Indian Law Resource Center

Laureate Profile

The Indian Law Resource Center is a nonprofit organization established and directed by American Indians that, for more than three decades, has championed the interests of indigenous peoples in the Americas. The Center provides legal assistance to Indian and Alaska Native nations to help protect their lands and resources and preserve their cultural heritage. Where domestic law has failed to protect the rights of Native peoples, the Center has appealed to the UN and other international bodies. The Center played a leading role in eventually securing the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. A human rights complaint filed by the Center with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights resulted in the first finding by an international commission that the laws permitting the taking of land by the federal government are discriminatory.