2022 Father Drinan Award

I am extremely honored to have been selected by the Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice to receive this award which is designed to recognize those who have strengthened the Section’s mission to provide leadership to the legal profession in protecting and advancing human rights, civil liberties, and social justice. While I never had a chance to meet Father Drinan, I am familiar with his sustained and extraordinary commitment to protecting and advancing human rights, civil liberties, and social justice and it is a great honor to receive an award named after such a distinguished person. I am also familiar with many of the 20 other distinguished people who have previously received this award and it is an extreme honor to be included in the company of such distinguished leaders in the legal profession.

Working to protect and advance civil and human rights is one of the most important things that we can do as humans, as members of a democratic society, and as lawyers. Human rights are basic rights that belong to all of us simply because we are human. They embody key values in our society such as fairness, dignity, equality and respect. Civil rights are rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, organizations and private individuals, and which ensure one's ability to participate in the civil life of the society without discrimination or repression. Civil rights are an essential component of democracy. They're guarantees of equal opportunities and protection under the law, regardless of race, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, political affiliation, ethnicity, social class, religion, disability, or other characteristics.

On a personal level, both as a gay man and as a Native person with more than 40 years working in Indian country, I have seen what can happen when civil and human rights are not adequately protected and advanced. As a gay man born in the mid-1950s, I have seen how crucial the efforts to protect and advance civil and human rights have been in successfully transforming - over the course of just a few decades - the way our legal system treats the LGBTQ community from a time in which our very existence was criminalized and the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic was largely ignored to a time when marriage equality is enshrined in our legal system.

In my work in Indian country over the past four decades, I have seen what can happen when the civil and human rights of American Indian and Alaska native people are ignored resulting in Native children taken from their communities, cultural and religious freedoms impinged, an epidemic of violence against Native women, and countless other atrocities. Despite these challenges, tribal communities remain resilient and the inherent strengths found in culture, community, and tradition abound in Indian country. As a lawyer working in tribal communities, advancing civil and human rights has the added dimension of supporting and uplifting tribal sovereignty and respecting tribally driven approaches to advancing rights. This approach is essential and was demonstrated with the fight for tribal criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians for domestic violence and other crimes. 

My proudest achievement overall has been the ongoing success and sustainability of the Tribal Law and Policy Institute, a Native American operated non-profit corporation dedicated to providing free publication resources and comprehensive training and technical assistance for American Indian and Alaska Native Nations and tribal justice systems in pursuit of our vision to empower Native communities to create and control their own institutions for the benefit of all community members, now, and for future generations. I have had the privilege of serving as the Executive Director of the Tribal Law and Policy Institute (TLPI) since its founding in 1996 with the responsibility for overseeing all TLPI projects and services With the assistance over the years of an incredible staff and board, we have been able to grow from an initial annual budget of less than $60,000 to a thriving organization with 35 employees which has conducted over 500 onsite technical assistance visits, worked with hundreds of tribes, established a series of resource websites (beginning with the Tribal Court Clearinghouse www.TLPI.org in 1998), conducted 9 national Indian Nations Conferences  starting in 2002, trained thousands of Indian country service providers, and produced numerous resources to improve safety, justice and healing in Indian country. TLPI is currently celebrating our 25^th anniversary with a series of events designed to shine a light on some of the incredible work being done in Indian country I am especially proud of the fact that TLPI has not only been able to sustain our staff and services throughout the Covid pandemic period, but we have even been able to increase staff benefits for the TLPI family including the establishment of Wellness Wednesdays and adding health care benefits for the spouses and dependents of TLPI staff.

My proudest achievement in the ABA context has been my ability to achieve significant contributions to the development of what has now become extensive ABA policies addressing Native American issues, the use of those policies for ongoing ABA advocacy on American Indian and Alaska Native issues, and the resultant significant increase in Native American involvement in the ABA.

I have many civil rights heroes, but I would like to focus on two overall categories of civil rights heroes who do not often get the recognition that they deserve.

First, I think that it is hard to overstate the vital contributions made by the many people who have publicly shared their own often painful stories in order to protect and advance human rights, civil liberties, and social justice. An example in the LGBTQ context would be the couples who have served as plaintiffs over decades sharing their own stories in the fight for marriage equality. An example in the Native American context would be the many women who have publicly shared their stories in the fight for the restoration of tribal criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians. Many of these stories are celebrated in the play Sliver of a Full Moon which was provided virtually in November 2020 by the Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice.

Second, I think it is also hard to overstate the vital contributions made by the many people who served as the first person of their race, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, political affiliation, ethnicity, social class, religion, disability, and/or other characteristics to serve in various legal and political roles. For example, below are links to videos from a Panel of First Native Women from a 2018 conference:

1.      Abby Abinanti (Yurok), First Native American Woman to pass the California Bar Exam and become a member of the California Bar Association;

2.      Stacy Leeds (Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma), First Native American Woman to serve as law school dean for an American law school; 

3.      Diane Humetewa (Hopi), First Native American Woman to serve as U.S. Federal Court Judge and the first Native American Woman to serve as a United States Attorney;

4.      Valerie Davidson (Yupik), First Native American woman to ever be appointed to statewide executive office in U.S. history;

5.      Ponka-We Victors (Tohono O’odham Nation of Arizona and Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma), First Native American woman to serve in the Kansas legislature; and

6.      Ruth Buffalo (Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation/Three Affiliated Tribes), First Native American woman to serve in the North Dakota legislature.