Native American Rights Lawyer, Formed University of Colorado Law Dean Dies at 68: David Getches, a leading American Indian rights lawyer and former dean of the University of Colorado School of Law, has died. He was 68.
The Boulder Daily Camera reports that university officials say Getches died at his home on Tuesday of pancreatic cancer. He had stepped down as dean of the law school at the end of June to rejoin the faculty.
Getches moved to Colorado in 1970 to become the founding executive director of the Boulder-based Native American Rights Fund. He also served as executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources from 1983 to 1987.
Among American Indian rights cases litigated by Getches, the 1974 United States v. Washington case is cited by the National Congress of American Indians as the leading case on enforcement of tribal treaty rights. That case involved the fishing rights of Northwest tribes granted under treaties signed in the 1800s.
