UND SCHOOL OF LAW
UND SCHOOL OF LAW
Introducing Professor Daniel Lewerenz
Interviewed by Julia Ernst
What sparked your interest in Federal Indian Law and Tribal Law ?
I am a member of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska . Throughout my life , I have had a close connection with the Native side of my family , being raised by my Indian grandfather as much as my parents . In college , I was interested in American Indian law and policy but initially pursued a career in journalism , working more than a decade with the Associated Press . When I was ready to move on from journalism , I attended the University of Wisconsin Law School , then joined a national boutique law firm in Oklahoma City serving Indian tribes and organizations . Following that position , I clerked with U . S . Magistrate Judge Leo Brisbois in Wisconsin – overlapping UND Professor Nick Datzov ’ s clerkship for one year – and with U . S . District Judge Claudia Wilken .
Through these clerkships , I gained significant firsthand experience with civil procedure – the way it ’ s actually implemented and decided by courts , which possess tremendous discretion . After my clerkships , I worked at the U . S . Department of Interior ’ s Division of Indian Affairs , focusing on the Indian Child Welfare Act ( ICWA ), Tribal acknowledgment petitions , gaming eligibility determinations , and regulations concerning a Native Hawaiian governing entity . I subsequently helped spearhead the Native American Rights Fund ’ s ( NARF ’ s ) Tribal Supreme Court Project , litigating treaty rights , voting rights , and ICWA , among other issues .
16 THE GAVEL
I will distinguish between Federal Indian Law , which is the legal framework concerning the place of Indians in our larger constitutional structure of governance , and Tribal Law , which is the law tribes use to govern their territories and their communities . These are two distinct legal fields , but they share similarities . For example , there is a general lack of familiarity with either of them by the general public , legally educated professionals , and many Native people . An Indigenous scholar has observed that most Native people are much more familiar with their rights as Americans than they are with their rights either as Indians in the federal system or vis-a-vis their tribes in the tribal governance system . Helping educate Native people about their rights , as well as the broader legal and American community about tribes and their prerogatives , has always been very appealing .
Would you please describe your Indian Law Seminar ?
This course focuses on research and writing . Practicing Indian and Tribal Law first requires familiarity with legal authorities that students learn little about in a general legal research and writing course . How do you find the text of a treaty not ratified by the Senate , or that predates the founding of the U . S .? How do you find tribal law , whether legislatively enacted or courtmade law ? This course begins as a research skills course , to familiarize students with authorities they will use in this practice area . They complete exercises designed to build that skill set , and we lean heavily on a speaker from the National Indian Law Library run by the Native American Rights Fund ( NARF ), as well as resources the University of North Dakota ( UND ) and our Thormodsgard Law Library have available .
The second part of the course allows students to build on those skills with a research project largely of their own choosing . They write a piece in the form of a bar journal article , so we read several articles published in “ The Gavel ” and other state bar journals that relate to Indian and tribal law . With each of these articles , students attain a baseline familiarity with a particular practice question . What use are trademarks to a tribal client ? How does one domesticate in state and federal court a judgement from a tribal court ? We read these articles