Mar 28, 2024  
2018-2019 Law Bulletin 
    
2018-2019 Law Bulletin [ARCHIVED BULLETIN]

Native American Law Certificate


The University of Tulsa College of Law was the first law school to offer a formal Indian law certificate program, a concentrated course of study that immerses students in the legal issues facing Indian tribes. The certificate is undertaken as part of the JD degree.

Program Learning Outcomes

  1. Graduates who earn a Native American Law Certificate will demonstrate knowledge of the basic substantive principles of federal Indian law and at least one advanced Indian or indigenous law topic by:
    1. Understanding various sources of tribal, federal and international law, the relative priority of these laws, and how the laws interact
    2. Demonstrating ability to identify, describe, and apply fundamental rules governing various issues affecting Indian tribes and individuals
  2. Graduates who earn a Native American Law Certificate will demonstrate ability to write legal documents to an audience in the field of American Indian and indigenous law that are clear, concise, well-reasoned, organized, professional in tone, appropriate to the audience and circumstances, and, if appropriate, contain proper citation to authority.

To earn the Native American Law Certificate, students must complete:

Block I: Indian Law Curriculum


Federal Indian Law (3 hours)


Indian Law Elective (3 hours)


At least one additional course from the Indian Law curriculum. Course offerings may vary from time to time, but at present include the following:

Research Paper


The research paper requirement in Indian law may be satisfied by any one of the following:

  • A seminar in which the research paper is on a topic of Indian or indigenous law and the topic must be pre-approved by the Native American Law Certificate advisor in order to satisfy the research paper requirement.
  • Completion of a casenote or comment on a topic of Indian or indigenous law as a member of the Tulsa Law Review or the Energy Law Journal. The casenote or comment topic must be pre-approved by the Native American Law Certificate advisor in order to satisfy the research paper requirement.
  • An independent research project which includes a law review quality research paper on a topic of Indian law. The research paper topic must be pre-approved by the Native American Law Certificate advisor in order to satisfy the research paper requirement. This option may be used to satisfy the research paper requirement only if the student, through no fault of his/her own, is unable to satisfy this requirement by any of the other available options.

Block II: Related Coursework


Two courses from the following list of related courses offered regularly within the College of Law or the TU Graduate School. Students may not take more than one course outside of the College of Law.

Other Related Law School Offerings


Graduate School Courses


  • Any other graduate course approved by the Native American Law Certificate program director

Block III: Practice Skills and In-depth Analytical Skills


One of the following options:

  • Selection for and participation on the national team(s) for the National Native American Law Students Association moot court competition.
  • An externship, providing service to a recognized Indian tribe or tribal body, a state or federal agency whose primary activities involve Indian affairs, or an attorney whose primary practice is in Indian law. Service to a similar entity may be substituted with the prior approval of the Native American Law Certificate advisor. Externships are arranged through the Assistant Dean and Director of Experiential Learning.
  • An additional course from the Indian Law curriculum (Block I). This option may be used to satisfy the Block III requirement only if the student, through no fault of his/her own, is unable to satisfy this requirement by any of the other available options.