Tribal Lawyer Ryan Dreveskracht To Address Nisqually Community Re Indian Voting Rights

On Tuesday, November 5, Ryan Dreveskracht will deliver a speech to the Nisqually Tribe regarding Indian Voting Rights. Ryan will speak from his forthcoming law review article, tentatively titled,"Reenfranchising the Native Vote After Shelby County v. Holder." In that paper, he argues that Section 5 of the federal Voting Rights Act "is both an appropriate and necessary measure to prevent ongoing voting discrimination targeting Native American citizens, and concludes that "Congress not only has the power to compel preapproval of state voting legislation that is applicable to Indian Country, but it has an obligation to do so."

Ryan's speech will occut in the Nisqually Library, starting at 5:30 PM.

Ryan Dreveskracht is an Associate at Galanda Broadman, PLLC.  His practice focuses on representing businesses and tribal governments in public affairs, energy, gaming, taxation, and general economic development.  He can be reached at 206.909.3842 or ryan @galandabroadman.com.

Freedom’s Just Another Word: The BIA’s FOIA Debacle

The Bureau of Indian Affairs needs an attitude adjustment when it comes to freedom of information. That is because the BIA, or at least its Pacific Northwest Region, stifles the spirit of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), including when it comes to the agency’s trust responsibility to Indian people. Any tribal official or citizen who has sought information from the federal Indian trustee, knows that the Bureau does everything in its power to choke the flow of information to tribal government and citizens. Having had clients in search of needed information, outright disrespected by the BIA, the Bureau’s illegal practices must be brought to light – and halted by the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs for the Department of Interior.

During his first term in the Oval Office, President Obama issued an Executive Order, mandating that when “responding to requests under the FOIA, executive branch agencies should act promptly and in a spirit of cooperation, recognizing that such agencies are servants of the public.” 74 Fed. Reg. 4693 (Jan. 21, 2009). Yet despite this order that the BIA cooperate in service to the public, consider two recent examples of how uncooperatively the Bureau’s Pacific Northwest Regional Office treated tribal parties seeking information critical to them.

Last year a tribal enterprise requested information about Bureau commercial regulatory practices regarding Tribal trust resources. That information should have been produced without a FOIA request, because the United States’ fiduciary responsibility affords tribal trust beneficiaries “government documents prepared in aid of trust administration,” and “the requirements of FOIA serve different policies and interests” than does the execution of that duty. Osage Nation v. U.S., 66 Fed.Cl. 244 (Fed. Cl. 2005).

Even so, the Bureau required a FOIA request, as it typically does. Then, after the tribal entity wrote the BIA pursuant to FOIA, the Regional Director (or his Solicitor) glibly replied, and I quote:

The law is clear that the FOIA is not meant to have federal agencies become the research arms of other entities.

What gall, especially because the law could not be more clear: FOIA is in fact designed to cause federal agencies to be research arms – of the taxpaying American public, including Indians.

More recently members of a tribal council requested from the BIA all documents regarding a Secretarial election. In order to receive 1,000 pages of information, the BIA assessed them fees of over $10,000 – an astonishing $10 a page. What Indian or Tribe has $10,000 lying around, especially for purchase of their own federal documents?

After the Councilpersons requested a fee waiver, explaining that they needed the election records to for fundamental governmental purposes, the Regional Director (or his Solicitor) deemed the request one of “commercial interest” and reasoned:

'This request concerns individuals that would derive benefits from being enrolled in a specific tribal government and disclosure provides specific information on how individual tribal members voted. As such, your commercial interest in these disclosures is your primary interest and clearly outweighs any public interest’ in disclosure.

Again, what gall, to insult tribal citizens by declaring their governmental concerns a matter of monetary interest. Imagine the BIA offering the same explanation to a U.S. Senator asking for governmental documents.

It is time for Assistant Secretary Kevin Washburn to change the attitude of the BIA’s career employees regarding disclosure of information to the tribal public. This spring, Secretary Washburn remarked that the recent Cobell settlement allows the United States and Indian Country to “hit the reset button” on the federal Indian trust relationship. The reset button must also be hit as to Interior’s role as trustee of Indian records and information.

