Native American Sovereignty & Self-Determination

Since the passage of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act in 1975, in which self-determination, rather than termination, became the focus of government action, Mr. Simermeyer has aided Native American communities in cases involving sovereignty and self-determination.  His successful representation in the granting of the Unkechaug Nation’s sovereign immunity in 2009 by U.S. District Court Judge Kiyo Matsumoto for the Eastern District of New York was a landmark decision and will be a featured topic at the most important international conference on American Indian and Inuit studies in the world, the American Indian Workshop (AIW), this March in Prague.