Monte Mills

  • Charles I. Stone Professor of Law
  • Director, Native American Law Center

Contact

Phone: (206) 616-3482
Email: mtmills@uw.edu

Education

B.A. 1999, Lewis & Clark College J.D. 2003, University of Colorado

Curriculum Vitae

Areas of Expertise

American Indian Law — Environmental Law — Natural Resources Law — Tribal Law — Water Law

Recent Courses

LAW A 503 Property I
LAW A 565 American Indian Law
LAW B 581 Land, American Culture, and the Law
LAW E 531 Indigenous Economic Development and the Law

Monte Mills joined the UW faculty in 2022 as Charles I. Stone Professor of Law and the Director of the Native American Law Center (NALC). He teaches American Indian Law, Property, and other classes focused on Native American and natural resources related topics.

Monte's research and writing focuses on the intersection of Federal Indian Law, Tribal sovereignty, and natural resources as well as race and racism in the law and legal education. He has published several law review articles and serves as a co-author on two textbooks: American Indian Law, Cases and Commentary (along with Robert T. Anderson, Sarah A. Krakoff, and Kevin K. Washburn) and Native American Natural Resources Law (with Michael Blumm and Elizabeth Kronk Warner). Monte also co-authored A Third Way: Decolonizing the Laws of Indigenous Cultural Protection, which was published by Cambridge University Press in July 2020.

Prior to joining the UW faculty, Monte was a professor and Co-Director of the Margery Hunter Brown Indian Law Clinic at the Alexander Blewett III School of Law at the University of Montana. Prior to joining that faculty, Monte was the Director of the Legal Department for the Southern Ute Indian Tribe in Colorado, an in-house counsel department that he helped organize and implement in 2005 following completion of a unique two-year in-house attorney training program. As Director of the Tribe's Legal Department, Monte represented and counseled the Tribe on a broad array of issues, including litigation in tribal, state and federal courts, legislative matters before the Colorado General Assembly and the United States Congress, and internal tribal matters such as contracting, code-drafting, and gaming issues.

Peer Reviewed Journals & Law Reviews


Books or Treatises


Book Chapters


Professional Publications


News Media


  • Speaker, "Native Nations in a Time of Energy Transition", Seventh Annual SRP Sustainability Conference of American Legal Educators, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Arizona State University (May 13, 2022)
  • Moderator, "Management of Sovereign Lands in the Era of Climate Change", ABA Section on Environment and Energy Resources (SEER) 51st Spring Conference, (April 7, 2022)
  • Speaker, "Recognizing and Honoring Tribal Leadership in Public Land Management", 75th Anniversary of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), (September 23, 2021)
  • Speaker, "The Future of Self-Governance: Tribal Co-Management of Public Lands", 2021 Tribal Self-Governance Conference, Self-Governance Communication and Education Tribal Consortium (September 16, 2021)
  • Discussant, "Race, Lawyering, and the Experiential Curriculum", 2021 Annual Clinical Conference, Association of American Law Schools (AALS) (April 28, 2021)
  • Speaker, "Sovereignty and the Sacred: Past, Present, and Future", Environmental Justice in the United States: Taking Stock under President Biden, UCLA Emmet Institute Spring Symposium (April 26, 2021)
  • Speaker, "Healthcare Sovereignty: The History, Context, and Challenges of Tribal Self-Determination", Healthcare Issues and Negotiating 638 Contracts, Indian Law Section, Montana State Bar (April 23, 2021)
  • Speaker, "Powerful and Practical: The Emerging Meanings of McGirt", McGirt and Emerging Indian Country, University of Oklahoma School of Law 2021 Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Law Journal (ONE-J) Symposium (April 2, 2021)
  • Speaker, "Race, Sovereignty, and Native American Voting Rights in Montana", Montana Advisory Committee, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (February 11, 2021)
  • Discussant, "Race, Racism & the Language of Law School: Power of Words in Shaping Professional Identity", 2021 Annual Meeting, Association of American Law Schools (AALS) (January 8, 2021)
  • Speaker, "Race, Federal Indian Policy and Access to Water", Dividing the Waters, National Judicial College (November 19, 2020)
  • Speaker, "Developing Anti-Racist Professional Identities: Infusing Reflective Practice with Critical Race Consciousness", Northwest Clinical Law Conference, (November 6, 2020)
  • Speaker, "Briefing on Tribal Co-Management on Public Lands", Webinar, Audubon and Center for American Progress (October 13, 2020)
  • Speaker, "How Climate Change is Challenging Established Doctrine and What Tribes Can Do to Adapt", Ninth Annual Tribal Water Law Conference, (September 14, 2020)
  • Speaker, "Indian Law and Jurisdiction (in 45 Minutes)", Montana Law Seminar for July 2020 Bar Examinees, (July 30, 2020)