Partnership with Native American Rights Fund Advances Future of Indigenous Rights

A collaboration between Colorado Law and the Native American Rights Fund aims to advance the human rights of indigenous peoples in the United States.

A new project between the University of Colorado Law School and the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples marks the latest step in a decades-old collaboration between the two institutions toward advancing indigenous peoples' rights in the U.S. The declaration is a landmark set of agreed-upon norms for the just treatment of indigenous peoples that provides an impetus for countries to redress historic wrongs committed against indigenous peoples and advance the arc of justice.

Since its adoption by the U.N. General Assembly in 2007, 148 U.N. member states have pledged their support for the declaration, including the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. The Colorado Law-NARF partnership aims to advance a framework of federal-tribal relations based on a model of individual and collective human rights and will include efforts to:

• research, develop, and execute strategy to bring U.S. law into compliance with the declaration, including educational events and practical training for attorneys and others,
• foster awareness of the declaration in Indian Country and work closely with indigenous leaders to secure their support and guidance regarding implementation efforts,
• and partner with NGOs, universities, and organizations in furtherance of the project and the movement for indigenous peoples’ human rights more broadly.

"The declaration sets forth a remedial scheme to address the legacy of land dispossession, physical violence, cultural disruption, economic deprivation, and other harms experienced by indigenous peoples during the experiences of conquest, colonization, and settlement. It will take comprehensive law and policy reform, as well as structural and conceptual change, to begin the process of redress and reconciliation for indigenous peoples in domestic legal systems," said Kristen Carpenter, Council Tree professor of law and director of the American Indian Law Program (AILP) at Colorado Law. A coauthor of the Indian law casebook, Cases and Materials on Federal Indian Law (7th edition, 2017), Carpenter also serves as the North American member on the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

“We see our partnership as a way to draw on Colorado Law’s strengths in research and NARF’s strengths in advocacy, in collaboration with indigenous governments, to enact real change in the development of U.S. law concerning Native Americans," Carpenter said.

On March 15 and 16, 2019, Colorado Law and NARF hosted a conference that convened tribal members, advocates, academics, and others for high-level discussions on implementing the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the United States, challenges in federal Indian law, and the role of international human rights in advocacy efforts. The conference also served as an opportunity for Colorado Law and NARF to kick off their joint work in advancing the promises of the U.N. Declaration and develop a strategy for its implementation in the U.S.  

AILP fellow Edyael Casaperalta (JD '18), in conjunction with conference participants, is drafting a conference report that will be published in an upcoming issue of the University of Colorado Law Review. The report will serve as an action plan for next steps in implementing the declaration in the United States.

About the American Indian Law Program at Colorado Law

As one of the nation’s leaders in tribal law and policy, Colorado Law’s American Indian Law program is the region’s convening institution for tribal leaders, advocates, scholars, and community members to address the most pressing challenges in American Indian law and policy. Learn more at colorado.edu/law/AILP.

About the Native American Rights Fund

Founded in 1971 by former Colorado Law Dean David Getches, the Native American Rights Fund is one of the premier Indian law firms in the country, providing legal assistance to Indian tribes, organizations, and individuals nationwide who might otherwise have gone without adequate representation. NARF is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, with branch offices in Washington, D.C., and Anchorage, Alaska.