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For more than 15 years, the Center has provided legal representation to the Assiniboine and Gros Ventre Tribes of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in their fight for environmental justice and clean-up of the contamination caused by the Zortman and Landusky gold mines adjacent to the Fort Belknap Reservation. Through lawsuits and public pressure, we helped the Tribes shut down...

Indian peoples constantly are engaged in a battle to maintain and protect traditional and cultural beliefs. They must have access to sacred sites and be allowed to practice their spiritual beliefs in peace. These are not merely cultural and spiritual concerns, but human rights that are identified and protected by international law. The Indian Law Resource Center helps Indian peoples...

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For too long, indigenous peoples around the world have been marginalized and subject to unjust and discriminatory legal systems of states. Large disparities in economic and political power make indigenous peoples especially vulnerable to wrong-doing. Changing and reforming the legal framework for indigenous peoples has always been at the core of the Center’s work. In 2014, we made historic strides...

The White Clay People (Gros Ventre)and the Generous Ones (Assiniboine) “The water pollution is just not getting cleaned up and we have to bring this lawsuitto protect our people and water . . . The area is still so contaminated that even the water treatment plants are discharging polluted water.” (Former Council Chairman Ben Speakthunder) The goal of our work...

Changing the unjust and unworkable legal framework applied to Native tribes is the core of our work in the United States. Indian and Alaska Native nations live under a system of federal law that is unconstitutional, obsolete, and so deeply flawed that it makes it all but impossible for Native nations to improve their economic and social conditions. Clarifying and...

Indian and other Native nations and communities have long used international law, especially human rights law, to challenge the discrimination and injustice that affect them. International human rights offer some real hope for overcoming the severe unfairness of the laws and policies in many countries. The Indian Law Resource Center has for more than 30 years used international human rights...

Our work with Indian peoples has for years drawn connections between indigenous land rights, environmental protection and human rights. In most indigenous cultures, separating these issues makes no sense. Our Mission Statement points out the intersection of these threats to indigenous peoples: "Indian nations and tribes and other indigenous communities throughout the world are afflicted by poverty, poor health and...