Indigenous Governance Database
Land/Jurisdiction
Milton Bluehouse, Jr.: Introduction to Managing Environmental Conflict
U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution Program Manager Milton Bluehouse, Jr. discusses the challenges to environmental conflict resolution specifically and dispute resolution generally, and offers some proven strategies for Native nations and other governments to overcome conflicts…
Tribe asserts DV jurisdiction over non-Indians
The U.S. Department of Justice has reported that American Indian women “are more than 2.5 more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted than women in the USA in general”. The DOJ also reports, per its Bureau of Justice Statistics, that at least 70 percent of the “violent victimizations experienced…
Historic agreement between Cherokee Nation and state of Oklahoma expands hunting and fishing rights for Cherokees
For millennia, we Cherokees have provided for our families by hunting and fishing the lands. Even before European encroachment, it’s how we fed our communities, clothed our children and crafted tools. Hunting and fishing are not simply honored traditions in our Cherokee culture, it’s what kept us…
Cass Board, Leech Lake Tribal Council highlight cooperative efforts
The cooperation and partnerships between Cass County and the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe in recent years have not only been successful but apparently are highly unusual, both state- and nationwide. Time and again at the April 24 joint meeting of the county board and tribal council, at Northern Lights…
What Is Indigenous Self-Determination and When Does it Apply?
Self-determination is an expression often used in discussion of indigenous goals. However, the meaning of self-determination varies among Indigenous Peoples, scholars, international documents, and nation states. The most common meaning of self-determination suggests that peoples with common…
BIA Head Kevin Washburn Speaks to ICTMN About Bay Mills and the Need to Resolve Water Rights
Interior Secretary — Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn was in New York City in September as the historic Peoples’ Climate March and the United Nations General Assembly opened its 69th regular session with the first World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, where he added to our excitement here at…
Muscogee (Creek) Nation Creates Conservation District With USDA
The Muscogee (Creek) Nation, working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), has established a conservation district, the two entities announced on November 19...
Traditional Knowledge Fuels Yurok and Karuk Habitat Restoration Project With USDA
Fighting fire-ravaged habitat destruction with … fire? It may sound counterintuitive, but the Yurok and Karuk tribes, experts at managing watersheds and ecosystems, are working with several agencies in California to manage forests in their traditional territories and thus restore habitat that…
People Belong to the Land; Land Doesn't Belong to the People
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) does not recognize the right of indigenous nations to own land outside the laws and rules of national governments. According to international historical doctrines of discovery, Indigenous Peoples, non-Christian nations,…
ON Congress passes five-year banishment bill targeting convicted drug dealers
Dangerous drug dealers convicted in the Osage Nation tribal court system are now subject to a mandatory minimum five-year banishment from the Nation’s jurisdiction. The Fourth ON Congress passed a bill (ONCA 15-31 sponsored by Congressman RJ Walker) on April 20 with a 7-4 vote putting the five to…
Political Autonomy and Sustainable Economy
A unique attribute of Indian political ways was noted early on by colonial observers. Indians, Indigenous Peoples more generally, were engaged in everyday political action as full participating community members. Every person had the right to be heard. Decisions were made through discussion and…
New Inter-Tribal Fish Commission Formed to Give Alaska Tribes a Say
Alaska reminds me of Washington state. Let me qualify that. Alaska reminds me of Washington state before the mid-1970s. Back then the region was deeply divided over treaty rights, salmon, and even the definition of what it meant to be an American Indian in modern times. The official state…
Michigan tribes come together for historic meeting
On March 6, eight of the 12 federally recognized tribes in Michigan attended what has become a historic event. The 2015 Michigan Tribal SORNA Collaboration meeting was hosted by the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians (LTBB) at the Odawa Hotel in Petoskey. The meeting was developed,…
Tribes now free to prosecute non-Indians for certain crimes
American Indian tribes that meet certain criteria now have the authority to prosecute non-Indians for a limited set of domestic violence crimes, a shift supporters hope will reduce the high rate of violence on reservations. Three tribes in Arizona, Oregon and Washington state have exercised that…
Tribes reach key milestone with jurisdiction provisions of VAWA
The tribal jurisdiction provisions of the the Violence Against Women Act became effective nationwide on Saturday, clearing the path for non-Indians to be held accountable for abusing their Indian partners. Congress enacted S.47 to recognize tribal authority to arrest, prosecute and punish non-…
Cross swearing-in marks a first for California courts
A groundbreaking cross swearing-in ceremony last week forged a new partnership between the Shingle Springs Tribal Court and the Superior Court El Dorado County. In a Jan. 5 event at Red Hawk Casino in Placerville, Judge Suzanne N. Kingsbury, presiding judge of the Superior Court of El Dorado County…
The Complex Relationships Between Nations States and Indigenous Nations
Contemporary indigenous nations are captured by a host nation state. The way in which the nation state legally, politically, and culturally defines and acts toward indigenous nations greatly affects the opportunities indigenous nations have for securing political autonomy, territory, and cultural…
Osage Nation to receive $7.4 million in Cobell Land Buy-Back program
The Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations has come to the Osage and the federal government is proposing $7.4 million to buy back fractionated land interest from individual tribal members. According to tribal development and land acquisition director Bruce Cass, who is working with Osage attorney…
The Unintended Consequences of Disenrollment
For most of the modern tribal self-determination era, American Indian nations have emphasized inclusion. Starting in the early 1970s, higher tribal membership numbers equated to higher federal self-determination dollars. As tribes otherwise redoubled their efforts to reverse the destruction caused…
Idle No More: Decolonizing Water, Food and Natural Resources With TEK
Watersheds and Indigenous Peoples know no borders. Canada’s watershed management affects America’s watersheds, and vice versa. As Canada Prime Minister Stephen Harper launches significant First Nations termination contrivance he negotiates legitimizing Canada’s settler colonialism under the guise…