Program Summary

The Indian Law Certificate Program is designed to provide specialized instruction to students who are interested and invested in Indian law and who will seek to practice in an arena in which Indian law issues predominate or are central to the problems that the students will face.

The certificate program is open to all School of Law students who have completed the first year curriculum and are in good academic standing. The certificate program requires students to successfully complete a total of seventeen (17) credits: fifteen credits from a “menu” of three categories of law courses (required courses, primary courses, and secondary courses), and a two-credit approved special project, along with successful completion of the J.D. program.

The certificate will be awarded to School of Law students simultaneously with the J.D. degree and will be reflected on the student’s law school transcript.

Required Courses

Law 204 Federal Indian Law – 3 credits
Law 278 Tribal Law – 2 credits

Primary Courses

Certificate program students are required to take at least seven (7) credits of the primary courses and may take as many as ten (10) credits of the primary courses to fulfill the requirements of the certificate program.

Law 284 Criminal Law and Jurisdiction in Indian Country – 2 credits
Law 294 Indian Child Welfare Act – 2 credits
Law 276 Indian Gaming Law – 2 credits
Law 225 American Indians and American Law – 3 credits
Law 279 Tribal Economic Development – 2 credits
Law 554 Indian Country Environmental Law - 2 credits
Law 554 Tribal Environmental Law Project – 1 credit

Secondary Courses

Certificate program students are not required to take any secondary courses to fulfill the requirements for the certificate program; however they may take up to three (3) credits to fulfill the requirements of the program.

Approved Secondary Courses for Indian Law Certificate Program

Administrative Law
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Civil Rights Litigation
Conflict of Laws
Domestic Violence Law
Employment Discrimination
Energy Law and Policy
Environmental Law
Family Law
Federal Courts
Intellectual Property
International Human Rights Law
International Law
Legislation
Oil & Gas
Poverty Law
Professional Visions: Law, Literature, and the Role of Lawyers in the Social Order
Secured Transactions
State and Local Government
Water Law

Special Project

All certificate program students will be required to complete a two-credit special project. The special project is intended to provide the student with the opportunity and incentive to explore more fully a topic in Indian law of the student’s choice, independent of the student’s prior or current coursework. Through this special project, the student is expected to explore a pressing Indian legal issue while applying the legal and professional principles learned through the program coursework.

The special project is designed to provide broad opportunities for exploring Indian law issues and could take a variety of forms. The student is responsible for seeking and securing a faculty member willing to supervise the project and assist the student in designing an appropriate project. Once a student has designed the project, the student will submit a proposal, which must be signed and approved by both the supervising faculty member and the certificate program Director. The special project is deemed completed upon the approval and signature of the supervising faculty member.

The special project cannot fulfill in whole or in part the requirements for any other credit-earning course. However, to the extent appropriate the special project may fulfill the general writing requirement of the law school, pending the approval of the supervising faculty member.

Summary

To earn a certificate in Indian law, a student must earn a total of seventeen (17) credits through law school coursework and an approved special project. The requirements are as follows:

Required courses: 5 credits

Primary courses: At least 7 credits and as many as 10 credits

Secondary courses: No required number of credits with a maximum of 3 credits allowed

Special Project: 2 credits

Total: 17 credits