Protecting What Matters Most: An Approach to Protecting Tribal Resources and Culture

Apr 4
3 min read

Updated: Apr 11

Federal law was never designed to do the heavy lifting of cultural resource protection for tribes. Section 106 consultation, NAGPRA, ARPA are tools worth using, but they are procedural supplements, not a foundation. That distinction is the spine of this CLE, and it's one that tribal general counsel and attorneys advising tribal nations need to understand clearly. The strongest protection for tribal cultural resources comes from tribal legal infrastructure built on inherent sovereignty, not from waiting on federal agencies to do the right thing.

Jessie Barrington, an enrolled citizen of the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians and the Indigenous Practice Lead at Cultural Heritage Partners, brings that argument to life across this CLE. Her presentation begins with the foundational principles of inherent sovereignty, treaty rights, and jurisdictional mapping before walking through exactly where the federal framework falls short and what tribes can build to fill those gaps.

Barrington explains what tribes can actually build and deploy, including specific items like tribal codes that define harm on tribal terms rather than in commercial or scientific value; broad trespass authority that covers unauthorized ground disturbance, wildfire damage, and impacts from off-reservation activities; environmental review processes that cover what NEPA misses; and Treatment as a State status that gives tribes real standard-setting authority over air and water quality. She also covers ways to use the HEARTH Act and NIFIRMA to your advantage, including NFIRMA's treble damages provisions and full faith and credit enforcement clause. The course closes with data sovereignty and intellectual property protections for tribal cultural expression, ROW audits, private developer negotiations, and funding mechanisms for building lasting enforcement capacity.

This is a CLE built for tribal general counsel and in-house legal teams, but its value extends to any attorney whose practice touches Indian Country or who advises clients on natural resource issues, federal consultation, or cultural heritage law. Barrington's practical framing makes this one of the more actionable trainings available on these topics.

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