NARF has been consistently at the forefront of issues and developments in Indian law in areas such as Indian treaty rights to land and water, Native religious freedom rights, and the rights of tribes as sovereign governments including tribal rights in education. The NARF Indian Education Legal Support Project - Tribalizing Indian Education NARF historically has represented Indian clients on a variety of education issues. Most recently, NARF has represented the Rosebud Sioux Tribe of South Dakota in establishing a precedent-setting tribal education code and implementing that code through a tribal education department. As a result of its success with the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, NARF started a new project funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Tribal education laws are essential to effective tribal control of education, yet few tribes have such laws.
Tribal laws are essential to defining each tribe's education rights and goals.
Must Be Taken Indian tribes are sovereign governments just as their state and federal counterparts. Many federal reports and some federal and state laws have focused on Indian education problems. Some reports and laws have pointed out the need to increase the role of tribal governments to address the problems. But instead of requiring active tribal government involvement, most federal and state education programs and processes circumvent tribal governments and maintain non-Indian federal and state government control over the intent, goals, approaches, funding, staffing, and curriculum for Indian education. And there are no effective programs to establish tribal education codes or operate tribal education departments.