“Nooksack 306” Documentary to Premiere Tuesday Night in Seattle

Produced by Converge Media, the Film Will Be Shown at The Iconic Egyptian Theater During Seattle’s Scope Screenings

On Tuesday night, June 25, a new documentary film made by Converge Media, “Nooksack 306,” will premiere during the Scope Screenings Film Festival.  A trailer for the movie can be watched here.

The short digital movie dives into the struggle faced by Indigenous people who are being disenrolled by tribal politicians and threatened with losing their homes and being exiled from their homelands.

Converge Media profiles members of the group of disenrolled Nooksack Indigenous people known as the Nooksack 306.  Last year, the family allowed the filmmakers access to their daily lives in Deming, Washington, sharing the story of their twelve-year political persecution.

“We are proud to be able to help tell this story and share the message of the challenges that are facing the Nooksack 306,” said Converge Media’s Head of Production, Alaia D’Alessandro. “This film highlights Converge Media’s dedication to uplifting the voices of those who’s stories need amplification and we hope it will raise awareness and make a difference.”

Following a lack of human rights protection by both the Trump and Biden administrations, the United Nations has twice intervened, raising concerns about the unlawful disenrollment of the Nooksack and related ejectment of several Nooksack families from federally subsidized homes they are entitled to own, without any legal protections.  

“Having been denied access to the courts and any human rights protection from this country, the Nooksack 306 have taken their fight to the United Nations and the court of public opinion,” said the Nooksack families’ lawyer, Gabe Galanda. “This is an existential fight for the ages.”

With the United Nations poised to further intervene, pressure is mounting upon the Biden administration, particularly U.S. Interior Department Secretary Deb Haaland, to take some action to protect the Nooksack families’ internationally recognized human rights to housing and belonging.

“It is time for the Biden administration to be consistent about international human rights,” continued Galanda. “Right now, the administration appears highly inconsistent. The United States actively professes to be a beacon of human rights protection abroad, while ignoring egregious human rights violations at home.”

The Nooksack families most recently called upon Secretary Haaland to halt their evictions, which appear imminent. Secretary Haaland is the first Indigenous cabinet Secretary in American history, and she possesses complete authority over Indigenous affairs and lands.

The protracted legal and political battle has ramifications across generations, as grandparents, parents, and children have been catapulted into the fight to remain in their community and keep their homes, many of which have been in the families for decades. This film tells the story from the perspective of those whose voices have been stifled, sharing their Indigenous traditions and amplifying their pleas for support.  

Empowered by the movie, the United Nations’ unprecedented interventions, and other public support, the Nooksack 306 say they aren’t going anywhere.

“We have always been Nooksack and will always be Nooksack,” said Michelle Roberts, who, as a spokesperson for the Nooksack 306 and a credited producer of the documentary, is facing housing eviction. “We have no intention of abandoning our homes or homelands. We belong, our ancestors belonged, and we are staying put.”

SCOTUS Holds IHS Failed its Funding Obligations; Tribes Should Act Now

By Corinne Sebren

On June 6, 2024, in a major victory for tribal health care programs, the United States Supreme Court ruled on the consolidated cases of Becerra v. San Carlos Apache Tribe (No. 23-250) and Becerra v. Northern Arapaho Tribe (No. 23-253).

In its ruling, the Supreme Court affirmed the Ninth and Tenth Circuit’s earlier decisions, and held that IHS is required to cover the reasonable costs incurred by Tribes when they utilize revenues from third-party payers (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance). 

The High Court’s decision, authored by Chief Justice Roberts, explained that “[b]ecause a self-determination contract requires a tribe to spend program income to further the programs transferred to it in the contract,” the statutory provisions of the ISDEAA “require IHS to pay contract support costs when a tribe does so, just as IHS must pay contract support costs to support a tribe’s spending of the Secretarial amount [i.e., amounts determined through congressional appropriation].”

Chief Justice Roberts was joined by Justices Gorsuch, Jackson, Kagan, Gorsuch, and Sotomayor. Justice Kavanaugh was joined in dissent by Justices Thomas, Alito, and Barrett.

