Rural Roots

Breaking the Chains: Transformative Federal Legislation and Tribal Peoples

Wed, March 16, 2022

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM PDT

Sign up here.

Federal legislation passed in the 1970s and 1980s transformed the relationship between Native American tribes and the U.S. Government, shifting from a colonialist, paternalistic approach to one that recognized the sovereignty of tribal nations. Law professor Robert Miller (Eastern Shawnee) will provide the history and context for some of the groundbreaking laws that finally protected many of the sovereign rights of tribes and established new ways to work with the federal government. Next, Dave Tovey (Cayuse/Joseph Band Nez Perce) will examine one piece of legislation passed during this era that brought profound economic and social change to some tribes, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

Robert J. Miller is a professor of law at the Sandra Day O’Connor School of Law at Arizona State University in Tempe. His areas of expertise include Federal Indian Law, American Indians and international law, American Indian economic development, Native American natural resources, and Civil Procedure. He is a noted author of numerous books that deepen the understanding of American Indian relations, history, and law from colonial times to the present.

Dave Tovey has a wealth of experience in tribal economic development. He is currently the executive director of the Nixyáawii Community Financial Services, a Native CDFI on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation that provides loans, homeownership guidance, and financial management assistance. In addition, Dave has served in top executive roles with the Siletz Tribal Business Corporation, Cayuse Technologies, and the Coquille Indian Tribe. He currently serves as the board president of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians Economic Development Corporation (ATNI-EDC).

This is the fourth and final briefing in this series. Learn more about the full series here.