法律 Students Serve Native Americans 和 Their 家庭 Through Tribal Wills Project

This article appears in the Fall 2020 issue of the University of Denver Magazine. 要阅读更多杂志上的故事， 请按此.

在全国各地的印第安人保留区, wills 和 the lawyers who help make them are typically regarded with distrust 和 sometimes fear. 毕竟, American legislation 和 jurisprudence haven’t always been fair or friendly to tribes 和 their members. 而遗嘱本身提供了一个可怕的前景.

“保留地有禁忌，不能提及死亡, 因为如果你提到死亡, 那意味着你准备好去死了,露西·马什说, a Sturm College of 法律 professor who focuses on trusts 和 estates. “你可以想象, not only are there no lawyers to help tribal members with wills, 但对他们来说，写遗嘱是一件非常可怕的事情.”

进入斯特姆法学院的部落遗嘱项目, created by Marsh in 2013 to bring legal expertise on estate matters to Native American reservations 和 communities in dire need of the service. 自2008年以来, 这种需求已经加强, largely because Congress amended the American Indian Probate Reform Act, thus altering the way tribal member trust estates are distributed to heirs. (美国.S. government holds in trust the l和 that has been promised for tribal members.), 如果部落成员没有留下遗嘱就去世了, 他或她的信托土地只能传给最大的孩子, 最年长的孙子或最年长的曾孙.

“全国各地, as more people have passed away 和 everything only goes to the eldest child, 这只会彻底拆散家庭,马什说. “Surprisingly, that oldest child does not always share with his siblings or surviving parent.”

Complicating matters, if no descendants exist, the trust l和 passes to the tribe. 没有其他家族成员对这些土地有所有权.

当马什创建部落意志计划时, Sturm became only the second law school in the country to begin addressing this problem. 通过这项无偿服务, Denver 法律 students 和 volunteer attorneys visit American Indian reservations for the purpose of drafting wills. 这项任务不仅需要熟悉法律, 它还需要高水平的文化能力.

Colin Fletcher was part of the first cohort of participating students in 2013. “Legal services are very scant 和 inaccessible for a variety of reasons on reservations,他说. “Being able to offer this service to folks who really need it is incredibly important.”

在过去的七年里, 部落遗嘱计划, 应各部落的邀请, made three weeklong trips annually to different reservations. Once on site, the group meets with tribal members 和 writes anywhere from 25 to 75 wills. 到目前为止, DU has helped reservations across seven different states: Arizona, 加州, 科罗拉多州, 蒙大拿, 新墨西哥, 南达科他州和犹他州.

Nigel Daniels, a second-year law student, made his first trip last year. “When you enter the reservation 和 you see the conditions there, it becomes very clear that there are a lot of challenges facing that community—social challenges, 卫生保健, 获取食物,他说.

Daniels first visited a Native American reservation while pursuing his undergraduate degree at 科罗拉多州 State University. That experience prompted him to volunteer for the Tribal Wills Project.

As important as this service is, Daniels points out, it’s only one need among many. 这个事实引发了大量的自我反省和反思. “We are here writing wills, 和 some of these people don’t have food to eat. It’s challenging to fathom that you’re in this really heartfelt community that’s going through so much, 我们提供的服务是遗嘱.”

Marsh started the program to provide students an inside look at the stark realities facing Indigneous communities. “This is a chance for the students to see what life is like on a reservation, 有机会去了解那里的人,她说。.

不足为奇的是, law students welcome the opportunity to extend assistance 和 acquire professional experience.

“I like helping people, especially those who need it,” Fletcher says. 除了学生时期的两次旅行, 他在随后的两次旅行中担任志愿者, 在学生学习的过程中监督他们. “I like to try to serve underserved communities by using the knowledge 和 training that I have 和 provide people with a service that would otherwise be inaccessible to them. 我喜欢尽我所能回馈社会.”

Daniels echoes the sentiment 和 considers the work one way that DU can honor Native American communities 和 recognize its own complex history.

“这个项目源于杜克大学这样的地方，真是太棒了, [which] has such a negative history when it comes to Indigenous people,他说. “I feel like we do have an obligation to Indigenous communities … [和] I think the entire country has an obligation to Indigenous people that we don’t acknowledge.”