DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

V. Heather Sibbison is a partner at Dentons, Washington, DC, and serves as chair of the firm's Native American Law and Policy practice. In her practice she assists tribal governments address a wide range of legal and policy issues that often have deep roots in the historical mistreatment of tribal governments and their lands. Heather also has served in the federal government working on these same issues for the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Justice. 

Through the course of her practice, Heather has assisted several landless tribes secure reservation lands on which to exercise their sovereignty and engage in self-government, has assisted other tribes secure settlements of historical land and water rights claims, has helped tribes protect treaty rights and cultural sites, and has helped unrecognized tribes obtain formal recognition from the federal government. She is recognized by Chambers USA and others as a national expert in federal Indian law, and is in particular an expert on the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, the Indian Trade and Intercourse Act, and the federal laws that relate to the protection of Indian lands. She attended the Columbia University School of Law.

Much of Heather’s practice is rooted in our shared American history and culture, and she credits her American Studies and English education at Tufts with providing her with the solid foundation on which her legal work has been built.

V. Heather Sibbison, J83, A13P, A16P photo

V. Heather Sibbison, J83, A13P, A16P