Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

School using casino fight to recruit Indian students

LINCOLN, Neb. -- College student Albert Two Bears knew next to nothing about the fight between the state and the Santee Sioux over the tribe's small casino in northeast Nebraska.

That is, until he recently heard all about it at a two-day seminar put on by the University of Nebraska's College of Law.

Experts explained the details of the Santee Sioux case and other tribal law issues to 11 high school students and 13 college undergraduate students.

All the students were of Indian descent.

The law school's annual American Indian Education Forum is used to introduce Indian students to the legal field and get them thinking about pursuing a law degree.

Out of the law school's 394 students, only two are Indians. The school is attempting to boost those numbers, and it's using Nebraska's fight over casino gambling to do it to appeal to Two Bears and others.

"It is something not a whole lot of young people know about and can certainly help more people become aware of the legal field," Two Bears said about the Santee Sioux's seven-year legal battle to keep its casino open.

The University of Nebraska's approach may be working. Another Indian student has been accepted for the fall term, and Two Bears said the school's latest seminar, which was in February, also has him seriously considering attending NU's law school.

Two Bears, a Dakota Sioux who most recently lived on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, has declared majors in Native American studies and political science as a sophomore at Omaha's Creighton University -- home of the state's other law school.

He decided to apply to law schools -- a list that now only includes NU and Creighton -- after a year of college opened his eyes to the possibilities such knowledge could afford his fellow tribe members.

"We lack business. Tribal lawyers don't do nearly as much as they could as far as writing grants," he said.

While Creighton's uncommon undergraduate program in Native American studies appeals to Two Bears' loyalty, he said NU's seminar that focused on the casino issue opened his eyes to how much he could use a law degree to help his and other tribes.

John Snowden, a NU law professor who has helped organize the recruiting seminars, said he came up with the idea of outlining the Santee Sioux casino issue for students this year.

"I chose it based on what I thought might get some attention and some interest," Snowden said.

At the latest seminar, students heard from a panel that included the head of the National Indian Gaming Commission, the manager of the Santee Sioux's Ohiya Casino, and Santee tribal attorney Harold Monteau, who once headed the federal gaming commission.

The discussion included an often bitter recap of the tribe's legal fight to keep its small casino operating on its reservation in defiance of state and federal authorities.

They heard about how the Santee Sioux opened Nebraska's only casino in 1996 after failing to reach a gaming agreement with the state. Because casino gambling is illegal in Nebraska, a federal judge ordered the tribe to close the casino and levied up to $4 million in fines against tribal leaders after they defied his orders.

The casino is still operating. Its slot machines were replaced two years ago by devices that dispense pull tabs much like pickle cards. A federal judge has since ruled the new games are legal, but federal attorneys are appealing.

Besides learning about the Santee Sioux case, students at the NU law school seminar toured campus and met with faculty. Prospective students learn about the seminar through high school counselors and Indian association newslists.

The goal is to get more Indian students into law schools -- not just at the University of Nebraska, Snowden said.

"If they came here, it would be a nice added benefit," Snowden said.

Creighton and Nebraska law schools downplay any competition they have for the same Indian and other minority students in a state where whites make up 90 percent of the state's 1.7 million residents.

The NU law school began to focus on Indian students two years ago, the same year that Creighton began one of the country's few Native American studies programs.

"We do make a concerted effort to recruit those students," said Patrick J. Borchers, dean of Creighton's law school. "We try to draw some energy from our undergraduate program."

Three Indian students are among the 450 students in Creighton's law school -- a low ratio compared to most years, Borchers said.

Seven more Indian students have been accepted at Creighton for the fall term, and the school has hired a faculty member to teach a course specializing in American Indian law.

While neither school knows how many of its alumni are of Indian descent, but both are hopeful to have many more in the future.

"I think both Creighton and UNL ... have worked hard to try to get a diverse population of students," Borchers said.