معرفی
Melissa L. Tatum is the Milton O. Riepe Professor of Law at the University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law, where she also directs the Indigenous Peoples Law & Policy Program. She specializes in Indian and Indigenous law, focusing on tribal governance, legal pluralism, and cultural property rights. Her work bridges theory and practice, advising tribal governments on implementing jurisdictional reforms like VAWA 2013 and TLOA sentencing authority.
Education: J.D. (magna cum laude, University of Michigan Law School, 1992); B.A. (magna cum laude, Trinity University, 1989).
Research interests include tribal sovereignty, cross-jurisdictional legal frameworks, sacred site protection, and gender-based violence. She has published extensively on tribal courts, legal pluralism, and Indigenous environmental governance, with works such as *Spaces of Indigenous Justice* (2019) and co-editing *Indigenous Justice: New Tools, Spaces, and Approaches* (2018). Her recent scholarship addresses VAWA 2022 implementation and tribal constitutional design.
Awards include the UA Grad College Award for Excellence in Teaching (2020) and NALSA Faculty Sponsor of the Year (2009). She has held leadership roles in the American Indian Studies GIDP and the Social, Cultural, and Critical Theory GIDP at the University of Arizona.
Grants include a $13,700 Innovation Farm Grant (2019-2020) for research on Indigenous inequalities. Her advisory work spans tribal judicial centers, state-federal-tribal task forces, and international Indigenous policy initiatives.
