2008 Recipient

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Frequency: 
Biennial
Where presented : 
NLADA Annual Conference
Year: 
2008
Recipient(s) name: 
Steven C. Moore
Recipient title: 
Senior Staff Attorney
Recipient organization: 
Native American Rights Fund
Recipient organization city: 
Boulder
Recipient organization state: 
Colorado
Reason for selection of recipient(s): 

Steven C. Moore is the 2008 winner of the Pierce-Hickerson Award. This award is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the advancement or preservation of Native American rights. It pays homage to the legacies of Julian Pierce and Robert Hickerson for their outstanding advocacy in pursuit of justice for Native Americans. Pierce was a Lumbee Indian who served as executive director of Lumbee River Legal Services in Pembroke, North Carolina, from 1978 until 1988. Hickerson served as director of Alaska Legal Services Corporation for 20 years, and prior to that was director of the Oklahoma Legal Services Center.

Moore serves as senior staff attorney for the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), where he has represented Indian tribes in complex litigation involving treaty fishing rights and implied federal Indian reserved water rights. He served as counsel for the Nez Perce Tribe in the Snake River Basin Adjudication in Idaho. A major settlement of the Nez Perce water rights was enacted by Congress and signed by President Bush in 2004. He also represents the Tule River Tribe of California in its water rights settlement and the Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas in water litigation and settlement negotiations. His other work at NARF includes the protection of sacred lands, the repatriation of human remains and the protection of unmarked Native graves, the religious use of peyote by members of the Native American Church and the religious rights of Native prisoners. He is admitted to practice law in several federal and state courts, courts of appeals and the United States Supreme Court. Prior to joining NARF, he represented tribes and individual Indians in northern Idaho as an attorney for Idaho Legal Aid Services, Inc. and represented the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of Montana.

For his tireless dedication and outstanding achievements in the struggle to ensure justice for all, we honor Steven C. Moore.