LOS ANGELES – The Native American Boarding School Visual History Project is gathering oral histories from alumni of boarding schools in an effort to remember and heal.
The nonprofit Cante Sica Foundation is sponsoring the project and calls the Native American boarding school experience a legacy for alumni, their families and communities.
The project will consist of a visual history archive and an interactive website that will educate people about the history of the American Indian boarding school system. The system was a policy of forced assimilation experienced by more than 100,000 Native American children between 1879 and 1975.
Phase 1 of the project will train teams of Native historians and filmmakers to collect visual testimonies from alumni now living in Southern California, including alumni of the Sherman Institute (now Sherman High School) in Riverside.
The majority of boarding school alumni are now in their 60s, 70s and 80s. With each passing year a significant number of alumni are lost and within a decade a majority of them will have passed away. Many have been unable to talk about their experiences until recently, and as they age, many may come to realize the importance of sharing their stories for future generations, reads a Cante Sica Foundation statement.
“For others, their boarding school years were among the best of their lives. Many fall somewhere in the middle. The project provides a forum for alumni to tell their sown stories in their own way,” it states.
The project is also meant to help students understand the persistent and often devastating effects caused by large-scale assimilation efforts, including post-traumatic stress, disappearance of language, cultural displacement, loss of family ties, domestic violence, addiction and suicide. Also, people will learn of positive stories of survival and the ingenuity of boarding school students.
The testimonies will be edited into shorter excerpts that users can access in an immersive multimedia environment. Interactive and downloadable lesson plans will help teachers use the website in their classrooms. Meanwhile, the unedited interviews will become a valuable visual history archive of primary sources for scholars, students and indigenous peoples worldwide.
Phase 2 will expand the archive to include interviews and information about boarding schools and their alumni from across the nation.
If you are a boarding school alumni and want to share your story or know of alumni elders, email DeLanna Studi at delanna@cantesica.org or call 310-528-5352 or Brian Wescott at brian@cantesica.org or call 310-922-6466.
By Rob Capriccioso, Indian Country Today Media Network
Concerned Indian country leaders are saying that President Barack Obama, in his proposed budget for 2014, is not doing as strong a job at upholding the nation’s trust responsibility to American Indians as he has promised.
The budget, released April 10, is the president’s first time while in office to dramatically shrink his support for Indian programs in some key areas, including reductions in contract support services, education and school construction cuts, and spending on low-income housing.
In total, the $3.78 trillion budget would cut copy trillion in spending and raise $800 billion in new revenue over the next 10 years.
Indian organizations and tribes are still analyzing much of the budget and what it will mean, but some have already released statements of concern.
The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) offered a grave assessment on April 12, saying that the “organization is deeply concerned about proposed cuts that threaten recent progress in critical areas,” and noting the areas of reduction in an analysis that would harm tribes.
At the same time, NCAI saw some positive developments: “We see signs of hope in the President’s proposal to replace the sequester and expand investments to enhance tribal law enforcement and strengthen the Indian Health Service but now is not time to slow the progress we have seen in Indian country,” said Jefferson Keel, president of NCAI. “The federal government must live up to its obligations in critical trust responsibility areas like contract support costs, education, and housing. We’ve experienced decades of the federal government falling short, and while we understand the limitations of the federal government, the federal trust responsibility to tribal nations and our peoples, is not a line item.”
Despite that optimism, the White House has been hesitant to single out Indian programs for protection in its budget process and in the current budget sequester that went into effect March 1, reducing many federal programs that offer support to tribes.
Charlie Galbraith, the Associate Director for Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House, told tribal leaders of the United South and Eastern Tribes in February that tribes could not be exempted from the sequester, despite this seeming to conflict with the administration’s stance on supporting federal trust responsibility for tribes.
“That’s just not going to happen,” Galbraith said. “We have the entire military machine, every lobbyist, every contractor, trying to exempt the military provision—the president is not going to cut this off piecemeal. We need a comprehensive solution that is going to address the real problem here.”
Still, programs at the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Transportation, as well as Congress’ pay, were exempted from the sequester—so there were some sacred cows. Indian programs could have been protected as well, if the federal government could have agreed to support that outcome. The Obama administration has not pushed for such an action, despite often saying it supports strong federal trust responsibility toward tribes.