The Court explained that reimbursement of the full amount of contract support costs is necessary to “prevent a funding gap between tribes and IHS,” which would inflict “a penalty for pursuing self-determination” on those Tribes that choose to exercise their rights to operate health care programs under the ISDEAA.

Tribes and Tribal Organizations Should Act Now

The Court’s decision in Becerra confirms the right of Tribes operating healthcare programs under the ISDEAA to obtain payment of contract support costs (CSC) for all activities that are required for compliance with the Tribe’s ISDEAA contract/compact “includ[ing] the third-party-revenue-funded portions of the program.”

The federal government is now required to pay reasonable direct and indirect support costs to Tribes and Tribal organizations that administer healthcare programs under ISDEAA agreements.

All eligible tribal health care programs operating under a 638 contract (or a compact) with IHS to provide health services should act swiftly to present claims and secure the cost reimbursement to which they are entitled. These claims have a six-year statute of limitations, and we expect IHS to strictly enforce this limitations period. It is therefore critical for Tribes and Tribal organizations to act now.

If you would like to request a consult related to filing such a claim, contact the author or another member of the Galanda Broadman team.

Corinne Sebren is an associate with Galanda Broadman. Her practice focuses on civil rights, Indigenous health law, regulatory analysis, and complex litigation.

Pressure Mounts on Deb Haaland to Confront Domestic Indigenous Human Rights Abuse

Indigenous people from throughout the country are calling upon U.S. Interior Department Secretary Deb Haaland to address Indigenous human rights violations that have continued during the Biden administration. 

As the first Indigenous presidential cabinet member, Secretary Haaland has gone to great lengths to reckon with historical injustices suffered by Indigenous people in America, but she has increasingly ignored current human rights abuses on Indian lands.

In northern Washington state, for example, dozens of Nooksack Indigenous family members are being ejected from their federal rent-to-own homes without due process. The United Nations has twice told the Biden administration to halt those human rights violations, only to have the U.S. State Department cite “tribal sovereignty” as its excuse for inaction.  

Secretary Haaland was personally made aware of the injustice at Nooksack in early 2022, when it made the front page of the New York Times, but she’s since shied away from it. The Nooksack families recently asked her to honor the UN’s pleas, by halting impending evictions. Secretary Haaland’s office declined to meet with the families. See "U.N. has spoken, now Inslee, Biden should intervene in Nooksack Tribe eviction dispute.”

In central California, hundreds of citizens of the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians are being ejected from their Tribe also without due process.  The Biden administration has ignored those Indigenous citizens’ repeated pleas for human rights protection, despite at least two federal laws allowing for Secretary Haaland’s intervention in unlawful disenrollment actions. When she was in the U.S. House of Representatives, Secretary Haaland promised to address disenrollment, but she did not.

In eastern Oklahoma, at least four Tribal nations that signed Reconstruction Era Treaties that promise Tribal citizenship rights to those nations’ freed slaves, now refuse to confer citizenship to those commonly known as the Freedmen. Secretary Haaland “encouraged” those four Tribal nations’ “to meet their moral and legal obligations to Freedmen,” but stopped short of enforcing those federal Treaty promises.

In upstate New York, both Cayuga Nation citizens and the Seneca County Board of Supervisors implored Secretary Haaland to protect civil rights on Tribal lands, after “the deployment of an apparently illegitimate tribal police force, erosion of property rights [i.e. the bulldozing of tribal buildings], and confusion as to civil rights and obligations for both tribal and non-tribal members of the local community.” It appears Secretary Haaland ignored the situation altogether.

These injustices arise in great part because there is no federal Bill of Rights protection in Indian Country, and the federal Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968—the so-called Indian Bill of Rights—was gutted by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1978.

Secretary Haaland has used her historic platform to bring justice to the families of murdered and missing Indigenous people and to the survivors of Indian boarding schools.  But she has stopped short of using her platform to help stem the human rights abuse presently suffered by Indigenous people on Tribal lands.

Federal officials are loath to confront human rights violations on Tribal lands for fear of being criticized as “anti-Tribal,” or losing political support from wealthy gaming Tribes. Certain prominent Tribal gaming politicians with direct access to Secretary Haaland, have committed human rights abuses themselves.

