Karuk-Berkeley Collaborative Legal is a student-initiated legal services project that contributes to the Karuk Tribe’s ongoing efforts to preserve its natural and cultural resources and resolve other legal issues. Working with tribal representatives, supervising attorneys, and other stakeholders, KBCL provides useful, concrete deliverables including memoranda, amicus briefs, white papers, and legal templates. KBCL builds core clinical skills in legal research and writing, client representation, professional conduct, and teamwork while raising awareness of Federal Indian law, environmental, and cultural property issues among Berkeley Law students.
Past projects have included helping the Tribe use the Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act to cope with the impacts of dams and mining on sacred tribal resources—including wild and scenic rivers, national forests, and protected species such as the California native coho salmon—and analysis of federal law as it relates to cultural patrimony and trademark and copyright questions regarding use of the Tribe’s name, cultural practices, and symbols. To learn more contact karukberkeleycollaborative@gmail.com.
KBCL students visit the Karuk People’s Center and Karuk ancestral territories, Happy Camp, CA.