NCAI ended its statement on a positive note, saying that there were “promising signs” in the president’s budget request, including public safety monies for tribes, a small increase in the Indian Health Service budget and contract health services, an increase for the Environmental Protection Agency’s General Assistance Program, a $32 million in increases for natural resource programs at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and language that provides “a no-cost economic development and jobs creation solution for restoring land to tribal governments impacted by the Carcieri Supreme Court decision.”
“NCAI will work to ensure that the federal programs that fulfill the trust responsibility to tribes receive bipartisan support in the appropriations process,” the organization concluded.
To date under the Obama administration, Congress has done a strong job at appropriating monies for Indian country-related programs, and Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma) has noted that Congress has actually appropriated more in several tribal areas than the president has requested. Many in Indian country, no doubt, will be hoping that that happens again.
Angel Goodrich, Native American Basketball Invitational (NABI) alumnus who recently was selected by the WNBA’s Tulsa Shock, only the second Native player to be drafted into the league, and Shoni and Jude Schimmel, the first Native Americans to play in an NCAA women’s basketball tournament championship game, were named the recipients of the 2013 Phil Homeratha Leadership Award. The award, named after the late Haskell Indian Nations University women’s basketball coach, Phil Homeratha, will be presented during the NABI Championship games taking place at U.S. Airways Center in Phoenix on Sunday, July 21.
Since the inception of NABI in 2003, NABI has chosen an individual that is making a difference in the advancement of Native American athletes to receive the award. “This year we chose to honor all three talented young ladies. Their achievements in the sport of basketball have been inspirational and will continue to inspire our Native American youth for years to come. It was an easy selection” says GinaMarie Scarpa, co-founder & chief executive officer of the NABI Foundation.
Rick Schimmel and Ceci Moses, parents of Shoni and Jude, are also scheduled to speak at the Educational Seminars held during NABI week, July 17-21. The seminars are organized during NABI to bring positive messages that inspire the athletes participating in the NABI tournament. Previous speakers have included: football and baseball great Bo Jackson, legendary LSU coach Dale Brown and Fox Sports reporter Jude LaCava.
This year’s tournament is expecting 128 teams, the largest NABI tournament to date. A Maori team from New Zealand will even be making the trip to compete. Games start on July 18 in 10 Phoenix area gyms with the championship games being played immediately following the Phoenix Mercury WNBA game on Sunday, July 21. People wishing to purchase NABI championship game tickets (copy0 each) will be allowed entrance into both the Mercury game and NABI championship games. All proceeds to benefit the nonprofit NABI Foundation.
NABI, co-founded by Mark West of the Phoenix Suns, the late sports promoter Scott Podleski and Scarpa, started out as a small local tournament in 2003 and since has become a youth nonprofit organizing one of the largest all Native American tournaments; bringing exposure to thousands high school athletes from all over North America.
NABI tournament sponsors include: Ak-Chin Indian Community, Nike N7, Phoenix Suns, Phoenix Mercury, Arizona Diamondbacks, Yavapai Prescott Indian Tribe, NIGA, and NCAIED.
He has 11 years experience studying cougars in the Cascades and can tell you how big they get, how many kittens they have, how long they live in the wild, their favorite foods and also teach you how to identify the signs of a cougar in the woods.
You will learn all this and more at the program “Cougars” presented by the Adopt A Stream Center on Thursday.
Also, you will get to see how good a trained observer you are when Kerston shows you several “deep forest” photos and you will have to find the cougar in the picture. The first one to meet the challenge will receive an Adopt A Stream Foundation poster of sockeye salmon.
Kerston will also dispel most of the myths about cougars. There’s a lot of misinformation and myth surrounding these secretive cats, a prime predator of the Pacific Northwest forests.
Kerston will tell visitors about cougar ecology, behavior and management, and whether or not they prowl around in the suburbs.
Kerston is currently studying the potential influences of expanding housing developments on cougar-human interaction in Western Washington.
With the weather warming and hiking season not far behind, you’ll want to know more about cougars as you head into their habitat. You probably won’t see a cougar but you’ll want to know if one might be around.
“Cougars” begins at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Northwest Stream Center, McCollum Park, 600 128th St. SE, Everett.
“Cougars” is geared for sixth-graders and above. Call 425-316-8592 to reserve seats. The cost is $5 for Adopt A Stream Foundation members $5; $7 for nonmembers. For more information on this and other shows go to www.streamkeeper.org.