With aspirations of next serving as New Mexico’s Governor, amid a bitter game of thrones with U.S. Senator Mark Heinrich, Secretary Haaland is certainly playing it safe. “Auntie Deb,” as her political handlers and allies affectionately call her, appears afraid of doing anything that would be perceived as an affront to Tribal nationalism. This has caused Indigenous cultural people to increasingly question her courage.

Quoting federal statutes, the Nooksack families reminded Secretary Haaland how she is uniquely empowered to help protect Indigenous human rights:

You are the highest ranking federal Indian affairs Official in the United States.  You are “charged with the supervision of public business relating to . . . Indians.”  You “shall . . . have the management of all Indian affairs and of all matters arising out of Indian relations.”… As the first Indigenous cabinet Secretary in United States history, you also have moral authority and responsibility to defend and protect [Indigenous] human rights.

As the Biden administration actively works to promote and protect her legacy, it is not too late for Secretary Haaland to bravely confront the injustices Indigenous people are suffering here and now.

Will she or won’t she?

Gabe Galanda is an Indigenous rights attorney and the managing lawyer at Galanda Broadman. He has been named to Best Lawyers in America in the fields of Native American Law and Gaming Law from 2007 to 2024, and dubbed a Super Lawyer by his peers from 2013 to 2024.

Gabe Galanda on Tribal Disenrollment: "This Country Does Not Care"

Gabe Galanda is quoted at length by Fresno news stations KSEE24 and CBS47, regarding the latest scourge of disenrollment at the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians.

In a digital news story, “Chukchansi using ‘paper genocide’ for more casino money, former council members say,” Gabe sounds off on this country’s indifference to Indigenous human rights abuse in Indian country:

“Disenrollment isn’t about ascertaining historical truth,” said Indigenous rights lawyer Gabriel Galanda. “It’s about accomplishing a certain political goal, which is eradicating and exiling political opponents.”

Galanda says systematic and unjustified disenrollment is a problem across tribes and is in itself an inhumane practice.

“It’s hard to imagine anything more inhumane than telling a youth who has grown up believing they belong somewhere – and now they’re being told they don’t belong,” Galanda said. “That is the height of indignity and inhumanity in America.”…

“What disenrollment really accomplishes is it cuts out the safety net of an Indigenous person from underneath them – social service benefits, educational benefits, health care benefits, or general welfare benefits.”

Galanda says the worst part is that nothing can be done about it since Chukchansi is a sovereign nation.

“Yes, they can do whatever they want with or without regard for tribal law and there is nobody in the country who cares enough to do anything about it,” Galanda said.

For those disenrolled, Galanda says he wishes he could spread hope, it’s all too little too late at this point.

“Tragically, I have no hope that these relatives will be saved from disenrollment or exile,” Galanda said.

“The cold, the cold, hard truth is that this country does not care about them. It does not care about the health and welfare of the first peoples of this country.”

Gabe Galanda is an Indigenous rights attorney and the managing lawyer at Galanda Broadman. He has been named to Best Lawyers in America in the fields of Native American Law and Gaming Law from 2007 to 2024, and dubbed a Super Lawyer by his peers from 2013 to 2024. His law review article, “Curing the Tribal Disenrollment Epidemic: In Search of a Remedy,” was published by Arizona Law Review in 2015.

Gabe Galanda Explains "Acutely Unhealthy" Effects of Indigenous Human Rights Void

Last Friday, Gabe Galanda delivered the opening remarks at the Legal Foundation of Washington’s event, Changing the Way We See Native America, at Seattle’s iconic Town Hall.

The event celebrated LFW’s $4 million investment in Indigenous civil legal aid.

Gabe also emceed the event and introduced the night’s keynote speaker, Matika Wilbur. Here’s the first part of his opening remarks.

We are here in celebration and the Legal Foundation of Washington’s $4M commitment to expand Indigenous civil legal aid in our state.

This investment is crucial because only 1 on 10 Indigenous persons in our state receive civil legal assistance.

9 out of 10 Indigenous people don’t get legal help, whether for housing, family, employment, public assistance, civil rights, other problems.

