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Federal Indian Law

The emergence of a burgeoning Native American economy over the past thirty years has become a central goal in the exercise of successful tribal self-determination. Native American economic development has been studied in relation to the efforts of tribal entrepreneurs on the reservation, trial governments seeking to creat employment opportunities for their members, and a range of cooperative agreements between tribal, state and federal authorities. This course will examine the scope and content of Native American economic development with reference to the legal and regulatory framework at the tribal, state, and federal level. Attention will be given to the role of institutions that tribal governments deal with and how their business dealings transcend into deeper institutional knowledge and information sharing. Case studies will be employed to assist in discussion and analysis. In this regard, students will review the basic tenants that define specific business structures and will apply them to the case studies (i.e., the tribally owned corporation). This exploration will also include reference to tribal leasing, debt instruments, management agreements, and the enforcement of commercial transactions in tribal court.

Selected chapters from:

Felix S. Cohen, Handbook of Federal Indian Law (2005 edition) http://www.LexisNexis.com/lawschool/login.aspx

Supplemental materials prepared by the professor.

Seminar-style discussion

Analytic paper

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Attendance and class participation is worth 15% of the grade. Students will be required to complete a final paper worth 85% of the grade.

Graded for JD and AIS MA and PhD students, Pass/Fail for IPLP LLM and SJD students.

Please contact Professor Hopkins with any questions (hopkinsj@email.arizona.edu / 621-7669).