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Wisconsin Law Journal: Menominee attorney
Friday, October 3, 2008
Filed Under: Law

"The director of legal services for the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin usually keeps an eye on cases involving the tribe he represents, or Seventh Circuit cases involving other Native American groups. However, earlier this summer, he was also paying close attention to a case out of Montana.

Back in June, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision addressing a Native American tribal court’s authority.

The Supreme Court determined that a tribal court lacked jurisdiction to hear discrimination charges brought by tribal members against a non-Indian bank concerning the bank’s sale of its fee land to another non-Indian.

Although the decision in Plains Commercial Bank v. Long did not involve the Menominees in northeastern Wiscon-sin, William Kussel, the tribe’s director of legal services and tribal attorney, said he was paying attention to the outcome. Kussel said he is very interested in cases addressing such an important issue — tribal sovereignty.

He noted that even when those decisions are not good for the tribe, they can serve an important role by providing a framework for them when dealing with commercial issues.

That helps him when he sits down to write opinions for the tribal government regarding what’s enforceable and what is not, as well as the appropriate venues where disputes will be resolved.

“The issue of what laws apply to the tribe” is very important, Kussel said during an interview in his Keshena office. “We know that very few state laws apply to the tribe, but what federal laws of general applicability apply?”

He noted that federal “laws of general applicability generally apply to a tribe unless they interfere with certain aspects of tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, and intramural activities, but it’s far from a bright line.”"

Get the Story:
Tribal attorney finds niche advising Menominee Indians (Wisconsin Law Journal 10/3)