Josh Harte

John Harte

John Harte is a member of the San Felipe Pueblo. Harte comes to Mapetsi from the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs where he served as Policy Director for the Majority for Committee Chairman and North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan. As Policy Director, John managed a wide range of issues before the Committee, with an emphasis on public safety & justice and economic development. John recently staffed the effort to pass the Tribal Law and Order Act (TLO) of 2010, which was signed into law by President Obama on July 29, 2010. The Act represents the first step in two decades toward reversing a longstanding crisis of violence that plagues many Indian reservations.

Prior to his work on the Committee, John served as General Counsel and Legislative Director of the National Indian Gaming Association, where he focused on federal legislation and litigation in the areas of Indian gaming, taxation, economic development, and the right of tribes to participate in the political process. At NIGA, John helped spearhead the fight to defeat legislative attacks to treat Indian tribes as corporations in the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002.

John also served as Deputy Director of the Office of Tribal Justice within the U.S. Department of Justice for Attorney General Reno where he worked on implementing President Clinton’s Indian Country Law Enforcement Initiative. At Justice, John also worked with the Office of the Solicitor General to help develop the Government’s position on Indian law cases of national import.

Harte received his LL.M. in International and Comparative Law from the Georgetown University Law Center, and his J.D. from the University of New Mexico School of Law. John has taught “Federal Indian Law & Policy” at Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law, American University’s Washington College of Law, and American University’s Washington Internships for Native Students Program.