Indeed, “[t]he common law recognizes an obligation on the part of the trustee to provide full and accurate information to the beneficiary on his management of the trust.” Martin v. Valley Nat'l Bank of Arizona, 140 F.R.D. 291, 322 (S.D.N.Y. 1991); see also Cobell v. Norton, 225 F.R.D. 41, 45 (D.D.C. 2004). The two anecdotes I share suggest that Interior has not sufficiently learned its lesson from Cobell about tribal access to trust-related information.

In all, when responding to requests under the FOIA, the BIA should start acting promptly and in a spirit of cooperation, recognizing that the agency is a servant of the American Indian public. Perhaps then freedom of federal Indian information will reign.

Gabriel S. Galanda is a Round Valley Indian Tribal member and a partner with the Seattle office of Galanda Broadman, PLLC. Gabe has sued the Department of the Interior and BIA for freedom of federal Indian information. He can be reached at gabe@galandabroadman.com.

Galanda Broadman Named Washington Gaming Law Firm Of The Year

Galanda Broadman has been named "Boutique - Gaming Law Firm of the Year in Washington" by Global Law Experts. The award follows several recent honors for Galanda Broadman and its lawyers. Galanda Broadman recently received a prestigious Tier 1 ranking in the 2013 Edition of U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms,” in the arena of Native American Law.

Gabe Galanda was also just named to The Best Lawyers in America in the practice areas of both Gaming Law and Native American Law, for the eighth straight year. He was named a “Difference Maker” by the American Bar Association in November as well. Also, Gabe and Anthony Broadman, as well as firm associate, Ryan Dreveskracht were each honored by Super Lawyers magazine for 2013; Gabe as a Washington "Super Lawyer" and Anthony and Ryan as "Rising Stars."

In December 2012, Lawyers of Color listed the firm in its Big Book of the Best Boutiques, an exclusive, national listing of the top minority law firms in each state. In January 2013, Seattle Business Magazine honored Gabe as one of “the Puget Sound Region’s Best Lawyers for 2013,” in both the arenas of Native American Law and Gaming Law. Last year Corporate INTL magazine named Galanda Broadman as the Boutique winner of the 2013 Corporate Intl Magazine Legal Award for "Gaming Law Firm of the Year in Washington."

Galanda Broadman, “An Indian Country Law Firm,” is dedicated to advancing tribal legal rights and Indian business interests.  The firm, with offices in Seattle, Washington and Bend, Oregon, represents tribal governments, businesses and members in critical litigation, business and regulatory matters, especially in matters of Indian Treaty rights, tribal sovereignty and taxation.

Gabe is an enrolled member of the Round Valley Indian Tribes of California. He currently sits on the National Native American Bar Association (NNABA) Board of Directors, chairing the group’s “Include Indian Law on State Bar Exams” Initiative, and co-chairing its “Increase Natives and Tribal Court Judges in the Judiciary” Initiative. Gabe is a past President of the Northwest Indian Bar Association and past Chair of the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) Indian Law Section.

Anthony is the immediate past Chair of the WSBA Administrative Law Section, and author of “Administrative Law in Washington Indian Country.”  In September 2012, Anthony was specially honored for his outstanding service as Chair of the Administrative Law Section.  He is a former Trustee of the WSBA Indian Law Section, and also serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Section’s Indian Law Newsletter.

Prior to joining Galanda Broadman, Ryan was a law clerk to the Honorable Kathleen Kay, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. Ryan has published ten journal and law review articles in 2011-12 alone, on issues like tribal renewable energy, and has served as the Managing Editor for the National Lawyer’s Guild Review since 2010.

Gabe Galanda Named Arizona IPLP Alumni Association Chair

Gabe Galanda has been named the inaugural Chair of the Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program (IPLP)'s Alumni Association. The Association will be launched at the University of Arizona College of Law's Homecoming Celebration on November 9, 2013.

