Pictured: Tribal lawyers Anthony Broadman, Ryan Dreveskracht, Joe Sexton, Scott Wheat (Choctaw), Gabe Galanda (Round Valley)
Gabe Galanda Publishes on Legal History of Washington Tribal-State Relations
Gabe Galanda has published an article, "Galanda Washington Tribal-State Relations Bar Bulletin," in this month's King County Bar Bulletin, which is themed, "polarity." Dedicating the piece "to those Washington Indians who fought the fish wars and to the tribal lawyers who won the Boldt Decision," he recaps modern Indian legal history in Washington and concludes with criticism that the Washington Supreme Court's three most recent Indian law decisions are regressive.
Polarity accurately describes the historic legal relationship between the State of Washington and those Tribal Governments indigenous to our state. Tribal sovereignty, i.e., “the right of reservation Indians to make their own laws and be ruled by them,” has always been antipodal to state sovereignty as a matter of Anglo-American jurisprudence. So much so, that by the late 1800s nascent states were deemed the Tribes’ “deadliest enemies” by none other than the U.S. Supreme Court. And over the ensuing century, tribal and state governments waged a zero-sum battle over who would regulate Indian Country.
But today, in what is the era of Indian self-determination as a matter of both federal policy and tribal behavior, tribal/state opposition is waning. As noted by leading Indian law scholar, Professor Matthew T. Fletcher:
States and tribes are beginning to smooth over the rough edges of federal Indian law — jurisdictional confusion, historical animosity between states and Indian tribes, competition between sovereigns for tax revenue, economic development opportunities, and regulatory authority — through cooperative agreements. In effect, a new political relationship is springing up all over the nation between states, local units of government, and Indian tribes.
Washington tribal/state relations and the new political relationship between our state’s sovereigns are indeed evolving. Still, based on the Washington Supreme Court’s three most recent three Indian law decisions, more progress is required to achieve tribal/state congruity throughout official state policy. In particular, the increasingly cooperative relationship between the Tribes and State must be better appreciated when the Court next evaluates regulatory power or adjudicatory jurisdiction in Washington Indian Country.
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 206.300.7801 or gabe@galandabroadman.com.
Gabe Galanda To Again Co-Chair Northwest Gaming Law Summit
On Thursday-Friday, December 12 and 13, United States, Washington State and Native Nations leaders will meet to discuss various emerging legal, regulatory, political and economic issues impacting the Indian gaming industry, at the 11th Annual Northwest Gaming Law Summit in Seattle.
“Just as Indian gaming has grown exponentially over the last decade, so has the Summit,” said conference co-chair Gabe Galanda, an Indian lawyer and partner at Galanda Broadman in Seattle. “We are proud that we have become the most authoritative gaming law educational seminar in the country.”
This year’s lineup of speakers include:
• New National Indian Gaming Commission Chairman Jonodev Chaudhuri • National Indian Gaming Commissioner Daniel Little • New Washington State Gambling Commission Executive Director David Trujillo • New Washington State Gambling Commission Commissioner Christopher Stearns • Washington Indian Gaming Association Chairman Ron Allen • Cowlitz Tribal Council Vice Chairman Phil Harju • Tulalip Tribal Board of Directors Secretary Glen Gobin
Those hot topics that will be discussed include:
• iGaming in Indian Country • Social Gaming • Fee-to-Trust Transactions for Gaming Development • The U.S. Supreme Court’s pending Bay Mills case • Indian gaming commercial financing trends amidst the Great Recession
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 206.300.7801 or gabe@galandabroadman.com.