Eddy Villegas, a member of the Nisqually Tribe’s planting crew, unloads burlap sacks after a trip across the river.
The Nisqually Indian Tribe is taking a creative approach to help a new streamside forest thrive.
“We’re using thousands of donated burlap sacks and transporting them across the Nisqually River by boat to make sure thousands of newly planted trees don’t get overrun by grass,” said David Troutt, natural resources director for the tribe. The tribe’s restoration planting crew recently reforested 15-acres of off channel habitat owned by the Nisqually Land Trust.
“Usually, we’d drive in with weed whackers and selectively use some herbicide to make sure the grass doesn’t take back over,” Troutt said. “But, this parcel is wet and remote, which means we had to take extreme measures.”
Much of the Land Trust property on the mainstem Nisqually is covered with water, so the tribe decided against traditional herbicide, because it might have spread downriver. Placing burlap sacks around the young trees prevents grass from crowding them out. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters in Sumner donated five pallets of used burlap sacks for the project.
After the initial work, the crew will return by boat every few weeks with weed whackers to take care of the plants they couldn’t put burlap around because they were too close to water. “We’ll have to maintain some plantings by hand because we’d probably see burlap sacks floating down the river if we tried to keep the grass down that way,” Troutt said.
The tribe employs a handful of tribal members on a planting crew that conducts and maintains salmon restoration planting projects across the watershed. Almost every habitat restoration project in the watershed has some element of planting and plant care. In just more than five years the crew has planted over 200,000 trees and shrubs.
Off-channel habitat is vital to the survival of young salmon, especially chinook, coho and steelhead. Those species can spend take more than a year before leaving for the ocean, so the quality of freshwater habitat is especially important. Both Nisqually chinook and steelhead are listed under the federal Endangered Species Act.
“Off channel areas give salmon a place to rest and feed during the winter when the mainstem of the river might be flooding, making it inhospitable for them,” Troutt said. “Hopefully, by restoring and protecting this spot on the river, we’ll see larger salmon runs for everyone in the future.”
SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. –Unintentional poisonings are at a record high in Snohomish County. The most recent information shows that in 2011 the number of such poisonings affected 150 county residents– more than triple the 46 reported in 2000. You can help reduce the chance of unintentional poisonings by disposing of your unwanted medicines on National Drug Take-back Day, April 27 at multiple locations in Snohomish County.
“Unintentional poisonings frequently involve prescription drugs,” said Dr. Gary Goldbaum, Health Officer and Director of the Snohomish Health District. He said they not only harm people, but improperly discarded drugs can also harm the environment when they enter septic systems and household trash.
To help protect the public’s safety and health, area law enforcement agencies and Bartell Drug will participate in National Drug Take-back Day, Saturday, April 27 at sites throughout the county. Find locations and hours on the Health District’s website, www.snohd.org, or call 425.388.3199. The sites accept unused, expired and unwanted prescription drugs, including narcotic painkillers and other medications.
All police departments in the county have drop-boxes available year-round, Monday through Friday, including the NCIS office at Naval Station Everett, the Washington State Patrol office in Marysville, and tribal police stations on the Tulalip and Stillaguamish reservations. Additionally, two Group Health locations and many Bartell Drugstores accept unwanted vitamins, pet medications, over-the-counter medications, inhalers and unopened EpiPens year-round.
Only law enforcement locations can accept controlled substances, such as Ativan and OxyContin. Leave all items in their original containers.
The Saturday drug-return hours support the US Drug Enforcement Agency’s “National Drug Take-back Day,” through participation by the Snohomish County Partnership for Secure Medicine Disposal. Partnership members include the Snohomish Health District, Snohomish County, the Snohomish County Sheriff’s office, the Snohomish Regional Drug and Gang Task Force, the Washington State Patrol, and all local law enforcement agencies.
Established in 1959, the Snohomish Health District works for a safer and healthier Snohomish County through disease prevention, health promotion, and protection from environmental threats. Find more information about the Health Board and the Health District at http://www.snohd.org.
Photo of the Week: Taking the Reservation to Washington
Levi Rickert, Native News Network
WASHINGTON – Photo of poor housing needs to be shared.
“Since Washington cannot come to the reservation, we will take the reservation to Washington,”
said Paul Iron Cloud about the Trail of Hope for Indian Housing’s 1,500 delivery of a Pine Ridge Indian Reservation house to the nation’s capital city.
