Indigenous Governance Database
Land/Jurisdiction
Noelani Goodyear Ka'opua: The ongoing journey of Hawai'i sovereignty
Dr. Noelani Goodyear Ka'opua from the Indigenous Politics Faculty within the department of political science at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa speaks about the particulars of handling the issue of soverignty in Hawai’i.
Implications of the Supreme Court's Embrace of Negative Stereotypes
The issues surrounding Native stereotypes should not be dismissed or diminished as merely "surface" problems. "Indian" stereotypes go to the core of the legal, political and economic struggles that Indigenous peoples confront in their work to preserve and strengthen their respective cultures and…
Indigenous Land Management in the United States: Context, Cases, Lessons
The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) is seeking ways to support First Nations’ economic development. Among its concerns are the status and management of First Nations’ lands. The Indian Act, bureaucratic processes, the capacities of First Nations themselves, and other factors currently limit the…
Implicit Divestiture, Judicial Activism and the Rehnquist Court: A Cautionary Tale for Tribal Advocates
Many tribal advocates have likened the legal corpus known as Federal Indian Law to a pendulum that swings back and forth under the forceful hand of the United States government and its political inclinations at any given moment. While this swinging pendulum has brought great uncertainity and…
Why beggar thy Indian neighbor? The case for tribal primacy in taxation in Indian country
The law governing taxation in Indian country is a mess. The accretion of common law precedents and the general tendency of states to assert primacy over the taxation of non-Indians create absurd outcomes. This article makes the case three ways. The argument based on the law shows that…
Newtok Relocation Effort
Scientists and politicians spend hours debating the facts of climate change, but in many places damaging changes to the local environment are already a reality. In the past decade, more and more human settlements have been threatened by catastrophic flooding, wildfires, or drought caused by…
Leech Lake Joint Tribal-State Jurisdiction
Across Indian Country tribes are strengthening and better defining their governments in order to meet the unique needs of their communities. As Native nations work to expand their sovereign powers, tribal justice departments can play a critical role in achieving those goals. In the early 2000s, the…
Swinomish Cooperative Land Use Program
Based on a memorandum of agreement between the Tribe and Skagit County, the Swinomish Cooperative Land Use Program provides a framework for conducting permitting activities within the boundaries of the "checkerboarded" reservation and offers a forum for resolving potential conflicts. The process,…
Umatilla Public Transit
In most rural areas of America, if you do not have a car it is difficult to get around. Without transportation, people must depend on friends or family for rides. It can be tough to plan medical appointments, maintain work schedules, shop for necessities, or sign up for classes. The Confederated…
Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Monitors Program
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is located on 2.3 million acres of land in the central regions of North and South Dakota. Land issues rose to the forefront of tribal concerns after events such as allotment, lands flooding after the Army Corps of Engineers built a series of dams adjacent to the Tribe…
Yakama Nation Land Enterprise
In an effort to consolidate, regulate, and control Indian land holdings, the financially self-sustaining Yakama Nation Land Enterprise has successfully acquired more than 90% of all the fee lands within the Nation’s closed area — lands which were previously highly "checker-boarded." The Enterprise’…
Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Land Title and Records Office
With the ultimate goal of seeing a time when Native people and nations once again own and manage the land within the boundaries of every reservation as well as those lands that are culturally important to them beyond reservations, the Tribal Land Title and Records Office keeps all records and…
Gila River Indian Community Air Quality Program
In recent years, tribal governments in the United States have passed sophisticated laws and regulations to manage social and economic development in their communities. Although air quality is an important aspect of both economic growth and human health, very few Native nations have successfully…
California Fee-to-Trust Consortium
The loss of traditional land is a source of longstanding trauma for Native nations. It has far reaching consequences that began at the time of dispossession and persist today. Many tribes struggle to regain territory in order to support the basic needs of their citizens – housing, economic…
Flandreau Police Department
The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe’s lands are situated within Moody County and the City of Flandreau, South Dakota. This location presents the Nation with a particular challenge: How do you provide adequate and culturally sensitive public safety and law enforcement for your citizens in mixed…
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…
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,…
Protecting the Fish and Eating Them, Too: Impacts of the Endangered Species Act on Tribal Water Use
The scarcity of water in the American West and the increased demands for the resource have created much tension of late between tribes, endangered species advocates, and the holders of water rights granted by the states for non-native consumptive uses. The over-allocation of water by state…
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…
Rudy Ortega, Jr.: Asserting Sovereignty and Self-Governance
Rudy Ortega, Jr., then Vice President and citizen of the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, shares his experiences leading his community and engaging in Fernandeño Tataviam self-governance in spite of his nation not yet being a state or federally recognized tribal…