Indigenous Governance Database
federal government
Native Report: Jodi Gillette
On this edition of Native Report meet Jodi Gillette, Deputy Associate Director with the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. (Segment placement: 18:45-25:32)
Rethinking Rewriting: Tribal Constitutional Amendment and Reform
This essay examines the recent wave of American Indian tribal constitutional change through the framework of subnational constitutional theory. When tribes rewrite their constitutions, they not only address internal tribal questions and communicate tribal values, but also engage with other…
An Essay on the Federal Origins of Disenrollment
Disenrollment is not indigenous to Native America. It is a creature of the United States. The origins of disenrollment are traced to the United States’ paternalistic assimilation policies of the 1930s. In 1934 the U.S. Congress passed the Indian Reorganization Act (“IRA”), wherein the federal…
Legal Pluralism and Tribal Constitutions
What do pigs roaming the streets of New York City during the first half of the nineteenth century and tribal constitutions have in common? The most obvious (and often the most correct) answer is, undoubtedly, “absolutely nothing.” However, tribal advocates, particularly those concerned with the…