90% don’t get the legal help they need, when they need it the most.  That is a truth that we cannot accept.

According to a 2015 Washington State Supreme Court Civil Legal Aid report, the top problems faced by Indigenous people includes:

·      Denial of services from a Tribal government or community organization that serves Indigenous people; and

·      Discrimination or employment termination by a tribe or tribally owned business.

That results in large part from the fact that Tribal citizens are the only so-called natural born citizens in this country that do not universally enjoy federal Bill of Rights protection.

That thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1978, when Thurgood Marshall ruled that the federal Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 did not allow Indigenous people to seek protection in federal court when their personal freedoms were violated by Tribal governments.

The Supreme Court’s concern was flooding the federal courts with Indigenous civil rights cases.

Nearly 50 years later, the overwhelming majority of Tribal citizens in this country have nowhere to turn legally or judicially when their safety net it cut out from under them.

What this means is our Tribal citizens live their daily lives without the freedoms lived as a result of constitutional legal protections: freedom of speech/assembly, the right to personal privacy, the right to equal protection, the right to due process at law, to name a few. That reality breads an acutely unhealthy insecurity in Indigenous daily life.

We don’t even enjoy so-called birthright citizenship according to the 14th Amendment. 

Sunday was the 100th anniversary of the federal Indian Citizenship Act, which granted Tribal citizens American citizenship.

It took this country 150 years for the first people of these lands to be recognized as U.S. citizens, for voting purpose.

And today, our U.S. citizenship exists only at the will of the United States Congress, not by virtue of the 14th Amendment.  Think about that for a moment.

Even worse, there isn’t a single national organization in the country that is dedicated to the advancement of Indigenous civil liberties or human rights.

There is no Southern Poverty Law Center or NAACP Legal Defense Fund for Indigenous people.  Pioneering human rights organizations like the ACLU, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch, are afraid to intercede, for fear of being seen as anti-Tribal or racist.

Which gets me back to the 9 out of 10 Indigenous people who don’t get civil legal aid, especially when being denied services or being discriminated against by Tribal governments or community organizations. 

Without Bill of Rights protection, any legal aid effort very well may be futile, and that is another truth that we cannot accept. 

And that unacceptable truth is why the Legal Foundation of Washington’s $4M investment in Indigenous civil legal aid is so important, and so commendable.

Gabe’s remarks have been edited for clarity.

Gabe Galanda is an Indigenous rights attorney and the managing lawyer at Galanda Broadman. He has been named to Best Lawyers in America in the fields of Native American Law and Gaming Law from 2007 to 2024, and dubbed a Super Lawyer by his peers from 2013 to 2024.

Chambers USA Recognizes Galanda Broadman's Excellence in Native American Law

Galanda Broadman, PLLC, has been recognized among the best Native American Law firms in the country by Chambers USA 2024. Gabe Galanda was also ranked among the best Native American Law practitioners in the latest edition.

The firm, with seven lawyers and offices in Seattle and Yakima, Washington and Bend, Oregon, represents Tribal governments, businesses, and citizens in critical litigation, business and regulatory matters, especially in matters of Treaty rights, sovereignty, taxation, civil rights, and belonging.

Galanda Broadman also represents Indigenous individuals in civil and human rights matters, especially in litigation against local, state, and federal police officers and jails for the loss of human life and against tribal politicians who abrogate Indigenous citizenship rights.

Galanda Broadman is honored to be ranked among the best Native American Law firms in the country and grateful to all of our Tribal and Indigenous clients for allowing us the opportunity to earn that recognition.

Nooksack Families Face Renewed Threats of Physical Eviction and Exile from Their Homelands

The United Nations has twice told the United States and Nooksack Tribe to halt the evictions of seven Nooksack families from their federal rent-to-own homes. 

The state of Washington has filed 85 notices of violation against Nooksack, pending with the IRS, for the Tribe's violation of federal and state tenant ownership rules.  

Washington's Auditor is conducting a $500,000 audit of the state's federal low income housing tenant ownership program after a state agency admitted its "compliance monitoring practices unfortunately did not hold [Nooksack] accountable."