This photo of the week was chosen because the story of sub-standard housing on Pine Ridge is significant.
The purpose was to bring attention to members of Congress of the sub-standard living conditions that exist on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The dilapidated structure represented of the overcrowded and sub-standard housing conditions where Northern Plains Indians are forced to live. Many Indian reservations have the worst housing in the United States.
So, the group left last Saturday for Washington with a portion of a house that was erected at Pine Ridge Village in the 1960s.
The house arrived with and was parked out the US Capitol on Wednesday for people to see. Once parked outside the Capitol Hill, some people stopped to ask if the house was really from the Pine Ridge.
On the side of the house was a sign that read: “A month ago, 13 people lived in this 2 bedroom, 1 bath home.”
Unfortunately, for the organizers of Trail of Hope for Indian Housing, only Senator Heidi Heitkamp, D-North Dakota, who sits on the US Committee on Indian Affairs, was the only member of Congress to attend the short program.
Wednesday was a hectic day in the nation’s capital due to national security concerns. Only two days before terrorists disrupted the Boston Marathon by leaving behind two bombs that killed three people and some 180 wounded. A portion of the Capitol Hill was closed down due to a ricin poison-laced letter sent to Senator Wicker’s office.
This photo of the week was chosen because the story of sub-standard housing on Pine Ridge is significant. We hope it gets shared on the internet – especially to members of Congress who were otherwise preoccupied on Wednesday.
WINDOW ROCK, ARIZONA – Today the Navajo Nation celebrates its right to sovereignty to exist as a nation.
Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly released the following statement about Navajo Nation Sovereignty Day, which is recognized today, April 22:
The Window Rock formation marks the capital city
of the Navajo Nation.
Today, our tribal government recognizes Navajo Nation Sovereignty Day. A day when we remember and recognize the decision of the United States Supreme Court in 1985 to uphold our ability to tax without the approval of the Secretary of Interior. With that unanimous decision, the highest court in the country recognized our sovereignty as the Navajo Nation.
We created Navajo Nation Sovereignty Day on May 3, 1985.
Today, my relatives, I want us to remember our sovereignty before the US Supreme Court made their decision. We established our sovereignty by practicing our Diné teachings. We practiced our sovereignty by speaking our language to our grandchildren, ensuring that our culture was passed on to the future generation. We practiced our sovereignty by keeping our ceremonies intact and never losing our faith in the Holy People. We practiced our sovereignty by instilling in our children the fundamental teachings of who we are as Diné.
The Holy People have always known who we are; therefore we have always been sovereign. As we move forward, we need to continue to practice cultural independence. Sovereignty is not defined completely by a court of law; it’s defined in our free ability to guide our children into the lives we want for them.
We are a diverse Navajo Nation with many different methods of expressing our ideas and culture. As we live as independent people by the teachings bestowed upon us by the Holy People, we must remember that in the complex society we live in today, our Diné teachings are the basis of who we are and within the practice of those teachings, we establish our sovereignty.
Regardless, we are thankful for the US Supreme Court’s decision to uphold our ability to tax. The court confirmed our true ability to govern our land. We are a sovereign Navajo Nation.
Tony Demin for The New York Times Jack and Susan Lake, who support the water bill, at their potato farm on the Flathead Reservation. Mr. Lake’s family moved there from Idaho in 1934.
By Jack Healy, The New York Times, April 21, 2013
RONAN, Mont. — In a place where the lives and histories of Indian tribes and white settlers intertwine like mingling mountain streams, a bitter battle has erupted on this land over the rivers running through it.
A water war is roiling the Flathead Indian Reservation here in western Montana, and it stretches from farms, ranches and mountains to the highest levels of state government, cracking open old divisions between the tribes and descendants of homesteaders who were part of a government-led land rush into Indian country a century ago.
Tony Demin for The New York Times A billboard at an entrance to the Flathead Reservation in western Montana, where a bitter dispute has divided the residents.
“Generations of misunderstanding have come to a head,” said Robert McDonald, the communications director for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. “It’s starting to tear the fabric of our community apart.”
Dependable water supplies mean the difference between dead fields and a full harvest throughout the arid West, and the Flathead is no exception. Snowmelt flows down from the ragged peaks to irrigate fields of potatoes and wheat. It feeds thirsty cantaloupes and honeydew melons. Cutthroat trout splash in the rivers. Elk drink from the streams.
