The site will include access and links to legal information from all American Indian reservations across the state, said Montana State Law Librarian Judy Meadows. The information is expected to include tribal constitutions, charters, treaties, proclamations, articles of agreement, law and order codes, tribal council resolutions, trust records from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, appellate judicial decisions, fishing and hunting regulations, tribal histories, water and gaming compacts and interactive maps.
The portal should allow people searching for information to gather it online, rather than traveling to one of the reservations spread out across Montana, Meadows said. She added that the portal is being created especially for teachers, members of the legal profession and tribes.
"We hope this material will mean less prejudice and a better understanding of legal and cultural differences," Meadows said. She also hopes that teachers will use it for curriculum development.
The portal is slated to be available online by January, Meadows said.
Plans for the portal began about two years ago, when Denise Juneau, who is now Montana's superintendent of public instruction was the office's director of Indian education. Juneau asked Meadows to look into starting a Web site on American Indian law.
The project received about $100,000 in funding from the Office of Public Instruction. In addition to the State Law Library of Montana and OPI, other collaborators in the project included the Montana Historical Society, the law school at the University of Montana, the Governor's Office, the state's Information Technology Services Division office, and the Indian Law Resource Center.
Once the material is gathered and digitized and the Web site is designed and launched, the state law library will maintain the portal.
Meadows' presentation was made to a group of librarians who were gathered on the campus of Montana State University in Bozeman for the annual Tribal College Librarians Institute.
The institute is designed to provide continuing education, professional development and networking opportunities for tribal college librarians and librarians who serve tribal college students. The annual, weeklong program has been sponsored by the MSU Libraries since 1990.
About 35 librarians from the United States and Canada attended the week-long institute, organizers estimated.
For more information on the Montana Indian Law Portal, contact Meadows at jmeadows@mt.gov or 406-444-3660. For more information on the Tribal College Librarians Institute, contact Mary Anne Hansen at 406-994-3162 or mhansen@montana.edu.
Judy Meadows, (406) 444-3660 or jmeadows@mt.gov; or
Mary Anne Hansen, (406) 994-3162 or mhansen@montana.edu