University of Wisconsin Law School Professor Richard Monette has recently seen his work in drafting constitutions and constitutional amendments for Native American tribes approved in elections by the respective tribes.

Monette worked with the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma to draft an entirely new constitution, which was approved in April 2006 in an election conducted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Monette also assisted the Havasupai Tribe in drafting seven substantive amendments to their constitution in 2005. All seven were adopted by a wide margin, in an election also conducted by the BIA.

"The tribe conducted its first election under the amendments, and they work!" Monette said. The Havasupai Tribe is headquartered in the bottom of the Grand Canyon’s Cataract Canyon.

Monette is currently assisting another tribe with a total revision of its constitution.

Submitted by on July 17, 2006

This article appears in the categories: Articles