ADA, Okla. – The 38th Sovereignty Symposium was held on June 15 and 16 at OKANA Resort in Oklahoma City. Ten East Central University faculty and students attended to hear panels and speeches by leading scholars and practitioners of federal Indian law.

ECU Legal Studies major Nathan Sheppard won first place in the Blue Clark Student Poster Competition for his research entitled “The Impact of the McGirt and Castro Huerta Rulings on Legal Deserts in Eastern Oklahoma.” ECU Legal Studies students Sam Kreis and Raechel Simpson’s posters were also selected as finalists in the competition.

Dr. Christine Pappas, professor of Political Science and director of Policy and Education for The Oka Institute, was selected to present comments on tribal water policy. Jacintha Webster, associate professor of Legal Studies and director of the Native American Legal Clinic at ECU chaired a panel called “Justice Delayed or Denied? Access to Justice in Tribal Communities.”

Other highlights of the Sovereignty Symposium included a speech honoring retiring Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby. Additionally, the five federal judges who are enrolled tribal citizens spoke about their journey to the bench. Judge Sara E. Hill, a Cherokee citizen who was appointed U.S. District Court judge for the Northen District of Oklahoma, was joined by Judges Ada Brown (Choctaw), Lauren King (Creek), Diane Humetewa (Hopi), and Sunshine Sykes (Navajo). Of 1700 federal judges, only five are enrolled tribal citizens and they are all women. 

Nearly 900 people attended the Sovereignty Symposium which makes it one of the biggest and most important conferences in the United States on tribal issues and the law.

For more information about the ECU Legal Studies program, please contact Legal Studies Director Jenna Owens at jowens@ecok.edu.

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