Notwithstanding, seven low income Nooksack families most likely face threats of physical eviction, by armed Tribal police, from their federal rent-to-own homes in coming weeks.

The families, which include senile elders, wheelchair-bound relatives, and young children, are owed deeds to those homes after more than 15 years of good tenancy under the federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program administered by the Washington State Housing Finance Commission (WSHFC) and Nooksack Tribe.

But those homes are being taken, without just compensation or due process of law, especially because Tribal politicians have "barred" us at Galanda Broadman from representing them at Nooksack.

"They have barred our lawyers. They have rewritten all the rules. They have ignored all applicable laws. They have snubbed their nose at the UN," said Michelle Roberts, spokesperson for the families and head of the household for one of the families threatened with eviction. "There is simply no justice or dignity at Nooksack."

On Tuesday, Nooksack Court of Appeals Chief Judge Rajeev Majumdar summarily dismissed a set of pro se appeals filed by the families "for want of action," despite the families' May 2nd request for a stay pending the IRS proceedings. 

The families appealed a Nooksack pro tem judge's set of unlawful detainer decisions last spring. Despite Tribal law requiring those appeals to have been heard within 45 days, the appeals commenced nearly a year later, this spring, only to be dismissed out of hand by the single appellate judge. 

The matters have been "returned to the jurisdiction" of the Nooksack trial court, where eviction writs are expected to be issued soon.

The dismissal Tuesday occurred while we, the families' longtime lawyers, pursued our own due process rights before the Tribal appeals court, after once again having papers "REJECTED" by the Tribal Court Clerk in violation of Nooksack law. 

Yesterday, pro se litigant Roberts implored Judge Majumdar to reconsider his decision, explaining:

[T]his happened while our lawyers’ appeal is pending so that they can be allowed to represent us.  My family does not understand what all of these tribal court papers mean.  My dad and Auntie Ollie are both senile. We cannot be expected to bring our appeals on very complicated legal federal housing issues "pro se" and without any help from lawyers.  All of this goes to show why we need help from our lawyers. Any tribal people would need legal help in such a complicated legal case.

The Nooksack judicial system has been considered illegitimate since Nooksack politicians overthrew it eight years ago. 

In late 2016, a group of federal Indian law professors from throughout the country wrote the Nooksack appeals court: "[T]he ripple effect of [the Tribe's] lawlessness will reach far beyond the boundaries of Nooksack...The suspicions and denigrations of tribal courts as second-class forums will gain credence among those that are hostile to tribal sovereignty.” In 2018, the Washington State Bar Association proclaimed "the Nooksack ‘’justice system’ is probably not worthy of that description."

The United States has rebuffed the United Nations’ unprecedented interventions, in both 2022 and 2023.  Each time the U.S. State Department blithely cited “tribal sovereignty” to justify federal inaction when confronted with the United Nations’ findings of “violation of international human rights law” at Nooksack.

Meanwhile, WSHFC has admitted: "Through the Nooksack disenrollment issue, we realized that eventual tenant homeownership plans had not been integrated into our monitoring practices....the IRS has stated that it will not take action in response to a notice of noncompliance" in these circumstances. It remains to be seen whether the IRS will take action on the 85 notices of violation.

In March, WSHFC’s regulatory gaffe caused the Washington Legislature to appropriate $500,000 for the state Auditor to audit the “commission's oversight of housing developers that offer a rent-to-own option for projects funded by the commission, including “how rent-to-own policies have affected affordable housing and home ownership options for eligible tenants.”  The audit is slated for completion by the end of the year.

Last year, Governor Jay Inslee asked Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Bob Ferguson to review the Nooksack families’ property rights in their LIHTC homes, and consider whether Nooksack was violating state law by taking those homes.  Ferguson declined, because the review “would clearly impact the Nooksack Tribe [and] there is no realistic chance that the Nooksack Tribe would consent” to it.

"This country, the entire system of American government, has turned its back on these families," said Gabe Galanda, lead counsel for the families. "Indigenous human rights protection is of no concern or consequence to the United States."

