Ronald S. and Kathryn K. Christenson Lectureship in Politics and LawThursday, April 18, 2024 at 4 p.m.

Land Back for Indian Tribes

Wallenberg Auditorium, Nobel Hall of Science
Thursday, April 18, 2024
4 p.m.

For the 2024 Christenson Lectureship, the Gustavus community will be joined by Dr. Kevin Washburn, University of Iowa College of Law. In the current era of social justice, calls to return land to Indian tribes have increased markedly. Landback has already been incorporated into federal policy in ways that some may find surprising. Dean Washburn will describe the moral basis for “landback,” describe some of the ways it happens as a part of routine federal Indian policy, and discuss some other restorative justice and conservation initiatives that are related. Finally, Washburn will provide some insights about landback that some may find surprising, including that landback efforts are not particularly partisan.

Kevin Washburn is the N. William Hines Dean and Professor of Law at the University of Iowa College of Law and a nationally recognized expert on federal Indian law. In addition to holding faculty positions at the University of Minnesota, the University of Arizona, and the University of New Mexico, Washburn has served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in New Mexico, the general counsel of the National Indian Gaming Commission, and Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Interior from 2012-2016. Washburn is a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma. During his time at Gustavus, Dr. Washburn will also visit classes.

This event was free and open to the public.

The Ronald S. and Kathryn K. Christenson Lectureship in Politics and Law, established by the Department of Political Science, is being funded by Kathryn Kidd Christenson to honor her late husband, Professor Ron Christenson (1937-1998), who was called to Gustavus in 1969 to establish a department and a major in political science. View the history of past lectures.