Indigenous Governance Database
Citizenship/Membership
UA Institute Helps Native Nations Rebuild, Maintain Government
An institute at the University of Arizona is focused on rebuilding government structures in Native nations by research and outreach offered through online courses and more. The UA Native Nations Institute has been working toward its goal of helping the Native governments for nearly 30 years,…
Truth To Tell: Community Connections - White Earth Constitutional Forum Part I
In collaboration with production partner KKWE/Niijii Radio, TruthToTell and CivicMedia/Minnesota traveled west on August 14, 2013, to the White Earth Reservation to air/televise the seventh in our series of LIVE Community Connections forums on critical Minnesota issues. Convened at White Earth's…
Truth To Tell: Community Connections - White Earth Constitutional Forum Part II
In collaboration with production partner KKWE/Niijii Radio, TruthToTell and CivicMedia/Minnesota traveled west on August 14, 2013, to the White Earth Reservation to air/televise the seventh in our series of LIVE Community Connections forums on critical Minnesota issues. Convened at White Earth's…
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…
The Rez We Live On
The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes produced this series of online videos in an effort to dispel untruths about life on the Flathead reservation in Montana. Consisting of 10 short, graphically based videos on topics ranging from Sovereignty to Taxes, "The Rez We Live On" site is geared…
Feeding Ourselves: Food Access, Health Disparities, and the Pathways to Healthy Native American Communities
Echo Hawk Consulting, headed by Crystal Echo Hawk, released today a comprehensive report on the state of food access in Native American communities, and the resulting health disparities in Native Americans. The report--commissioned by the American Heart Association (AHA) and its Voices for Healthy…
Wrapping Our Ways Around Them: Aboriginal Communities and the CFCSA Guidebook
This Guidebook is based on the belief that Aboriginal peoples need to know, and work with, the systems that impact children and families today such as the Child, Family and Community Service Act (CFCSA), Provincial Court (Child, Family and Community Service Act) Rules (Rules), Child, Family and…
Native Entrepreneurship in South Dakota: A Deeper Look
Native Entrepreneurship in South Dakota: a Deeper Look is designed to raise the profile of Native entrepreneurship in South Dakota and offer lessons for policymakers, foundations, tribes, and non-profits in developing effective policies and strategies. The research identified the following key…
Tribal Per Capita Poverty - How About Disenrollment Bankruptcy?
“In November, a [Las Vegas] Review-Journal reporter and photographer encountered one of the disenrolled, 52-year-old Darla Hatcher, sleeping with her meager belongings in front of an upholstery shop in the homeless corridor. By way of introduction, she gestured toward nearby tribal land and said…
Indian Tribes and Human Rights Accountability
In Indian country, the expansion of self-governance, the growth of the gaming industry, and the increasing interdependence of Indian and non-Indian communities have intensified concern about the possible abuse of power by tribal governments. As tribes gain greater political and economic clout on…
An Essay on the Modern Dynamics of Tribal Disenrollment
Disenrollment is predominately about race, and money, and an “individualistic, materialistic attitude” that is not indigenous to tribal communities. Because many tribes have maintained the IRA’s paternalistic and antiquated definition of “Indian” vis-a-vis blood quantum (as discussed in “An Essay…
Developing Effective Processes of American Indian Constitutional and Governmental Reform: Lessons from the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, Hualapai Nation, Navajo Nation and Northern Cheyenne Tribe
Over the past several decades, numerous American Indian nations have been revising their constitutions to create more legitimate, effective and culturally-appropriate governments. However, successful processes of reform have been hindered by a variety of universal challenges, including political…
Traditional Governance: A Case Study of the Osoyoos Indian Band and Application of Okanagan Leadership Principles
There are traditional Okanagan governance and leadership principles and guidelines that have been informed through language terms and traditional stories. These have been interpreted and taught to us by our elders of the Okanagan Nation. Five principles of traditional Okanagan leadership will be…
Report on Best Practices in Developing Effective Processes of American Indian Constitutional Reform
The Executive Session on American Indian Constitutional Reform is a national working group of constitutional reformers from 12 American Indian nations and leading academics. The Executive Session meets twice a year to rethink strategies for strengthening tribal constitutions and constitution-making…
Redefining Tigua Citizenship
The materials in this informational guide are designed to provide you with important background information ”such as Tigua history, tribal population profiles, and fiscal impacts” related to upcoming membership criteria changes. Project Tiwahu is an Ysleta del Sur Pueblo-wide initiative to reclaim…
Considerations in Implementing VAWA's Special Domestic Violence Criminal Jurisdiction and TLOA's Enhanced Sentencing Authority: A Look at the Experience of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe
On February 20, 2014, pursuant to the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA 2013), the Pascua Yaqui Tribe was one of only three Tribes across the United States to begin exercising Special Domestic Violence Criminal Jurisdiction (SDVCJ) over non-Indian perpetrators of domestic…
A Legal History of Blood Quantum in Federal Indian Law to 1935
The paper traces the development of the use of blood quantum, or fractional amounts of Indian blood to define Indian in federal law up to the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. The paper shows that blood quantum was not widely used in federal law until the twentieth century, as the branches of the…
A Guide to Community Engagement
In this third part of the BCAFN Governance Toolkit: A Guide to Nation Building, we explore the complex and often controversial subject of governance reform in our communities and ways to approach community engagement. The Governance Toolkit is intended as a resource for First Nations leadership. It…
A Roadmap For Making Native America Safer: Report To The President And Congress Of The United States
A Roadmap for Making Native America Safer (Roadmap) provides a path to make Native American and Alaska Native communities safer and more just for all U.S. citizens and to reduce unacceptably high rates of violent crime rates in Indian country. The Roadmap is the culmination of hearings,…
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…