Constitutions

Wolves Have A Constitution: Continuities in Indigenous Self-Government

Year

This article is about constitutionalism as an Indigenous tradition. The political idea of constitutionalism is the idea that the process of governing is itself governed by a set of foundational laws or rules. There is ample evidence that Indigenous nations in North America–and in Australia and New Zealand as well–were in this sense constitutionalists. Customary law, cultural norms, and shared protocols provided well understood guidelines for key aspects of governance by shaping both personal and collective action, the behavior of leaders, decision-making, dispute resolution, and relationships with the human, material, and spirit worlds. Today, many of these nations have governing systems imposed by outsiders. As they move to change these systems, they also are reclaiming their own constitutional traditions.

Resource Type
Citation

Cornell, Stephen. "'Wolves Have A Constitution:' Continuities in Indigenous Self-Government." The International Indigenous Policy Journal. Volume 6,  Issue 1. January 2015. Paper. (https://turtletalk.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/continuities-in-indigenou..., accessed March 24, 2015)

"Modern Tribal Governments, Constitutions, and Sovereignty" Session at NCAI's Annual Convention

Producer
National Congress on American Indians
Year

This session, convened by NCAI at its 2014 Annual Convention, chronicled the growing movement by tribal nations to reform and strengthen their constitutions in order to reflect and preserve their distinct cultures and ways of life, more effectively address their contemporary challenges, and achieve their long-term priorities. It shared the constitutional stories of four tribal nations who have either reformed their constitutions or currently are in the process of doing so.

The session includes 5 presentations from prominent Native nation leaders and scholars:

  1. Sherry Salway Black and Ian Record provide a brief overview of tribal constitutionalism and the current movement among tribal nations to engage in constitutional reform.
  2. John “Rocky” Barrett, longtime chairman of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, shares how the Citizen Potawatomi Nation long struggled with an imposed system of governance and how it turned to constitutional reform to reshape and stabilize that system so that it is capable of helping the nation achieve its strategic priorities.
  3. Erma Vizenor, former Chairwoman of the White Earth Nation, provides a detailed history of White Earth’s Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) system of governance, and why and how White Earth decided to create an entirely new constitution in order to make its system of governance more culturally appropriate and functionally effective.
  4. Richard Luarkie, former Governor of the Pueblo of Laguna, offers a detailed chronology of the Pueblo’s constitutional and governmental odyssey over the past few centuries, and how the Pueblo is in the process of reforming its constitution to fully exercise its sovereignty and make its system of governance more culturally appropriate.
  5. Justin Beaulieu, Coordinator of the Constitution Reform Initiative for the Red Lake Nation, describes the process that Red Lake designed to engage Red Lake citizens about the nation’s current constitution and what they would like to see in a new constitution.

 

 

Resource Type
Citation

“Modern Tribal Governments, Constitutions and Sovereignty”. (October 2014). Presentation. National Congress on American Indians's Partnership for Tribal Governance. Atlanta, GA. Retreived from https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBjQrzrj0Iyu5miLAFGEg9VS6BhS_JS58

Transcripts for all videos are available by request. Please email us: nni@arizona.edu.

Cherokee Nation '99 Constitution Incorporated Older Ideas

Producer
Tahlequah Daily Press
Year

Before the Cherokee Nation 1999 Constitution was ratified by voters in 2003 and recognized by the federal government in 2006, the tribe was governed under different laws that required extensive input and oversight by Cherokees when they decided to rewrite the document in 1995.

Under the 1975 Constitution, the tribe was required to ask its citizens in 20 years whether the law should be amended, edited, or reworked through a constitutional convention. After it was overwhelmingly endorsed by CN citizens, the tribe created the Constitution Convention Commission in 1998 to discern what changes should be made.

Native Nations
Resource Type
Citation

Crawford, Grant D. "CN '99 Constitution Incorporated Older Ideas". Sept. 8, 2019. Tahlequah Daily Press. Retrieved from https://www.tahlequahdailypress.com/news/cn-99...

