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Tribal Law and Policy InstituteThe Tribal Law and Policy Institute is a Native American owned and operated non-profit corporation organized to design and deliver education, research, Training, and technical assistance programs which promote the enhancement of justice in Indian country and the health, well-being, and culture of Native peoples. We are guided by a Board of Directors and an Advisory Board. We utilize an Approach to Training and Technical Assistance which is incorporated into all of our Programs and Services. Tribal Law and Policy Institute Approach to Training and Technical AssistanceWe seek to facilitate the sharing of resources so that Indian Nations and tribal justice systems have access to cost effective resources which can be adapted to meet the individual needs of their communities. We strive to establish programs which link tribal justice systems with other academic, legal, and judicial resources such as law schools, Indian law clinics, tribal colleges, Native American Studies programs, Indian legal organizations and consultants, tribal legal departments, other tribal courts, and other judicial/legal institutions. Through these collaborative alliances, we are implementing a synergistic approach to the delivery of services to Indian Country - accessing a wealth of talent and resources. We firmly believe that the coming years will see a dramatic change in the traditional mode of the delivery of tribal justice training and technical assistance services. Our staff and consultants are developing training through a variety of modes such as interactive CD-ROM and Internet based distant learning programs. Click Here to see Employment Opportunities at the Tribal Law and Policy Institute. Tribal Law and Policy Institute PublicationsThe Tribal Law and Policy Institute has developed a series of Comprehensive Publications. We believe that resources - especially resources developed under federal grants - should be freely accessibly on the Internet in order to maximize tribal access to these resources. Tribal Law and Policy Institute ProgramsWe are currently delivering a series of programs which include the following:
Tribal Law and Policy Institute ServicesWe provide a wide range of exceptional training and technical assistance services, including the following:
California Staff
Alaska Staff
Minnesota Staff
Tribal Law and Policy Institute Board of Directors
Tribal Law and Policy Institute Advisory Board
Staff BiographiesJerry Gardner is an attorney with more than 25 years of experience working with Indian tribes, tribal court systems, and victims of crime in Indian country. He is the founding Executive Director of the Tribal Law and Policy Institute - an Indian owned and operated non-profit corporation established in 1996 to design and deliver education, research, training, and technical assistance programs which promote the improvement of justice in Indian country and the health, well-being, and culture of Native peoples. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the UCLA School of Law and an Appellate Court Judge for the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians in North Dakota. He was an Adjunct Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (Boalt Hall) from 1995-2000 and Administrator for the National American Indian Court Judges Association (NAICJA) from May 1998-December 2000. He served as the Senior Staff Attorney with the National Indian Justice Center (NIJC) from NIJC’s establishment in 1983 until December 1996. He has also worked for the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, the national office of the Legal Services Corporation, and the American Indian Lawyer Training Program. Heather Valdez Singleton holds a Masters degree in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, a Master's degree in American Indian Studies from UCLA and an undergraduate degree in anthropology from UC Berkeley. Her policy research focuses on tribal criminal justice policy in Indian Country. She has researched and written in the area of tribal legal and community development, and California tribal history. Her experience includes serving as project director for UCLA’s Native Nations Law and Policy Center’s nationwide assessment of Public Law 280; tribal liaison for tribal court grantees in California; research coordinator for UCLA’s American Indian Studies Center; and consultant for the Gabrieleno/Tongva tribal recognition project. Heather lives in Venice, California. Sarah Deer is currently employed as Victim Advocacy Legal Specialist for the Tribal Law & Policy Institute in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and is an online Instructor of Tribal Legal Studies at UCLA Extension and former Lecturer in Law at UCLA Law School. Formerly, Sarah worked as a Grant Program Specialist at the U.S. Department of Justice in the Office on Violence Against Women in Washington, D.C. Sarah received her J.D. with Tribal Lawyer Certificate from the University of Kansas School of Law and her B.A. in Women’s Studies and Philosophy from the University of Kansas. While a law student, Sarah was employed as Assistant Director of Douglas County Rape-Victim Survivor Service, Inc. Sarah serves on advisory boards for numerous anti-violence organizations and projects, including the ABA Commission on Domestic Violence and the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence. Sarah is a co-author of two textbooks published by Alta Mira Press: Introduction to Tribal Legal Studies and Tribal Criminal Law and Procedure and co-editor of the forthcoming book, Sharing our Stories of Survival: Native Women Surviving Violence. Diane Payne has extensive experience as a trainer, community