Indigenous Law Certificate

Seattle U Law offers programs specializing in Indigenous Law and Tribal Law for both current and aspiring lawyers.

JD Program

Indigenous Law Certificate

Beginning in Academic Year 2025-26 Seattle University School of Law will be offering a new Certificate in Indigenous Law.

The Certificate will require a mixture of courses, journal, and experiential learning resulting in completion of a minimum of 15 credits (an asterisk denotes availability to Flex JD students):

1. Required Courses (6 credits)

• Indigenous Peoples, Law, and the U.S. (3 credits or perhaps 4 credits in future)
• American Indian Tribal Law* (3 credits)

Complete Any Combination of at Least 9 Credits from the Approved Experiential Learning or Elective Courses Listed Below

2. Experiential Learning

• American Indian Law Journal (3-8 credits)*
• Tribal Law Clinic, International Human Rights Clinic, Regulatory Environmental Law Clinic, and the Civil Rights Clinic
• National Native American Law Student Association Moot Court Competition
• Center Research Fellowship or Independent Study/Substantial Paper (serving as a research assistant to the Center or an affiliated faculty member)*
• Indigenous Law focused Internship/Externship taken for credit and approved by Directors (e.g., Tribal Judicial Externship, Tribal In-House Counsel Externship, Civil Legal Aid Externship, and Tribal Criminal Justice Externship)*

3. Elective Courses

• INDL Courses
• Tribal Court Practice
• Social Impact Advocacy
• International Law of Human Rights
• Transitional Justice
• Natural Resources Law
• Climate Law & Policy
• Water Law
• International Environmental Law
• Lawyering for Social Change
• Environmental Law Fundamentals
• Environmental Justice
• Energy Law & Policy
• Family Law
• Immigration Law*
• Employment Law*
• Business Entities*
• Conflict of Laws
• Federal Courts
• Administrative Law*
• Intellectual Property
• International Intellectual Property
• Criminal Procedure*
• Trust & Estates*
• Negotiations*
• Complex Litigation
• Federal Litigation
• Sports Law
• Health Law
• Any Summer Flex JD Course not listed*
• JURS courses, including Courses from the non-clinic/externship, Law & Systemic Inequity Requirement course requirement such as Race & Law; Gender, Sexuality, & the Law; Law & Colonialism; Police & Prison Abolition; Abolition Vision and Praxis: Lawyering for a Freer World; Law & Social Science; Housing, Homelessness and Social Justice, etc.

The Certificate will begin accepting students in Fall 2025.