Fact or Fiction?: The United States Courts’ Use of History to Shape Native Law Jurisprudence Part 1

Summary: Since the first court decision to articulate Native American law back in 1823, our nation’s courts have repeatedly invoked historical "facts" as a basis for fashioning judicial doctrines that have been prejudicial and harmful to Native Americans. This important symposium reveals that many of our modern Native law doctrines are based in fiction, not fact. Join us as we explore the historical foundations of key court decisions impacting Native Americans. Speakers include Stuart Banner, UCLA School of Law; Walter Echo-Hawk (Pawnee), Crowe "&" Dunlevy, Oklahoma; Mary Kathryn Nagle (Cherokee), Quinn Emanuel Urquhart "&" Sullivan, New York; and Lindsay Robertson, University of Oklahoma College of Law. Moderated by Kevin Gover (Pawnee), director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, the symposium is cosponsored by the National Native American Bar Association and the Federal Bar Association Indian Law Section.