Episode 13: “We’ve got to do it ourselves”: Robert Miller on Indian Tribal Law History and Prospects

As a tribal judge, educator, and enrolled citizen in the Eastern Shawnee Tribe, Robert J. Miller’s work is personal. Miller is an expert on Federal Indian Law, the Chief Justice for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe Court of Appeals, and a judge for other tribes. In this episode of Useful Knowledge, Miller recaps centuries of legal exchange between Indigenous communities and the American government through “bombshell” cases, his legal experience, and the founding fathers’ own words. 

Robert J. Miller’s areas of expertise are Federal Indian Law, American Indians and international law, American Indian economic development, Constitutional Law, and Civil Procedure. He is an enrolled citizen of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe, the Chief Justice for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe Court of Appeals, and he sits as a judge for other tribes. Miller is the Jonathan and Wendy Rose Professor of Law at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University, and the Faculty Director of the Rosette LLP American Indian Economic Development Program at ASU.

In 2014, Bob was elected to the American Philosophical Society. He has worked as a consultant with the Society since 2006 on tribal language and archival issues and in 2024 was elected to the Governing Council of the Society.

Prior to his career in academia, Miller practiced Indian law with Hobbs, Straus, Dean & Walker, and litigation with the Stoel Rives law firm. Following graduation from law school, he clerked for Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Professor Miller’s scholarly works include numerous articles, books, book chapters, and editorials on a wide array of Federal Indian Law issues and he speaks regularly on these issues across the U.S. and in other countries.