June 01, 2010

Patrick Sullivan

Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Pendleton, OR
2010

I worked for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR), an Indian tribe near Pendleton, Oregon. I worked on several projects. The majority of my time was spent developing a guide to Small Business Administration (SBA) programs that give minority-owned businesses, including tribally-owned businesses, priority in receiving federal contracts and subcontracts. I presented this work to the tribe’s Committee on Economic Development and worked with that committee and my supervisor to plan a new business. I also conducted research for the tribe’s consideration of incorporation of UCC Article 2 into its commercial code, and on the extent of tribal jurisdiction over power transmission infrastructure on the reservation. The most fascinating project came in a moment of downtime - a tribe member’s dancing regalia recently appeared on the internet 40 years after it was stolen. I met with the owner and we are working to retrieve it for her.

This was my dream job for the summer, and my supervising attorney has hired me to continue our work during the school year. The experience and networking of the PILP stipend jump-started my career in the Oregon legal and Native American communities