Many law librarians and practitioners are unfamiliar with Federal Indian Law and the doctrines surrounding it. The Restatement of the Law of American Indians is going to make the law more accessible for those in the legal community who don’t specialize in this area. According to Wenona Singel, associate reporter, the Restatement 'will increase the bar’s understanding and knowledge and ability to correctly identify appropriate case law and correctly cite doctrine from Indian Law.' Join in this program which will address the development and modification of the draft Restatement to reflect diverse experiences, from both public and private law backgrounds, as well as from tribal, state, and federal backgrounds and the changing jurisprudence from courts. 

Recorded at the 2022 AALL Annual Meeting & Conference. Please note the opinions shared during the programs represent the views of the speakers and not of AALL.

TARGET AUDIENCE:

Librarians from across different library types interested in gaining additional familiarity with the recently approved Restatement of the Law of American Indians as an instrument for making this area of the law more accessible

TAKEAWAYS:

1. Participants will be able to compare how the development of the Restatement of the Law of American Indians differed from the development of other restatements despite having similar goals of clarifying, modernizing, and improving the law.
2. Participants will be able to list the six chapters of the Restatement of the Law of American Indians and explain how the contents were modified in the final year of the project to reflect the current law given important developments.
3. Participants will be able to identify two provisions of the Restatement that may be the source of future changes to the Restatement and will be able to identify how to access the approved final draft until publication of the Restatement.

SPEAKERS:

• Matthew Fletcher, Michigan State University
• Kaighn Smith, Jr., Drummond Woodsum / American Law Institute

COORDINATOR/MODERATOR/SPEAKER:

• Darla Jackson, University of Tulsa College of Law

AALL BODY OF KNOWLEDGE DOMAINS: Research + Analysis