Native American Law Center (NALC) - The University of Tulsa
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Native American Law Center (NALC)

The Native American Law Center (NALC) at the UTulsa College of Law is a leading research center for Native American law and history. The university is located on the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Reservation, in close proximity to 35 tribal headquarters. UTulsa law students have unique access to careers in tribal government and federal Indian law practice.

The Native American Law concentration offers a course of study designed for future Indian law practitioners. All students in the concentration are required to complete, at a minimum, Federal Indian Law, an in-depth research requirement (e.g. a seminar paper on a Native American law subject, participation in the National NALSA Moot Court Competition, or writing a note for the Tulsa Law Review), and two additional courses or seminars in Native American law. Recent electives have included Native American Natural Resources, Tribal Government, and Indian Gaming. Students may also take courses in other departments relating to Indigenous peoples and cultures, such as language classes in Cherokee and Mvskoke.

Established as a center in 2000, the Native American Law Center builds on the concentration established in 1990. The center’s mission is to provide resources for the study and teaching of legal issues concerning Indian tribes and other Indigenous peoples worldwide.

UTulsa Law’s unmatched resources include:

  • Specialized library collection in Indian and Indigenous law
  • Full-time professors with expertise in Indian law
  • Gilcrease Museum (managed by UTulsa), a nationally renowned museum of Native American art and artifacts, providing academic and research opportunities
  • Judicial internship with Courts of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation
  • Opportunities to work with nearby tribal governments
  • Judicial externships with tribal judges
  • Indian law courses
  • NALSA moot court competition
  • Jess Green Scholarship
  • Utsey Family Scholarship
  • Native American Law Student Association

    UTulsa’s College of Law has an active Native American Law Students’ Association (NALSA), which is affiliated with the National NALSA. Members are active in community programs, meet regularly for social activities, and attend the Federal Bar Association’s annual Indian Law Conference. The FBA’s annual conference includes the annual National NALSA meeting, as well as a job fair and networking opportunities.

    Moot Court Competition

    UTulsa NALSA students also participate in an intramural Native American Law Moot Court competition. Winners of that competition represent UTulsa at the National Native American Law Moot Court Competition, which is sponsored by National NALSA. The UTulsa Law intramural competition, from which the teams for the national competition are chosen, is open to all law students.

  • Collection

    Indian law is an integrated and integral part of TU’s library collections, which include the Mabee Legal Information Center (MLIC) and the McFarlin Library. Together, these libraries provide virtually any materials a student needs to write and study in the field. The MLIC features a strong collection of works related to American Indian and Indigenous Peoples law. The collection contains both primary and secondary works, including treaties, US government documents, tribal codes and tribal court decisions. The collection also features a wealth of treatises exploring both domestic and international approaches to Indian law issues.

    The importance of Indian law at UTulsa is illustrated by the MLIC’s decision to include a special room devoted to Native American law, which both houses many of the MLIC’s Indian law resources and serves as a meeting and study area for students. The main Indian law collection is located in an area immediately adjacent to the Native American law room in the Indigenous Peoples Law Collection.

    In addition to the materials held at the MLIC, law students also have access to McFarlin, the main university library, which is a short three-minute walk from the law school. McFarlin is a major center of scholarly resources for the systematic study of Indian law, history and policy.

    With institutional roots stemming from the Presbyterian School for Indian Girls, The University of Tulsa honors its historic commitment to Indian scholarship by housing the Alice Robertson collection (which includes the personal papers of Samuel Worcester, the Osage Allotment Cards, Mvskoke language documents, and the Wounded Knee Papers of Kent Frizzell). McFarlin’s collection also contains many documents related to the Indian Claims Commission, including a variety of indices and digests, the papers of Commissioner Brantley Blue and the personal papers of John T. Vance. The library also holds the J.B. Milam Library of Cherokee History, which consists of some 2,000 titles. It includes tribal and US government documents, almost all books written about the Cherokee Nation before 1950, books printed in Cherokee and a number of important manuscripts.