was elected to serve as EMRIP’s chair-rapporteur, a role that exposed her to the challenges of diplomacy and the urgency of human rights. That summer, several Indigenous representatives who spoke at EMRIP’s annual session faced reprisals in their home countries, including the killing of family members and destruction of their home villages. Carpenter held meetings with ambassadors from those countries, urging investigation and protection for the Indigenous human rights defenders. Some of her fellow EMRIP members also faced reprisals, losing their jobs at home or being denied entry into other countries.

“States are not always eager to have an international human rights body come into their sovereign territory,” Carpenter said. “Even though EMRIP’s mandate aims for constructive solutions, versus critical reports, it still took many discussions to arrive at a mutually amenable plan and then carry it out in a meaningful way.”

In Mexico City, EMRIP worked with Indigenous Peoples and the government regarding the implementation of a new constitution, the first to explicitly adopt the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

During a visit to an Indigenous community within the city boundaries, Carpenter recalled leaders taking out documents written in the Nahua language that dated back to the 1500s, raising the issue of how the new law would intersect with the old. In some of the Indigenous villages, women did not have access to information about political developments in Mexico City. EMRIP members brought these questions and other issues back to training sessions with government ministers to advance attentiveness to Indigenous rights.

In 2020, following two years of preparation, EMRIP facilitated a dialogue between the Yaqui people and the Swedish Museum of World Culture, which led to an historic agreement in principle to repatriate the Maaso Kova, a ceremonial deer head. The deer head had been acquired from the Yaqui decades earlier when they were relocated from their homelands by the Mexican army. Carpenter, drawing from her expertise in cultural rights, served as EMRIP’s lead member on this matter.

The Yaqui delegation informs Carpenter about their claim for repatriation of a ceremonial object from the Swedish Museum of World Cultures.

“EMRIP’s engagement produced advances for other Indigenous Peoples engaged in repatriation efforts, including endorsing the establishment of an effective international mechanism for repatriation based on the recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ own laws governing the use and treatment of our sacred items in accordance with Article 11 of the U.N. Declaration,” said Andrea Carmen, executive director of the International Indian Treaty Council.

Bringing Human Rights Home

Together with counterparts at the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), Carpenter co-founded the . The project seeks to provide education and access regarding international human rights frameworks as tools in American Indian law challenges. Carpenter’s role at the U.N. coupled with her relationships in tribal communities, helped bridge a gap between the human rights sphere as it exists in spaces like the U.N. and the realities lived by those in marginalized communities.

The NARF-Colorado Project also provides opportunities for Colorado Law students to gain practical experience in human rights.

Edyael Casaperalta ('18) attended sessions on the Tohono O’Odham Reservation in Arizona and in Chiang Mai, Thailand, which contributed to EMRIP’s study on Indigenous Peoples’ rights in the global migration context. Casperalta assisted with the first report of the NARF-Colorado Law Project, as well as its inaugural conference in 2018 that brought together lawyers and non-lawyers to discuss the needs of Indian country. Casaperalta was recently named senior policy advisor for the Rural Utilities Service Agency in the Department of Agriculture.

Edyael Casaperalta (’18), far right, and Kristen Carpenter, center, attend a meeting with Indigenous human rights defenders at the Asia Pacific Peoples Pact in Chiang Mai, Thailand (2018).

While students at Colorado Law, Marissa Weber (‘19) and Cierra White (’19) attended EMRIP’s annual session in Geneva. Weber went on to become an attorney with the International Criminal Court and is now an assistant district attorney in New York. White is a partner at a firm in Florida, licensed to practice before the Poarch Creek Tribal Court.

Alexandra Payan (’21) took Carpenter’s Indigenous Peoples and International Law class. The syllabus that year included training from guest experts on conducting negotiation and dialogue in the international human rights context and a simulation in which students took on the roles of advocates for Indigenous Peoples and national governments.

“Professor Carpenter’s personal expertise was both inspiring and incredibly helpful in understanding how and why Indigenous Peoples law should be conceptualized as a relevant matter in all areas of study and practice,” said Payan, who has since worked on Indigenous Peoples’ issues at the U.S. Agency for International Development.

In one of EMRIP’s last engagements before the COVID-19 pandemic, Noriana Franco Novoa (LLM ’20), together with former American Indian Law Program Fellow Danielle Lazore-Thompson, assisted with a seminar at the University of British Columbia regarding the repatriation of human remains and sacred objects. Novoa applied her experience as a lawyer in Colombia, as well as Spanish language skills, to help EMRIP draft a report urging that international covenants such as the UNESCO 1970 Convention should be interpreted consistent with the U.N. Declaration’s recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ rights to culture, religion, and property.

