Tribal Advocacy
Gyasi has worked closely with many Indigenous tribes during his career as an attorney. Whether it was jurisdictional questions surrounding whether a Native Nation could regulate a non-Native on-reservation, or alternatively an Indigenous economic development effort, Ross has a long tenure working with Indigenous communities. He has also worked within Tribal courts to get judgments and later enforce those judgments within State courts, a pretty obscure and oftentimes-frustrating area of law.
Ross’s advocacy for Indigenous communities, both collectively and for individual Indigenous citizens, is as natural as breathing. As the various videos on the “Media” page demonstrate, Ross has always advocated for Indigenous communities whether it is in the courtroom, the classroom or the television. While still in law school, Ross was struck by the case Ex Parte Crowdog. That case involved an Indigenous man, Crow Dog, who shot and killed Spotted Tail. The Indigenous leaders sought justice and required Crow Dog to pay restitution to Spotted Tail’s family in the form of $600, eight horses, and one blanket to Spotted Tail's family. That was justice, in that context.
Unfortunately, the United States decided that was not enough and criminally prosecuted Crow Dog for murder in a federal court. That set off a series of events with the United States empowering itself to second-guess Indigenous custom and notions of justice, and in fact created a law, the “Major Crimes Act” that essentially said “Your justice is not enough.”
Ex Parte Crow Dog came to represent, for Ross, the reality that most Courts do not seek justice for Native clients, but instead efficiency and/or punishment. Ross affirmatively seeks justice and good outcomes for clients, and not simply efficiency and to be done with the case.