So when the government and the reservation’s tribal leaders devised an agreement that would specify who was entitled to the water, and how much they could take from the reservoirs and ditches, there was bound to be some discord. But few people expected this.
There have been accusations of racism and sweetheart deals, secret meetings and influence-peddling in Helena, the state capital. Lawsuits have been threatened. Competing Web sites have sprung up. Some farmers have refused to sell oats to those on the other side of the argument.
For months, local newspapers have published letters from people who support the water deal — known as a compact — and from opponents who see it as a power play by the tribes to seize a scarce and precious resource from largely non-Indian farmers and water users.
The proposed compact is 1,400 pages long, a decade in the making and bewilderingly complex. Essentially, it helps to lay out the water rights of the tribe and water users like farmers and ranchers. It provides $55 million in state money to upgrade the reservation’s water systems. And it settles questions about water claims that go back to 1855, when the government guaranteed the tribes wide-reaching fishing rights across much of western Montana.
The tribes say they have given up claims to millions of gallons of water to reach the deal. They say it is the only way to avoid expensive legal battles that could tie up the state’s western water resources in court for decades to come.
But the deal has rankled farmers and ranchers on the reservation, who fear they could lose half the water they need to grow wheat and hay and to water their cattle. Under the compact, each year farmers and ranchers would get 456,400 gallons of water for every acre they irrigate. Tribal officials say that is more than enough, but farmers say the sandy soil is just too thirsty. They fear they will be left dry.
“They’ve literally thrown us under the bus, and we’ve had to fight this thing ourselves,” said Jerry Laskody, who has joined a group of farmers and ranchers in opposing any deal. The group has held meetings and taken out advertisements to spread the word.
As visitors drive onto the reservation, a bright orange billboard declares, “Your Water & Property Rights Are in Jeopardy.” The pact has also angered some conservative residents around the valley, who accuse the tribe and Montana officials of colluding in what they characterize as legalized theft.
“There’s a lot of coercion, a lot of threats,” said Michael Gale, who retired here looking for beauty, and has spent hundreds of hours attending meetings, writing letters and poring over documents in the hope of killing the compact. “Like they always say: Whiskey’s for drinking. Water’s for fighting.”
At the heart of the dispute is a question that has haunted the United States’ relations with indigenous people for centuries and provoked countless killings, dislocations, treaties and court battles: Who has a claim to the land and its resources?
It is an emotional issue, especially here.
In the early 1900s, the federal government opened up millions of acres on the Flathead and other reservations to white homesteaders, a decision that echoes today across the Great Plains and the West. Tribal members were allotted specific parcels, and the rest was put up for sale. Homesteaders came in droves, to stake farms, open sawmills and grocery stores, plant wheat and build roads.
Within a decade, settlers outnumbered tribal members on the Flathead. Today, resorts and million-dollar homes line the shores of Flathead Lake, the reservation’s largest body of water. Of the reservation’s more than 28,000 residents, about 7,000 are American Indians, according to census data.
“We are minorities on our homeland,” said Mr. McDonald, the communications director.
Over the years, tribal members married homesteaders’ children. Families blended. Children from Salish and Kootenai families attended the same schools as those who had moved in from Missoula or Washington State. Residents say that today, the bonds and friendships are wide and deep.
Until they are not. A report by the Montana Human Rights Network once described the reservation as home to “the most aggressive anti-Indian activity in Montana” because of its patchwork settlement. Conflicts have flared over tribal control of a major dam on Flathead Lake, and over whether tribal police officers should be able to arrest or detain non-Indians on the reservation. In the late 1980s, a dispute over hunting and fishing regulations led to screaming matches and death threats.
“They painted their fence posts orange and let it be known they’d shoot you if you walked on their land,” said Joe McDonald, who for nearly three decades was the president of Salish Kootenai College here on the reservation.
This time, the fight appears bound for court. After years of public meetings and deliberation, the full compact finally arrived in the Montana State Capitol this spring. It was supported by the state’s first-term governor, Steve Bullock, a Democrat, as well as by some Republican lawmakers from the area. But with farmers showing up to denounce the compact measure, the Republican-led Legislature killed the bill.
For Susan and Jack Lake, that decision cast a shadow over their potatoes. Mr. Lake’s family moved here from Idaho in 1934. Today, the family farms 1,000 acres, 85 percent of it irrigated. They grow seed potatoes that are ultimately used to make chips and instant mashed potatoes.