Related News: "Converge Media Releases Nooksack 306, a New Film Spotlighting the Eviction and Exile of Over 300 Nooksack Tribal Members" (May 29, 2024)

Converge Media Releases "Nooksack 306," a Film About Indigenous Belonging and Exile

Converge Media’s latest film, Nooksack 306, dives into the struggle faced by Indigenous people who are being disenrolled by tribal politicians and threatened with losing their homes and being exiled from their homelands. Filmmakers spoke with members of the group known as the Nooksack 306, who shared the story of their family’s twelve-year political persecution and proclaimed their will to keep fighting.

“We have always been Nooksack and will always be Nooksack. We have no intention of abandoning our homes or homelands. We belong, our ancestors belonged, and we are staying put,” Nooksack 306 Spokesperson Michelle Roberts said.

Following a lack of federal support spanning both the Trump and Biden administrations, the United Nations has twice intervened, raising concerns about the unlawful disenrollment of the Nooksack and related ejectment of several Nooksack families from federally subsidized homes they are entitled to own.

“Having been denied access to the courts and any human rights protection from this country, the Nooksack 306 have taken their fight to the United Nations and the court of public opinion. This is an existential fight for the ages,” Indigenous Rights Lawyer and Nooksack 306 legal counsel Gabe Galanda said.

The protracted legal and political battle has ramifications across generations, as grandparents, parents, and children have been catapulted into the fight to remain in their community and keep their homes, many of which have been in the families for decades. This film tells the story from the perspective of those whose voices have been stifled, sharing their Indigenous traditions and amplifying their pleas for support.

“We are proud to be able to help tell this story and share the message of the challenges that are facing the Nooksack 306. This film highlights Converge Media’s dedication to uplifting the voices of those who’s stories need amplification and we hope it will raise awareness and make a difference,” Converge Media Head of Production Alaia D’Alessandro said.

The film is out now and streaming across Converge Media platforms. It can be watched on YouTube here.

Gabe Galanda Contributes Essay to Book Honoring Legacy of Vine Deloria, Jr.

Gabe Galanda is among the Indigenous contributors whose work appears in a new collection of essays about one of the most influential thinkers of our time. Of Living Stone: Perspectives on Continuous Knowledge and the Work of Vine Deloria, Jr. features more than 30 original pieces by Indigenous leaders, artists, scientists, activists, scholars, legal experts, and humorists, in tribute to Deloria.

Gabe’s essay is titled, “In the Spirit of Vine Deloria, Jr.: Indigenous Kinship Renewal and Relational Sovereignty.” Gabe heeds Deloria’s inspiring call for the renewal of Indigenous kinship tradition and counsels for what Gabe calls “relational sovereignty,” whereby Indigenous human existence is exalted and protected over individual power and profit.

His Deloria tribute essay is among a series of scholarly essays that Gabe has published since 2023 about existential challenges facing Indigenous peoples:

• The Federal Indian Blood Quantum Fiction

• Durability and Duress: Inter-Tribal Kinship and Indian Gaming Capitalism

• Into The Void: Indigenous American Civil Rights

Gabe Galanda is an Indigenous rights attorney and the managing lawyer at Galanda Broadman. He has been named to Best Lawyers in America in the fields of Native American Law and Gaming Law from 2007 to 2024, and dubbed a Super Lawyer by his peers from 2013 to 2024.

Decolonizing Indigenous Fashion

Image from Women's Wear Daily (WWD.com)

Next month SWAIA’s Santa Fe Native Fashion Week[1] takes its rightful place on the fashion calendar, sharing an already prestigious sartorial “first week in May” with the Met Gala. The two events represent an important dichotomy in today’s fashion industry – the former showcasing how centuries of sustainable Indigenous knowledge and design are informing innovative current Indigenous fashion; the latter the penultimate annual fete of a mainstream fashion industry largely built on centuries of colonial exploitation of resources. You will see beautiful clothes at both events. Dazzling works of art made with the finest materials by artisans whose hearts speak through their needles and thread, and stunning people wearing them.

You will also see Indigenous people at both events; but only in Santa Fe will you find a celebration of Indigenous fashion and the opportunity to gather with designers who seek to develop sustainable fashion businesses and create value for their communities.

