Indigenous Governance Database
Land/Jurisdiction
Nipissing Gichi-Naaknigewin
Nipissing First Nation members and staff, members of Chief and Council, as well as the Grand Council Chief, speak to the Nipissing Gichi-Naaknigewin.
Web Extra: American Indians Confront 'Savage Anxieties'
This week Bill speaks with legal expert Robert A. Williams Jr. about how stereotypes of American Indians have been codified into laws and government policies, with devastating consequences. In this web extra, Bill speaks with Williams about why none of the Supreme Court justices “wants Indian cases…
American Indians Confront "Savage Anxieties"
As part of the $585 billion defense bill for 2015, Congress passed a measure that would give lands sacred to American Indians in Arizona to a foreign company. The deal gives the Australian-English mining firm Rio Tinto 2,400 acres of the Tonto National Forest in exchange for several other parcels…
Vice President Biden Speaks at the 2014 White House Tribal Nations Conference
On December 3, 2014, Vice President Joe Biden addressed the 2014 White House Tribal Nations Conference. At the conference, leaders from the 566 federally-recognized Native nations engaged with the President, Cabinet Officials, and the White House Council on Native American Affairs on key issues…
Capturing Traditional Ecological Knowledge in the Torres Strait
Protecting and preserving cultural and ecological knowledge for the future is essential. The Torres Strait Regional Authority has recently developed and piloted a traditional knowledge database working with members of the Boigu Prescribed Body Corporate and the Malu Ki'ai Rangers. The database…
Blackfeet Constitutional Change Class
The summation of all several videos...the complete 6 1/2 hour taping of the discussion of why our current Constitution, Charter, and Plan of Operations have become ineffective for our current times as a people and Piikani Nation for "Blackfeet Government Change" of Joe McKay and Blackfeet Community…
Saving River Cane - Cherokee
It’s an ancient plant that many tribes once relied on for survival. Now it’s survival is threatened. Watch what the Cherokee Nation is doing to keep river cane alive in Northeastern Oklahoma.
Ramona Band of Cahuilla
Chairman Manuel Hamilton discusses his tribe's endeavors to become self-sustaining.
Why Treaties Matter (video)
This 15-minute video, produced by the National Museum of the American Indian, serves as a companion piece to "Why Treaties Matter - Self Government in the Dakota and Ojibwe Nations," a travelling exhibit on treaties between Dakota and Ojibwe people and the U.S. The film introduces the themes of the…
Why Treaties Matter: Video Gallery
This video gallery serves as a companion piece to "Why Treaties Matter - Self Government in the Dakota and Ojibwe Nations," a travelling exhibit on treaties between Dakota and Ojibwe people and the U.S. It features testimonies from Native nation leaders and citizens about many of the exhibit's main…
Tribal Courts
As the Ojibwe reclaimed their rights to hunt, fish, and gather on the ceded territories, they needed a system of laws, checks, and balances in order to both protect their resources and enforce the law. Soon other tribes followed suit, and soon co-equal systems of justice existed side by side with…
Ojibwe Treaty Rights
As years passed between the signing of treaties and today, American Indians living in Wisconsin re-discovered that they had the right to hunt and fish on the ceded territories, just as their ancestors did. Two brothers took it upon themselves to get arrested for exercising their rights in an…
Legend Lake: A Talking Circle
The documentary video recounts the saga of Legend Lake, a beautiful 5,160 acre lake development, formed by joining 9 smaller lakes in the Menominee Indian Reservation (with the same boundaries as Menominee County) in northern Wisconsin whose shore land was subdivided and sold mostly to non-…
Bringing Our Children Home: An Introduction to the Indian Child Welfare Act
This six-minute trailer introduces viewers to a documentary film (currently in development) that examines the impact of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). The documentary is the product of an ongoing collaboration between the Mississippi Courts, Child Welfare Agency, the Mississippi Band of…
Suzan Shown Harjo: The View From Lincoln's Head: Notes of a Native American Journey
Poet, writer, lecturer, curator and policy advocate Dr. Suzan Shown Harjo (Cheyenne and Hodulgee Muscogee) commemorates the legacy of scholar Vine Deloria, Jr. by recalling stories of his service to Native communities and by reading a series of poems that he enjoyed.
Vine Deloria's Last Video Interview
American Indian author, theologian, historian, and activist Vine Deloria, Jr. (1933-2005) talks with documentary film producer Grant Crowell about traditional Indigenous governance systems and criteria for citizenship, the impact of colonial policies on tribal citizenship (specifically the effects…
Smoke Traders
Told from a Native perspective, "Smoke Traders" looks at the controversy ignited by the Mohawk Nation's involvement in the tobacco trade, raising issues of sovereignty, economic independence and entrepreneurship versus what some see as illegal contraband activity. The multi-million dollar cigarette…
Cigarette smuggling and the Akwesasne Mohawk Reserve
In this CBC Television news report from 1988, reporter Bruce Garvey takes a long look at the selling -- some call smuggling -- of tax-free cigarettes at the Akwesasne Indian Reserve. Garvey presents this report on the difficulties created by the unique situation of the Akwesasne Indian Reserve,…
The Best Practices in Rural Alberta Project
The Best Practices in Rural Alberta Project culminated in September 2012, after two and a half years of community engagement; research into the examination of leadership strengths and practices; incredible youth development; and video capture in preparation for a documentary film. This documentary…
Native American Lands and the Supreme Court
Tribal judge and legal scholar Angela Riley (Citizen Potawatomi) spoke in the U.S. Supreme Court chamber about the history of the Supreme Court and Native American lands. The lecture was one in a series hosted by the Supreme Court Historical Society on the Constitution, the Supreme Court, and…