Arizona Law has long been renowned for its expertise in Indigenous Peoples law. Over the last decade, the IPLP Program has built upon that foundation, and Arizona Law is now the only school offering all three law degrees (JD, LLM, and SJD) with a concentration in Indigenous Peoples law. Together, these programs provide the world's most advanced training in the field. The program's reputation and the work of IPLP faculty, staff, alumni and students reach around the globe and make a difference in the lives of Indigenous Peoples in the United States and across the world.

Gabriel "Gabe" Galanda is a partner at Galanda Broadman PLLC, of Seattle, an American Indian owned law firm.  He is an enrolled member of the Round Valley Indian Tribes of Covelo, California.  Gabe can be reached at 206.691.3631 or gabe@galandabroadman.com.

Indian Lawyer Gabe Galanda Again Named Among America's Best Lawyers

Gabriel “Gabe” Galanda has been selected by his peers for inclusion in the 2014 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® in the practice areas of Gaming Law and Native American Law, for the eighth consecutive year. Gabe, an enrolled member of the Round Valley Indian Tribes, owns Galanda Broadman, PLLC, a boutique Seattle law firm that he co-founded in 2010. He has now been selected to The Best Lawyers in America® from 2007 to 2014.

Gabe’s practice focuses on complex, multi-party litigation and crisis management, representing tribal governments and businesses. He is skilled at defending tribes and Indian-owned enterprises from legal attacks by local, state and federal governments, and representing plaintiffs and defendants in catastrophic personal injury lawsuits. Gabe also mediates and arbitrates disputes between tribal and non-tribal parties, including personal injury matters and conflicts between tribal and local, state or federal governments, as well as tribal intramural disputes.

Best Lawyers is regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence in the United States. 

Gabe’s selection to Best Lawyers was based on a peer-review survey, which all told comprises more than 4.9 million confidential evaluations by top attorneys throughout the country.

Galanda Broadman is a majority Indian-owned law firm that represents tribal governments, businesses and members in critical litigation, business and regulatory matters. For additional information about Gabe or Galanda Broadman, visit galandabroadman.com.

IRS Targeting Is Nothing New—For Indian Country

Lost in the IRS-Tea-Party scandal is the fact that federal tax collectors have been targeting certain groups—Indian tribal governments—for years.

As Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, wastes Congress’s time on what really looks like a manufactured scandal, Indian Country should focus its attention on the IRS’s special wing—the ITG—focused on “provid[ing] Indian tribal government customers top quality service by helping them understand and comply with applicable tax laws, and to protect the public interest by applying the tax law with integrity and fairness to all.”  Which is code for auditing them.

The irony hasn’t been lost on those paying attention.

If the IRS had a division focused on providing anti-tax group “customers top quality service by helping them understand and comply with applicable tax laws,” Representative Issa might have a real scandal on his hands.

For what it’s worth, it would be more rational for the IRS to have a division focused on anti-tax groups as opposed to tribes.  Anti-tax groups are—surprise—less likely to pay taxes.  But ironically it is tribes and tribal members—supposed “Indians not taxed” according to the Constitution—who have been targeted and forcibly taxed by Uncle Sam since long before Representative Issa’s crusade.

Anthony Broadman is a partner with Galanda Broadman PLLC.  Anthony’s practice focuses on company-critical litigation and representing tribal governments in public affairs, taxation, and economic development matters.  He provides businesses and tribal governments advice regarding taxation, risk management, and legislative strategy.  Anthony was named a Rising Star by Washington Law & Politics magazine for 2013 and is immediate past Chair of the WSBA Administrative Law Section and Editor of the Indian Law Newsletter, published by the WSBA Indian Law Section.