Noriana Franco Novoa (LLM ’20), Kristen Carpenter, and former American Indian Law Program Fellow Danielle Lazore-Thompson at a cultural rights seminar in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Current American Indian Law Program (AILP) Fellow Kevin Miller (’20) recently accepted Carpenter’s offer to extend his fellowship through the 2021-22 academic year. They, along with Native American Rights Fund staff attorney Sue Noe, will travel to Indigenous communities in North America to engage in discussions with tribal leaders interested in better understanding how international human rights documents can be given power through tribal-level implementation.

The Colorado Law team, together with colleagues in CU �鶹ӰԺ’s linguistics department, are also deeply involved in preparations for the U.N.’s International Decade on Indigenous Languages, which spans 2022-2032, again helping to ensure that Indigenous Peoples will have a seat at the table when it comes to international measures to advance language rights.

Reflecting on Human Rights and Relationships

“What surprised me most in my five years was just how much the world’s Indigenous Peoples have in common, despite different local circumstances,” Carpenter said. “From the Sami people of Norway to the Khoi and San of South Africa, the Karen people of Thailand to the Mapuche of Chile, and of course the many tribes here in the United States, Indigenous Peoples are closely tied to the land, to ceremonial ways of life, and the collective well-being of their people. They are resilient and determined, even after so many years of conquest and colonization, and in the face of the pandemic, to survive as distinct peoples.”

And what about realizing human rights? There are no easy answers, Carpenter said.

“Indigenous Peoples are leaders in human rights both because their situation is often so tenuous and because they have such deep traditions of humanity and relatedness. They teach about healing past harms and fostering wellbeing for the future. But it’s a long-term commitment. Indigenous Peoples embrace a concept of 'the Seven Generations' in which each person’s responsibility is tied to their relatives in an intergenerational web looking forward and back. This is the model that I am trying to follow and share with my students,” she said.

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An educational toolkit drafted by students and attorneys at the University of Colorado Law School, Native American Rights Fund (NARF), and UCLA Law School seeks to help American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians use the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in their own laws and programs.

Adopted in 2007 by the United Nations General Assembly, the Declaration is a standard-setting document that commits to the individual and collective rights of Indigenous Peoples, including their self-determination. It calls on states to undertake legal reform that will remedy past violations and ensure current protections for Indigenous Peoples’ rights. However, because the Declaration is not legally binding like a treaty, tribes have explored different avenues to make its promises a reality in the U.S.

The covers a range of issues, including land recovery, religious freedoms, language revitalization, and child welfare. It aims to help with these efforts by providing examples of how tribes have incorporated the Declaration into their own tribal codes, resolutions, and agreements.

The cover of the Tribal Implementation Toolkit. Artwork used with the permission of Joni Sarah White/Artwork (www.jonisarahwhite.com).

"Many tribal leaders have asked for information about how they can support efforts to ensure that the United States honors the promises of the Declaration. Others would like to consider using the Declaration internally in tribal law and governance. In many ways these pursuits intersect, with tribal, national, and international law influencing one other," the toolkit states.

The toolkit responds to both questions—how to reinforce national implementation of the Declaration and how to use the Declaration in tribal governance—by highlighting the innovations of tribes themselves.

“Tribes have different budgets and needs. By providing specific examples of tribes of varying sizes and different regions implementing the Declaration, the toolkit will generate discussion on what’s possible,” said Colorado Law American Indian Law Program Fellow Kevin Miller ('20).

Several tribes, including the Seminole Nation, Pit River Tribe, and Cherokee Nation, have already adopted resolutions urging the U.S. to implement the Declaration nationally.

Others have looked internally to tribal governance.

The Muscogee (Creek) Nation translated the Declaration into the Muscogee language and adopted the Muscogee version into tribal law, which is binding in the jurisdiction. In Washington, several tribes worked with the attorney general’s office to make the Declaration’s standard of “free, prior, and informed consent” a safeguard of the office’s dealings with tribal governments. A resolution of the Yurok Tribe references several articles of the Declaration as support for the tribe’s rights to conserve the Klamath River, its ecosystem, and species. The Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission cites the Declaration, along with Navajo Fundamental Law, in matters ranging from employment rights to the protection of sacred sites.

The toolkit features these and other examples, while also providing sample resolutions that may be modified by tribal governments for their own purposes. Some tribes emphasize, for example, that “human rights” must accompany “human responsibilities” to one another and to the natural and spirit worlds.

