The impetus for this presentation is the establishment of the Tribal Court Criminal Defense Clinic by the University of Washington School of Law and its Native American Law Center. The Clinic is the public defender for the Tulalip Tribes of Washington. Eight students take the year long clinic and after ten weeks of preparation are appointed as counsel to defendants in tribal court prosecutions under the supervision of the clinic director. The joint effort of the Tribes and the School of Law is a direct product of the Indian self-determination era and reflects the Tribes\u27 decision to increase their law enforcement and tribal court capacity. The hope is to develop a defender system as part of a justice system that is not just focused solely on administering a criminal code and trying cases, but instead is part of the growing effort to deal with the underlying causes of criminal activity. This essay outlines: basic principles of federal Indian law and criminal jurisdiction within Indian country; the history of the right to counsel in criminal matters in general and within tribal courts; and, the defender program operated by the School of Law at the Tulalip Reservation