The Lakes agonized over the water deal, but eventually decided to support it. They worried about losing water, but said that going to court against a tribe with older, stronger claims to the reservation’s water supplies felt like a suicide mission.
Sometimes, Ms. Lake said, it just felt absurd: so many years of tangled fights over something so simple and pure.
“It’s beautiful,” she said. “You turn it on and make things grow.”
ORMAN, OKLA. – The University of Oklahoma College of Law recently opened enrollment for its new Master of Legal Studies in Indigenous Peoples Law program, with classes beginning Fall 2013. The program is offered online to allow students maximum flexibility.
“Located in the heart of the original Indian Territory, OU Law is uniquely qualified with nationally and internationally renowned faculty to teach students the intricacies of Native American law and the issues concerning indigenous people,” OU Law Dean Joe Harroz said. “Indian law is a vibrant and growing field. We’re thrilled to offer this new program to students, tribal leaders and business professionals who need this legal knowledge.”
The Master of Legal Studies in Indigenous Peoples Law program is tailored for lawyers and non-lawyers seeking legal knowledge in this specialized area. Courses are taught by internationally recognized faculty including Lindsay Robertson and Taiawagi Helton.
“Almost half of our students take at least one Indian law course, making it one of OU Law’s primary areas of study,” Harroz said. “Indian law is woven into the fabric of our culture, from the artwork that surrounds us, to the extensive array of courses we offer, to the annual American Indian Law Review Symposium, which has become the third largest Native American law symposium in the nation.”
Students may earn the master’s degree by successfully completing 30 units of credit over approximately four semesters of study. Students meet their peers and professors at an introductory course on campus at the beginning of the academic year, although this requirement can be waived for good cause. Students then complete the remainder of their degree plan through courses online.
To qualify for admission to the Master of Legal Studies program, applicants must have earned their bachelor’s degree prior to the first day of class and have strong letters of recommendation, as well as leadership potential. The Master of Legal Studies Admissions Committee operates under a rolling admission process, and admissions may continue until the start of classes. However, applicants are urged to submit their application and supporting documents online at www.law.ou.edu/mls as soon as possible to receive priority review for August enrollment.
The Master of Legal Studies in Indigenous Peoples Law will be guided by an advisory board including:
· Mita Banerjee, director of the Center for Comparative Native and Indigenous Studies at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany
· Curtis Berkey, partner, Berkey Williams LLP, and staff attorney at the Indian Law Resource Center in Washington, D.C. from 1979-1990
· Rep. Tom Cole, Chickasaw tribal member, US House of Representatives
· Phil Fontaine, Ojibwe tribal member, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations from 1997-2009 in Canada
· David Gover, Pawnee/Choctaw tribal member, staff attorney with the Native American Rights Fund
· Darwin Hill, chief of the Tonawanda Seneca Nation
· Bradford Morse, dean and professor of law at Te Piringa Faculty of Law, the University of Waikato in New Zealand
· David Mullon, Cherokee tribal member, staff director and chief counsel, US Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
· LeRoy Not Afraid, Crow tribal member, Justice of the Peace, Big Horn County, Montana
· Dinah L. Shelton, Commissioner and Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
· Joe Watkins, Choctaw tribal member; supervisory anthropologist and chief, Tribal Relations and American Cultures Program of the National Park Service; and director, Native American Studies program at University of Oklahoma
· Raquel Yrigoyen Fajardo, director of the International Institute on Law and Society in Peru
The program has received American Bar Association acquiescence, and is pending State Regent approval. For more information on the Master of Legal Studies programs, visit www.law.ou.edu/mls.
About University of Oklahoma College of Law
Founded in 1909, the University of Oklahoma College of Law is Oklahoma’s premier law school and the highest ranked “Best Law School” in the state by US News & World Report. OU Law is also nationally ranked as a top 15 “Best Value” law school and in the top 15 percent of “Best Law Schools” by National Jurist magazine. OU Law has small sections and class sizes that encourage a strong sense of community, accomplished faculty with international expertise and a state-of-the-art facility featuring study rooms, court rooms and classrooms equipped with the latest technology. As Oklahoma’s only public law school, OU Law is currently the academic home of more than 500 students enrolled in the Juris Doctor, Master of Laws and various dual degree programs.
