Presented by the University of Colorado Law School, the Center of the American West, and the Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies.

On Sept. 13, 2019, Colorado Law celebrated Vine Deloria Jr.’s ('70) enormously influential book, Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto, and recognized the proud heritage of Deloria's long association (as a recipient of a law degree and as a professor of history) with the University of Colorado. Presenters included a combination of people who knew and worked with Vine Deloria, including his remarkable son, Harvard Professor Phil Deloria, Dean S. James Anaya, Professor Emeritus Charles Wilkinson, and American Indian historians and activists inspired by his writings. Read more about Vine Deloria Jr.

Highlights:

Watch Phil Deloria's keynote:

Agenda:

8:30 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.  – Session I.
Vine Deloria, Jr.: Initiator, Instigator, Warrior

Chase Iron Eyes, Lakota People’s Law Project
Faith Spotted Eagle, Native American Activist
Mark Trahant, Journalist, Indian Country Today

10:15 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. – Session II.
Vine Deloria, Jr.: Writer, Reader, Thinker

David Martinez, Arizona State University
Robert Warrior, University of Kansas
Dan Wildcat, Haskell Indian Nations University

12:00 p.m. – Lunch
Keynote  Speaker

Phil Deloria, Harvard University

1:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. – Session III.
Vine Deloria, Jr.: Lawyer, Litigator, Discoverer of Documents and Precedents with Promise

James Anaya, University of Colorado Law School
Maggie Blackhawk, University of Pennsylvania Law School
John Echohawk, Native American Rights Fund

2:45 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. – Session IV.
Vine Deloria, Jr.: Leader, Influencer, and Mobilizer

Kent Blansett, University of Nebraska at Omaha
David Wilkins, University of Minnesota
Charles Wilkinson, University of Colorado Law School

4:00 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. – Student Presentation
Short Presentation by University of Colorado students on what getting a degree from the college that was Vine Deloria, Jr.’s home campus means to them.

4:15 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. – Reception