Carolina Supreme Court Goes Rogue: Immediately Orders Baby Veronica Removed

Little has changed since the Indian Child Welfare Act (“ICWA”) was enacted more than thirty years ago to address what Congressional testimony in 1974 revealed to be “the most tragic aspect of Indian life” — that is, the “wholesale removal of Indian children from their homes . . .” and their placement with non-Indian adoptive parents and foster homes.  Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians v. Holyfield, 490 U. S. 30, 32 (1989). Last month the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision diminishing the applicability of the ICWA, twisting the meaning of “continued custody” to find the statute inapplicable to prevent the removal of an Indian child from her biological father’s custody and home.  This was the tragic culmination of a long-running child-custody battle, widely reported in the press as the “Baby Veronica case.”

Baby Veronica’s father is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and U.S. veteran who mistakenly signed away his parental rights on the eve of his deployment to war.  But when he discovered that an adoption of his child was at stake, he quickly moved to assert his inherent rights as a father so that he could raise his own daughter.  The Supreme Court’s holding quickly resulted in the summary eradication of an Indian father’s parental rights.

Beyond that tragedy, the Supreme Court’s decision threatens the efficacy of the statute enacted to address what the Court recalcitrantly acknowledged were “abusive child welfare practices that resulted in the separation of large numbers of Indian children from their families and tribes through adoption or foster care placement, usually in non-Indian homes.”

In a move showing that little if any real progress for Indian children and Indian Country as a whole has been made since the ICWA’s enactment, the South Carolina Supreme Court went a large and destructive step beyond the High Court’s mandate in the Baby Veronica case.  Because the  Court’s order was limited to a finding that the ICWA was inapplicable in this case, the lower courts should still be able to consider other laws potentially protecting the biological father’s rights, or at least ensuring that any further order is in Baby Veronica’s best interests.  In an order  handed down on July 17, however, the South Carolina Supreme Court demanded “prompt entry of an order approving and finalizing Adoptive Couple’s adoption of Baby Girl.”

As two of the five South Carolina Supreme Court Justices declared in their dissent, the South Carolina Supreme Court goes far beyond the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion in immediately terminating the Indian father’s parental rights without regard to any other applicable laws — or what is in Baby Veronica’s best interests:

[n]othing in the [U.S. Supreme Court’s] majority opinion suggests, much less mandates, that this Court is authorized to reject the jurisdiction of other courts based upon a 1989 case deciding jurisdiction under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act (UCCJA), nor obligated to order that the adoption of this child by Adoptive Parents be immediately approved and finalized.  Further, the majority orders the immediate transfer of the child, no longer an infant or toddler, upon the filing of the family court’s adoption order, without regard to whether such an abrupt transfer would be in the child’s best interest.

This heart-wrenching case highlights not only the fact that little has changed for the better since the ICWA’s enactment; it also serves as a call to action for Indian Country.  Those who care about the welfare of Indian children in America must raise their voices and demand Congress and the President act to strengthen the ICWA.  Because as we see with Baby Veronica and her father’s case, this statute has clearly failed to stop the assaults on Indian families as it was intended to do in 1978.

Only time will tell if Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl will make matters worse for Indian families and children.  I suspect it will.

Joe Sexton is Of Counsel with Galanda Broadman, PLLC.  Joe’s practice focuses on tribal sovereignty issues, including complex land and environmental issues, and economic development matters.  He can be reached at (509) 910-8842 and joe@galandbroadman.com.  

Northwest Tribal Lawyers Litigate To Protect Indian Chief's Grave

As featured on Turtle Talk, Galanda Broadman recently defeated summary judgment in a San Juan Superior Court case in which we are representing tribal member plaintiffs who directly descend from a Lummi/Clallam Chief. The Chief's grave and headstone sits on waterfront fee land on San Juan Island in Washington State, where that ancestor has lied in rest since the year 1900. In December 2012, the tribal plaintiffs allege that the Chief's headstone was disturbed, in violation of the state Indian Graves and Records Act and a covenant running with the land.

The case asks the question: who holds what sticks in the bundle of property rights, regarding an American Indian ancestors grave?

Galanda Broadman, an Indian Country Law Firm, is dedicated to advancing tribal legal rights and Indian business interests.  The firm, with offices in Seattle, Washington and Bend, Oregon, represents tribal governments, businesses and members in critical litigation, business and regulatory matters, especially in matters of Indian Treaty rights, tribal sovereignty and taxation.