organizer and advocate for Native children and families. Before joining the Institute, Diane was project director for the Children’s Justice Act (CJA) and STOP Violence Against Indian Women (VAWA) grants for the seven Chugach Region Tribes in Alaska for several years. These projects involved development of coordinated community response, child protection teams and multi-disciplinary teams to reduce trauma to child sexual abuse victims and to reduce violence against Native women. Diane is the current chairperson of the Alaska State Court Improvement Project’s ICWA Subcommittee, a member of the State Department of Corrections’ Victim Advisory Committee and a member of the Alaska Maternal Infant Mortality Review Committee under the Division of Public Health. Diane has provided training to Tribes, State agencies and a variety of professions toward development of culturally competent services to Native victims. In addition, Diane has served as a Tribal court presenting officer on child abuse for the Spokane Tribe, and has represented Tribes in Washington and Alaska in both State and Tribal court Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) cases. She has primary responsibility for the training and technical assistance provided to Tribes nationwide for their Children’s Justice Act (CJA) grants under the Institute’s grant from OVC. She also works with Tribal CASA (Court Appointed Advocates for Children) programs through a grant from the National CASA Association, and provides training for the Alaska State CASA program on Indian Child Welfare and working with Native families and Tribes. Mona Evan has been with the Institute since December 2002. She is Tlingit/Haida/Yu’pik/Inupiaq, born and raised in Southeast Alaska. Loves to work with Native people and loves to travel. She is very interested in the well-being of all Native people everywhere. She is from a very large family with 12 uncles, aunts, and countless cousins. Lavern Yanito Dennison is the Office Manager/Training Coordinator for the Tribal Law and Policy Institute. She is of the Red Cheek People Clan, born for the Bitter Water People Clan, her maternal grandfather’s clan is of the Folded Arms People Clan, her paternal grandfather’s clan is Edge Water People Clan. Lavern has been employed with the Institute since July 2002 and is currently assisting with planning of the 10th National Indian Nations Conference, in addition to working on administrative tasks and training coordination for the Institute. She also works and volunteers with local Southern California Tribes and Faculty/Students at UCLA. Ms. Dennison is originally from southeastern Utah from a small town called Bluff, Utah, where most of her family resides. Her past experience has been in higher education, specifically focusing on recruitment, retention and student support for Native American students at Arizona State University. During her years at ASU, part of her duties included advising Native American student organizations, working with the Native American Alumni Association, and acting as a liaison for the university by working with the local Native American and State communities. Bonnie Clairmont has been an effective advocate for battered women and other sexual assault victims in the Native American community for the past 14 years. A skilled educator and leader, Bonnie was one of the first Native American women in the country to speak out and organize the Native American community to provide culturally appropriate education and services for victims. In 1981, Bonnie began her career in the battered women's movement at Women's Advocates, a shelter in St. Paul. This led to her instrumental role in the creation of Women of Nations, the first organization to address the issue of battering in the Native American community. In 1992, Bonnie initiated the development of the Eagle's Nest Shelter, which provides culturally appropriate shelter services for battered Native American women. Bonnie became the director of the Division of Indian Work Sexual Assault Project in Minneapolis in 1985, where her commitment to sexual assault victims and her community activism skills led her to organize a community response to a series of brutal murders of Native American women. Bonnie has developed a culturally specific training curriculum for a wide variety of programs that serve Native American sexual assault victims, and she has served on the Board of Directors of the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault as well as on the Attorney General's Task Force on Sexual Violence in 1988. Since 1989 Bonnie has served as a staff member of Sexual Offense Services of Ramsey County. Arlene Downwind-White joined the Tribal Law & Policy Institute in April 2005 as the Victim Advocacy Program Assistant at the Institutes St. Paul office. She has volunteered and worked in the Indian community for over 20 years. She has been an active volunteer and continues to try and help people overcome obstacles and barriers to becoming self-sufficient and independent. She has worked with Mending the Sacred Hoop/Technical Assistance Project as their Administrative Coordinator and Praxis International as their Tribal Liaison to provide technical assistance to tribes and villages throughout the U.S. and Alaska regarding domestic violence, sexual abuse and child abuse. She is a member of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians. She has two girls (21 and 15) as well as her niece (14) who has lived with her since she was 7 years old. She is also a very proud grandmother to two grandsons (3 1/2 and 9 months). ContactFor information concerning our training and technical assistance services, we can be reached at:
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