Colorado Law students Aly Payan ('21), Taylor Schad ('21) (Cheyenne River Sioux), and Adam Spencley ('22) (Sault Ste. Marie) helped create the toolkit. Last summer, working with a group of students from UCLA Law School, the Colorado Law students conducted legal research under the supervision of previous American Indian Law Program Fellow Danielle Lazore-Thompson and UCLA’s Tribal Legal Development Clinic Director Lauren Van Schilfegaarde. They identified examples where the Declaration has been cited in tribal laws, referenced in court proceedings, and used as inspiration for policy decisions. The students had opportunities to present their work to Colorado Law Professor Kristen A. Carpenter, UCLA Law Professor Angela R. Riley, and a team of attorneys from the Native American Rights Fund, for feedback.

Students, faculty, and attorneys from Colorado Law, UCLA, and the Native American Rights Fund working on the Tribal Implementation Toolkit in summer 2020.

For Schad, who serves as vice president of the Native American Law Students Association, working on the Declaration took on a personal dimension.

“I come from a tribe in South Dakota that has a very rich history with our ancestral lands and our treaty rights, and having a toolkit like this is just another way for my tribe to uphold and strengthen its rights on a grassroots level. It provides tribes with guidance in incorporating the Declaration into their own codes which will help strengthen their communities and sovereignty in the long run,” she said.

The Colorado Law and NARF team first sought direction on implementation of the Declaration from tribal leaders, lawyers, judges, and scholars at a hosted at Colorado Law. This past year, the team worked with tribal leaders and lawyers from the Quinault, Shawnee, Euchee, Muscogee, Pawnee, Pechanga, Graton Rancheria, and Yurok nations, among others, to ensure the toolkit reflected their concerns and interests. The National Congress of American Indians passed a resolution in 2020.

“Our goal was to make the toolkit responsive to the needs of tribal needs and partners. We wanted to bridge gaps between academia and the people doing the grassroots work on the ground,” Miller said.

The toolkit will be formally released at a , which is open to the public. The Colorado Law/NARF legal team will hold virtual toolkit training sessions later this spring for tribes, and, once it is safe to do so, they plan to travel to different tribal reservations, meet with their leadership and members, and host local networking events to share information about the toolkit.

“Tribes have control over their lands and resources, and this toolkit will hopefully help guide them to further strengthen those rights and hopefully strengthen their relationship with the U.S., considering that the U.S. has lent its support to the Declaration,” Schad said. “The U.S. has always called the Declaration an aspirational document and in my mind, tribes being able to incorporate the Declaration into their codes and legislation should really be one of the primary aspirations for utilizing this document.”

This project is supported by a grant from the CU �鶹ӰԺ Office of Outreach and Engagement.

�鶹ӰԺ the Colorado Law - NARF Partnership

The Native American Rights Fund and University of Colorado Law School formed the in 2018. Led by Council Tree Professor at Colorado Law and NARF Senior Staff Attorney Sue Noe, the project recognizes the potential for the Declaration to advance Indigenous Peoples’ rights and supports implementation through education and advocacy. Carpenter has worked on implementing the Declaration around the world in her role as member of the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Image used with the permission of Joni Sarah White/Artwork (www.jonisarahwhite.com)

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University of Colorado Law School Professor , an American Indian law scholar with expertise in property, cultural property, human rights, and Indigenous peoples, has been appointed as a justice of the inaugural Supreme Court of the .

Following her nomination by Chief Ben Barnes, Carpenter was confirmed by the Shawnee Tribal Council and sworn in during an online ceremony on Dec. 10, 2020, attended by tribal citizens, family, and friends. Tribal attorney Greg Bigler gave remarks on the importance of the court system. The oath was administered in both the English and Shawnee languages.

"I am deeply honored by the confidence entrusted in me by the Shawnee Tribe," Carpenter said. "At a time when Indigenous peoples are rebuilding their legal institutions, with attention to both traditional custom and contemporary circumstances, I will try to carry out my responsibilities with the utmost care and respect for the Shawnee people and all others within the jurisdiction."

"Our Tribe has always maintained and continued our culture and traditions," Barnes said. "It is my hope that with the creation of this Supreme Court for our nation, not only will we continue to grow our sovereignty as expressed through this action, but continue to legislate protections for our peoples' inherent rights to our traditional religions, to practice their culture, and to codify the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into Shawnee law as well as, ultimately, translate it into our Shawnee language."

Carpenter, who joined the Colorado Law faculty in 2009, is Council Tree Professor of Law and director of the American Indian Law Program. She serves on the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as its member from North America, one of seven worldwide experts to provide advice and assistance on Indigenous peoples' rights.

Carpenter is an elected member of the American Law Institute and served for many years on the board of the Federal Bar Association’s Indian Law Section.

She has written extensively on federal Indian law and is the coauthor of the widely used casebook Cases and Materials on Federal Indian Law. Her recent articles include “,” with Alexey Tsykarev, published in the UCLA Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs, and “,” with Angela R. Riley, published in Stanford Law Review.

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