Indigenous Governance Database
Governance
Navajo Nation Judicial Branch: New Law and Old Law Together
The Judicial Branch of the Navajo Nation seeks to revive and strengthen traditional common law while ensuring the efficacy of the Nation’s western-based court model adopted by the Nation. With over 250 Peacemakers among its seven court districts, the Judicial Branch utilizes traditional methods of…
Diné (Navajo) Local Governance Projects
Formed in 1989 by the Navajo Nation Council, the Office of Navajo Government Development works with the Diné people and their elected leaders to conduct government reform, foster the incorporation of Navajo culture and tradition into the Navajo Nation Code, and facilitate the transference of…
San Carlos Apache Elders Cultural Advisory Council
The Elders Cultural Advisory Council was formed by a resolution of the San Carlos Tribal Council in 1993 to advise on culturally related matters, to consult with off-reservation entities, and to administer and oversee cultural preservation activities. As a source of traditional wisdom, the Elders…
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission
Charged with the overall management of its member tribes’ fisheries resources and advocating for the protection of treaty rights, the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission’s (CRITFC) programs include fisheries enforcement, policy development and litigation support, fish marketing, and…
Miccosukee Tribe Section 404 Permitting Program
The reservation lands of the Miccosukee Tribe lie largely within the Everglades National Park. Development on these lands is subject to elaborate regulations by a host of federal agencies that hindered development and other uses of their lands by the Miccosukee people, including the building of…
Walls and Waivers: Expedited Construction of the Southern Border Wall and Collateral Impacts to Communities and the Environment
Joint Oversight Field Hearing before the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Joint with the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans of the Committee on Natural Resources U.S. House of Representatives.Ned Norris, Jr., chairman of the Tohono O'odham Nation, provided a…
Gila River Law Enforcement Program
Serving a population of 17,000, the 92-employee Gila River Police Department operates a multifaceted law enforcement program that includes community-based policing, neighborhood block watch programs, a citizen’s police academy, and bike patrols. Since assuming control over law enforcement in 1998,…
Alaska Native Self-Government and Service Delivery: What Works?
The Native peoples of Alaska have governed themselves for far longer than either the State of Alaska or the United States. Indeed, their rights of self-government are properly defended as basic human rights that are not unilaterally extinguishable by these other governments. Yet, today an…
Can Australia follow Obama's lead?
This article was prompted by US President Barack Obama’s recent commitment to effectively empower American Indian nations to re-build their own decision-making capability. The President recognises that genuine self-determination is not only good public policy but is essential for…
The First Nations Governance Act: Implications of Research Findings from the United States and Canada
In the spring of 2002, the Office of the British Columbia Regional Vice-Chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) asked the Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy at The University of Arizona to provide that office with an analysis of the First Nations…
Yukaana Development Corporation (Louden Tribal Council)
The Louden Tribal Council created the Yukaana Development Corporation in 1998 to address the concerns of environmental degradation and environmental justice through training and employment. Under a contract with the US Air Force, the tribally owned Corporation cleans contamination caused by a local…
Implementing the Federal Endangered Species Act in Indian Country: The Promise and Reality of Secretarial Order 3206
Reviews the key requirements of the Endangered Species Act, pertinent executive orders, and Department of the Interior Secretarial Order 3206; discusses the differences tribes can make by creating and implementing their own habitat management plants, as alternatives to designation of critical…
Myths and Realities of Tribal Sovereignty: The Law and Economics of Indian Self-Rule
The last three decades have witnessed a remarkable resurgence of the American Indian nations in the United States. The foundation of this resurgence has been the exercise of self-government (sovereignty) by the more than 560 federally- recognized tribes in the U.S. In this study, we explore legal…
Native Nations and Arizona's Economy
American Indians are disproportionately represented among the low-income residents of the state of Arizona. Across the United States, including in Arizona, reservation economies are growing at a fast pace but low starting points for growth mean that it will take years for American…
Rights, Governance, and the BC Treaty Process
The keynote address given at the BC Treaty Commission Conference for First Nations that discusses the rights, governance and the BC treaty process. Cornell emphasizes the fact that treating making can be more than a process. It can lead to the phenomenal concept of nation building that is sweeping…
Per Capita Distributions of American Indian Tribal Revenues: A Preliminary Discussion of Policy Considerations
This paper examines policy considerations relevant to per capita distributions of tribal revenues. It offers Native nation leaders and citizens food for thought as they consider whether or not to issue per capita payments and, if they choose to do so, how to structure the distribution of funds and…
The Concept of Governance and its Implications for First Nations
What is governance? What is government? What does each do? And what distinguishes good governance - or good government - from bad? Why is the quality of governance important to the success of human societies? And what is the significance and meaning of self-governance? And What does effective self-…
American Indian Self-Determination: The Political Economy of a Successful Policy
Examines the changing level of congressional support for the federal American Indian policy aimed at promoting self-determination, through self-governance of federally recognized tribes.
Evaluating the Impact of Federal Welfare Reform Legislation in Indian Country: A Policy for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
This report should serve as a policy guide to help clarify the complexities of the Personal Responsibility Act for tribal government officials, particularly those in Standing Rock. The guide seeks to: 1) describe and evaluate the Personal Responsibility Act and the provisions that impact Indian…
Seizing the Future: Why Some Native Nations Do and Others Don't
Both research and the experience among Native nations daily drive home the conclusion that the so-called "nation-building" approach holds the keys to self-determined social, political, and economic development for indigenous communities. This approach emphasizes the critical role of asserting…