The Indigenous designers preparing to show at Santa Fe Native Fashion Week consistently express profound appreciation for the cultural influences that contribute to and inform their designs. Many describe learning their craft from loving matriarchs who instilled in them the importance of using it not just to better their own lives, but to build economic opportunity for their People and for future generations. Western practices now known as “sustainable fashion” emerged in the countercultures of the 1960’s and ‘70’s, became a source of consumer advocacy against corporations like Nike’s use of sweatshop labor in the 1990’s, and launched a global Fashion Revolution[2] following the collapse of Bangladesh’s Rana Plaza garment factory complex in 2013.

But Indigenous fashion predates these movements. It exists as a feature of the original triple bottom line economy; one colonization seeks to extinguish, but which has survived and thrived, nevertheless. As Carol Anne Hilton, MBA, Founder & CEO of the Indigenomics Institute, points out, “Indigenous economies are the original sharing economy, the original green economy, regenerative economy, collaborative economy, circular economy, impact economy, and the original gift economy. The indigenous economy is the original social economy .”[3]

Events like Santa Fe Native Fashion Week and the many Indigenous fashion weeks around the globe in recent years highlight a growing consumer demand for authentic Indigenous design. With increased awareness and activism making it more difficult for corporations to exploit Indigenous creators or pass off fake Native designs, the demand presents a significant opportunity for Indigenous fashion designers to activate “the ‘culture-of-origin effect,’ a term that reflects the strategic use of tribal culture as a way to increase the value of goods originating from American Indian entrepreneurs.”[4] And as Indigenous fashion designers start and grow their businesses, there is a corollary need for lawyers who understand and appreciate the ethos behind their work. Only with that understanding can an advisor and advocate help embed principles of “ethical responsibilities toward creation,”[5] community, and decolonization into negotiated transactions and business strategy. After all, “[i]t is the brave and true organization that goes above and beyond the expediency of mere legal compliance to practice what is right and just.”[6] It is the dynamic legal and business team that can help make that happen.

Take, for instance, a collaboration and licensing agreement between a large corporation and an Indigenous designer (think: PRL x Naiomi Glasses (Dine)). These contracts, which have historically been used - where a written agreement was reached at all – to legitimize the theft and exploitation of Indigenous design, offer significant opportunities to activate what Eighth Generation Founder, Louie Gong, calls the Decolonizing Partnership Model.[7]  From negotiating appropriate compensation and exclusivity terms, to ensuring participation and control in the product development and marketing stages, a knowledgeable advocate can ensure an Indigenous fashion designer’s business relationships are built on the principles by which they and their communities have lived for millennia.

I, for one, can’t wait for Santa Fe. I look forward to seeing you there and, if you have a moment, hearing about your Indigenous fashion goals; your pain points; the obstacles you’ve overcome and the ones you’re facing; and, of course,  your latest inspirations. Let’s talk!

Rachel Tobias is of counsel at Galanda Broadman. In addition to supporting the firm’s tribal law and Indigenous rights practice, she represents and advises Indigenous creators on an array of matters. Rachel holds a JD from the University of New Mexico School of Law and an LL.M. in Fashion Law from Fordham University School of Law.

[1] Southwestern Association for Indian Arts. https://swaianativefashion.org

[2] https://www.fashionrevolution.org

[3] Hilton, Carol Anne, MBA. Indigenomics. New Society Publishers, 2021, at 91. https://indigenomicsinstitute.com

[4] Stewart, D., J. Gladstone, A. Verbos, and M. Katragadda. 2014. “Native American Cultural Capital and Business Strategy: The Culture-of-Origin Effect.” American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 38:4, at 128.

[5] Claw, Carma M., Amy Klemm Verbos, and Grace Ann Rosile, “Business Ethics and Native American Values,” American Indian Business Principles & Practices, edited by Kennedy, Deanna M., et al., University of Washington Press, 2017, at 147.

[6] Id., at 156.

[7] https://eighthgeneration.com/pages/decolonizing-partnership-model#:~:text=A%20Decolonized%20Partnership%20requires%20compensating,capacity%20development%20for%20artists%20partners.