Sarah Ford | June 10, 2015

When Justice Doesn’t Work

Most Americans can turn to the courts for remedies to injustice. However, the mainstream justice system may not provide comfortable solutions, and sometimes isn’t even available, for Native people, said Brett Lee Shelton, an Oglala Lakota attorney with the Native American Rights Fund, a nonprofit law firm that has defended the rights of Indians and tribes for 45 years.

Shelton gives examples from his three specialties at NARF—boarding school healing, sacred sites protection and peacemaking-based justice systems. He notes that some boarding school survivors have won court cases for horrific abuses suffered, but others have been stonewalled. After Natives sued the Catholic Church in South Dakota, the state legislature stepped in and, in 2010, passed a law that allowed the courts to toss out most of the lawsuits. In the matter of sacred sites, safeguarding them through litigation is costly, he says, and may involve making the sites public and thereby attracting visitors who inflict additional damage.

Finally, says Shelton, mainstream justice produces winners and losers: “Someone always walks away unhappy.”

At NARF, Shelton is working with indigenous approaches to these issues that promote healing and sustain traditional lifeways while they resolve controversy. ICTMN talked to him about his challenging portfolio:

>> Continue Reading

>> Support NARF

Get Resources and Insights Straight To Your Inbox

Explore More Articles

Minority Mental Health Awareness Month

July 18, 2025

July is Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, a time dedicated to raising awareness about the unique mental health challenges faced by minority communities. It’s an…

Read Article

International Self Care Day

July 18, 2025

Today, July 24, 2025, we celebrate International Self Care Day, a day dedicated to promoting self-care practices and their numerous benefits for physical, mental, and…

Read Article
How the “Big Beautiful Bill” Will Impact Individual Giving and Employer-Sponsored Workplace Giving Programs

How the “Big Beautiful Bill” Will Impact Individual Giving and Employer-Sponsored Workplace Giving Programs

July 14, 2025

The One Big Beautiful Bill was signed into law on July 4, 2025, introducing a range of provisions that will affect how individuals, companies, and…

Read Article

Get Resources and Insights Straight To Your Inbox

Receive our monthly/bi-monthly newsletter filled with information about causes, nonprofit impact, and topics important for corporate social responsibility and employee engagement professionals, including disaster response, workplace giving, matching gifts, employee assistance funds, volunteering, scholarship award program management, grantmaking, and other philanthropic initiatives.

newsletter-mock