Herminia Frias: Working Toward Effective Native Leadership

Producer
Native Nations Institute
Year

For years at Pascua Yaqui Tribe, Herminia Frias has remained a consistent leader in tribal government. She became the first woman elected Chairwoman and youngest to serve the position. After a contentious term with the tribal council, she was removed from office but then immediately returned to tribal council by being successfully elected to tribal council where she continues to serve. Councilwoman Frias spoke at the Native Women in Governance speaker series from Native Nations Institute and the Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program where she detailed the challenges she faced and her determination to not quit on being a Native leader. After that speech, Herminia Frias spoke to NNI in an interview that offered her reflections and perspectives on what it means to be a Native Nation building leader. She outlines the finer points of making indigenous governance work for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe that involves working with diverse views and approaches toward governance. Her experiences mark an invaluable perspective about Native leadership that touches on unique challenges and successes toward building more self-determination for her Native Nation.

Native Nations
Resource Type
Citation

Native Nations Institute. "Herminia Frias: Working Toward Native Leadership.” Leading Native Nations, Native Nations Institute, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, February, 2019

Transcript available upon request. Please email: nni@email.arizona.edu

Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez: Native Nation Building for the Navajo Nation

Producer
Native Nations Institute
Year

Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez visited the University of Arizona and gave his views on making governance work for people in he Navajo Nation.  In this brief interview with NNI the President offered his thoughts on Native Nation Building and the way it is utilized for the Navajo nation as well as his insight on making governance happen without a written constitution.

Native Nations
Resource Type
Citation

Native Nations Institute. "Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez: Native Nation Building for the Navajo Nation.” Leading Native Nations, Native Nations Institute, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, December 3, 2019

Transcript available upon request. Please email: nni@email.arizona.edu

Constitution proposed for Cherokee

Author
Producer
Smoky Mountain News
Year

Cherokee voters will have the chance to give their nation a long-awaited constitution if Tribal Council approves a referendum question proposed for the September ballot. 

“Right now we don’t have a constitution. We have a charter, and a charter is for an organization, a corporation or something of that nature,” said Lloyd Arneach, leader of a working group that has spent the past two years developing a proposed constitution. “A constitution is for a government, and for the tribe to continue to operate in the future, we need to be on even footing as a government-to-government relationship with state government, with county government, with federal government.”

Resource Type
Topics
Citation

Kays, Holly. "Constitution proposed for Cherokee." Smoky Mountain News. February 20, 2019. https://smokymountainnews.com/news/item/26415-constitution-proposed-for…  

Tribal Executive Branches: A Path to Tribal Constitutional Reform

Year

In the modern era, tribes have made tremendous gains in retaining — and reclaiming — their sovereignty. But despite this external progress, some tribes have struggled to overcome internal governance challenges.2×  One such challenge is presented by “IRA constitutions”: those constitutions either passed in the period shortly after adoption of the federal Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) in 1934 or created later but modeled after constitutions passed during that time. IRA constitutions usually lack separation of powers. Instead, they often concentrate all or nearly all of a tribal government’s power into a single “legislative” branch, commonly referred to as a tribal council...

Resource Type
Topics
Citation

Harvard Law Review. 2016"Tribal Executive Branches: A Path to Tribal Constitutional Reform." Harvard Law Review. 129 Harv. L. Rev. (April): 1662-1684. 

Miami Tribe of Oklahoma Constitution

Year

Location: Northeastern portion of Okahoma

Population: 3900

Date of Constitution: 1995

Key Facts: Origninally from Great Lakes region

Native Nations
Topics
Citation

Miami Tribe of Oklahoma. 1995. "Constitution of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma." Miami, OK.

Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe Constitution

Year

Location: Spans border between New York and Canada 

Population: 2700 

Date of Constitution: 1995 

 

Native Nations
Topics
Citation

Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe. 1995. "Constitution of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe." Akwesasne, NY.