Book Opener

Nonprofit AttorneyAlthough Yvonne Knight is an attorney, she works fora special kind of law firm that focuses on a particular areaof law. Knight works for the Native American Rights Fund(NARF), a non-profit organization that provides legalrepresentation and technical assistance to Indian tribes,organizations, and individuals. She is a specialist in “Indian Law,” whichconsists of hundreds of treaties and court decisions, and thousands of statutes,regulations, and administrative rulings that determine and protect the rights ofNative American tribes and individuals.“Because of the historical development of the relationship between the UnitedStates and Indians, the federal government maintains a special trust relationshipwith Indian tribes,” says Knight, who is a member of the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma.“That means that as an attorney, I deal mostly with federal law.”Shortly after joining NARF in 1971, Knight was assigned to help the MenomoneeTribe of Wisconsin restore its status as a tribe and reservation.“The Menomonee had been terminated as a tribe in the 1950s,” Knight says.“By the mid-70s, they sought to restore the rights and protections that tribal andreservation status would provide. That meant convincing Congress that thoserights needed to be restored.”The effort succeeded, and Knight then worked for three years helping theMenomonee Tribe draft a constitution. That tribal constitution, which had to beapproved by members and the Secretary of the Interior, effectively governs thetribe today.Since then, Knight has continued to fight for Native American rights in trialand appeals courts and around negotiating tables. One of her recent casesinvolved securing water rights for the Chippewa Cree Tribe of Montana. The caserequired years of negotiation, but the state of Montana and tribal representativerecently reached an agreement. In addition to dividing on-reservation water rightsbetween tribal and non-tribal users, the compact between the tribe and the statealso allows the tribe to use water from a federal reservoir.SkillsPersonalityEducationReading, persuasive writing, and articulate speaking.Hardworking, detail-oriented, persuasive.Undergraduate degree and law degree. Although Knight’sundergraduate degree was in education and English, shealso recommends political science and debate.You can find more information about NARF at www.narf.com. For moreinformation about nonprofit attorneys, visit ubpl.glencoe.com or visit yourpublic library.Chapter 22: Borrowing Money and Buying on Credit 487