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Indian Bar Association Grows, Wants Bar Exam Change

By Cathy Logg
Herald Writer

TULALIP -- In 1991, when the Northwest Indian Bar Association was formed, only a few American Indian attorneys practiced law in the Northwest.

Today, thanks in good measure to the Tulalip Tribes, the association includes more than 150 attorneys.

Northwest Indian Bar Association attorneys now work for high-powered national and regional law firms, state and federal governments, and on all 42 Northwest Indian reservations, said Gabriel Galanda, two-term president of the organization.

Several of the bar association's members practice on the Tulalip Reservation, he said. The group focuses on legal advocacy, education, mentoring and free legal services.

The Tulalips recently gave away $1.24 million in grants, including the one to the bar association. The Northwest Indian Bar Association recently raised about $20,000, both from its own fund-raising activities and grants from area tribes, to help American Indian students pay for law school.

Indians are the most underrepresented ethnic group in the legal profession, Galanda said. They comprise only 0.7 percent of the state bar, and while there are about 4.1 million American Indians in the country, only about 3,000 are attorneys, he said.

When the bar association began, only a few Indian attorneys practiced law in the region, and none worked in corporate law offices, past president Rion Ramirez said. The association now has member lawyers, judges and students in Oregon, Idaho and Alaska, British Columbia and the Yukon Territory, and has incorporated as a nonprofit organization.

The rise in the number of American Indian attorneys in the Northwest signals a nationally recognized trend toward greater involvement in the legal profession and more informed decision-making by Indian people, Galanda said.

"We provide our people with a voice on the legal issues and decisions that affect the very essence of life in Indian country," he said. "I believe it is that voice that has begun attracting so many Indian people to the legal profession in Washington state and beyond."

The association now wants to get a requirement added to the state bar exam regarding testing on Indian law. Only New Mexico requires testing on Indian law in its bar exam, Galanda said.