Galanda, Broadman & Dreveskracht Each Honored By Super Lawyers

Tribal lawyers Gabe Galanda, Anthony Broadman and Ryan Dreveskracht were each honored by Super Lawyers magazine for 2013; Gabe as a Washington "Super Lawyer" and Anthony and Ryan as "Rising Stars."

The award follows several recent honors for Galanda Broadman and its lawyers. In November 2012, Galanda Broadman received a prestigious Tier 1 ranking in the 2013 Edition of U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms,” in the arena of Native American Law. In addition, firm partner Gabe Galanda was then named to The Best Lawyers in America in the practice areas of both Gaming Law and Native American Law, for the seventh straight year. He was named a “Difference Maker” by the American Bar Association in November as well.

In December 2012, Lawyers of Color listed the firm in its Big Book of the Best Boutiques, an exclusive, national listing of the top minority law firms in each state. In January 2013, Seattle Business Magazine honored Gabe as one of “the Puget Sound Region’s Best Lawyers for 2013,” in both the arenas of Native American Law and Gaming Law. This past April Corporate INTL magazine named Galanda Broadman as the Boutique winner of the 2013 Corporate Intl Magazine Legal Award for "Gaming Law Firm of the Year in Washington."

Galanda Broadman, “An Indian Country Law Firm,” is dedicated to advancing tribal legal rights and Indian business interests.  The firm, with offices in Seattle, Washington and Bend, Oregon, represents tribal governments, businesses and members in critical litigation, business and regulatory matters, especially in matters of Indian Treaty rights, tribal sovereignty and taxation.

Gabe is an enrolled member of the Round Valley Indian Tribes of California. He currently sits on the National Native American Bar Association (NNABA) Board of Directors, chairing the group’s “Include Indian Law on State Bar Exams” Initiative, and co-chairing its “Increase Natives and Tribal Court Judges in the Judiciary” Initiative. Gabe is a past President of the Northwest Indian Bar Association and past Chair of the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) Indian Law Section.

Firm partner Anthony Broadman is the immediate past Chair of the WSBA Administrative Law Section, and author of “Administrative Law in Washington Indian Country.”  In September 2012, Anthony was specially honored for his outstanding service as Chair of the Administrative Law Section.  He is a former Trustee of the WSBA Indian Law Section, and also serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Section’s Indian Law Newsletter.

Ryan Dreveskracht is a firm associate. Prior to joining Galanda Broadman he was a law clerk to the Honorable Kathleen Kay, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. Ryan has published ten journal and law review articles in 2011-12 alone, on issues like tribal renewable energy, and has served as the Managing Editor for the National Lawyer’s Guild Review since 2010.

Seattle, Washington Indian Law Attorney Gabe Galanda Re-Elected to National Native Bar Association Board

On April 17, 2013, at the National Native American Bar Association (NNABA) Annual Meeting near Santa Fe, New Mexico, Gabe Galanda was re-elected to his third consecutive term on the NNABA Board of Directors. Gabe chairs NNABA's “Include Indian Law on State Bar Exams” Initiative, and co-chairs its “Increase Natives and Tribal Court Judges in the Judiciary” Initiative.

NNABA Board of Directors 2013-2015

Officers

President Mary Smith (Cherokee)

Past President Patty Ferguson-Bohnee (Pointe-au-Chien)

President-Elect Linda Benally (Diné)

Treasurer Lawrence Baca (Pawnee)

Secretary Thomas Weathers (Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska)

Directors

Aliza Organick (Diné)

Sara Setshwaelo (Ione Band of Miwok)

Robert Saunooke (Cherokee)

Gabe Galanda (Round Valley)

Doug Nash (Nez Perce)

Gabriel "Gabe" Galanda is a partner at Galanda Broadman PLLC, of Seattle, an American Indian owned law firm.  He is an enrolled member of the Round Valley Indian Tribes of Covelo, California.  Gabe can be reached at 206.691.3631 or gabe@galandabroadman.com.