About the Event:

Lecture: Domestic Nations in the Age of "Tribalism", by Hilary C. Tompkins

The current political discourse in the United States has reached a new level of divisiveness where opposing parties have gone to their respective corners with little peacemaking to bridge the divide. In the midst of this troubling state of affairs are hundreds of tribal nations, which are wisely buffering their own governments from the fray while remaining observant of the state of play. This lecture will examine how current trends in the American political discourse may have a collateral or direct impact on tribal nations' sovereign rights and authorities for better or for worse and what role Native American legal practitioners can play in this dynamic, changing landscape. The speaker, Hilary C. Tompkins, will bring her experience as a Native American woman and former Solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior to offer her insights as to what influences government decisionmakers in Indian affairs law and policy and how current dynamics can