EAST LANSING, Mich. — Among the unique aspects of indigenous nations existing within the larger nations of the United States and Canada are the individual justice systems associated with each smaller nation and their relationship to the justice systems of their host nations.
Educators, students and attorneys from throughout the United States and Canada will gather Friday, March 17, and Saturday, March 18, to examine tribal courts during the Indigenous Justice Systems of North America Conference at Michigan State University College of Law.
This conference, hosted by the law college’s Indigenous Law & Policy Center, precedes MSU’s Pow-Wow of Love: Honoring Our Education at 1 p.m. Saturday in Jenison Field House.
“Indigenous justice systems predate all other systems of conflict resolution in the United States,” says Donald “Del” Laverdure, assistant professor of law and director of the center. “Moreover, Americans have always learned many things from Indians, including the concept of restitution rather than retribution as a form of punishment.”
Issues covered during the conference will include academic perspectives on indigenous justice; chief judges of tribal courts; tribal attorneys, advocates and tribal courts; peacemaking and sentencing circles: process and structure; tribal court convictions: a changing perspective; tribal appellate courts; and reflection on tribal court systems.
Canadian Sen. Gerry St. Germain will give the dinner keynote address, entitled “First Nations Government Recognition,” at 6 p.m. Friday at the Marriott Hotel, 300 MAC Ave. On Saturday the keynote speaker, Rennard Stickland of the University of Oregon, will speak on the “Reflection on Tribal Court Systems.”
The conference will run from 8:30-5 p.m. Friday and 9:15-11:30 a.m. Saturday in the Castle Board Room of the law college and is open to all interested parties.
The registration fee for the conference is $95 for non-students and $30 for Friday’s dinner. The conference registration fee is waived for students, with a $15 charge for Friday’s lunch and $20 fee for dinner. Registration and details are available online at http://www.law.msu.edu/indigenous/conf.
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MSU College of Law was founded as the Detroit College of Law in 1891. The college affiliated with MSU in 1995 and moved to MSU’s East Lansing campus in 1997. The association between the two schools has led to a comprehensive interdisciplinary legal education program at the law college. Today, the college is one of only two private law schools to be affiliated with a research university.