Professor Kristen Carpenter is the lead chair for the Federal Bar Association’s (FBA) 35th Annual Indian Law Conference, “Reflecting Back, Looking Forward,” on April 7-9.The conference will address several important legal areas and their impact on Indian law, including health care reform, the “Cobell settlement,” sovereign immunity litigation, cultural property protection, and tribal court authority in domestic violence cases. The event brings together the perspectives of federal appointees, academic scholars, and Indian law visionaries. Larry Echo Hawk, Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs in the U.S. Department of the Interior, and Hilary Tompkins, Solicitor of the Interior, will deliver the keynote addresses.“Chairing the conference is a wonderful opportunity to give back to the educational mission of the FBA's Indian Law Section and facilitate the important relationship-building that allows attorneys to serve Indian tribes on critical legal issues,” said Professor Carpenter.Two Colorado Law professors will be panelists at the event. Professor Richard Collins will participate in a panel on “The Role of Legal Aid in Federal Indian Law,” and Professor Charles Wilkinson will participate in a panel on “Perspectives on the Future of Federal Indian Law.” In addition, students from Colorado Law’s Native American Law Student Association (NALSA) plan to attend.“I am particularly excited that so many members of Colorado Law’s Indian law program, both students and faculty members, will participate in the 35th Anniversary Conference, said Professor Carpenter. “I have attended the Annual FBA Indian Law Conference since my own 1L year in 1995 and have always found it to be a uniquely important gathering of tribal leaders, law students, attorneys, and scholars.”The conference is at the Pueblo of Pojoaque’s Buffalo Thunder Resort, near Santa Fe. This is the second time in the program’s 35-year history that the conference will meet in Indian Country. Between 800 and 1,000 people are expected to attend.