Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 8 of 8
Full-Text Articles in Law
Vine Deloria Jr. And Indigenous Americans, David E. Wilkins
Vine Deloria Jr. And Indigenous Americans, David E. Wilkins
Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications
Vine Deloria Jr., a Standing Rock Sioux citizen, widely considered the leading indigenous intellectual of the past century, walked on in November 2005. Deloria spent most of his adult life in an unrelenting, prodigious, and largely successful effort to provide those most grounded of Native individuals and their governments with the intellectual, theoretical, philosophical, and substantive arguments necessary to support their inherent personal and national sovereignty. Importantly, however, his voluminous work also sought to improve the nation-to-nation and intergovernmental relationships of and between First Nations, and between First Nations and non-Native governments at all levels. In fact, he was hailed …
Governance Within The Navajo Nation: Have Democratic Traditions Taken Hold?, David E. Wilkins
Governance Within The Navajo Nation: Have Democratic Traditions Taken Hold?, David E. Wilkins
Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications
This essay crafts a description and analysis of the political and institutional context, structures, and issues of the Navajo Nation's government. We begin with a demographic, institutional, and ideological assessment of the nation as its currently stands, move to a historical overview of the nation from precontact times to the 1989 riots and conclude with a short policy portfolio of three issues—land claims, gaming, and taxation—that will likely impact the shape and direction the nation will head into the twenty-first century.
The Reinvigoration Of The Doctrine Of Implied Repeals: A Requiem For Indigenous Treaty Rights, David E. Wilkins
The Reinvigoration Of The Doctrine Of Implied Repeals: A Requiem For Indigenous Treaty Rights, David E. Wilkins
Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications
America's indigenous nations occupy a distinctive political within the United States as separate sovereigns whose rights in the doctrine of inherent tribal sovereignty, affirmed in hundreds of ratified treaties and agreements, acknowledged in the Commerce the U.S. Constitution, and recognized in ample federal legislation case law. Ironically, while indigenous sovereignty is neither ally defined or delimited, it may be restricted or enhanced by One could argue, then, that indeterminacy or inconsistency of the tribal-federal political/legal relationship.
Tribal-State Affairs: American States As 'Disclaiming' Sovereigns, David E. Wilkins
Tribal-State Affairs: American States As 'Disclaiming' Sovereigns, David E. Wilkins
Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications
The history of tribal-state political relations has been contentious from the beginning of the republic. As a result of these tensions, the relationship of tribal nations and the federal government was federalized when the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1788. Thus, a number of states, especially in the West, were required in their organic acts and constitutions to forever disclaim jurisdiction over Indian property and persons. This article analyzes these disclaimer clauses, explains the factors that have enabled the states to assume some jurisdictional presence in Indian Country, examines the key issues in which disclaimers continue to carry significant weight, …
Convoluted Essence: Indian Rights And The Federal Trust Doctrine, David E. Wilkins
Convoluted Essence: Indian Rights And The Federal Trust Doctrine, David E. Wilkins
Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications
In recent years there has been growing resentment from what one might term, for lack of a better phrase, the "anti-trust" segment. These commentators have offered a host of arguments to support their position: the trust doctrine has been and is still used primarily to "give moral color to depredations of tribes;" it is "an assertion of unrestrained political power over Indians, power that may be exercised without Indian consent and without substantial legal restraint;" and it is really a "metaphor for federal control of Indian affairs without signifying any enforceable rights of the tribal `beneficiaries.'" Yet others suggest that …
The Cloaking Of Justice: The Supreme Court's Role In The Application Of Western Law To America's Indigenous Peoples, David E. Wilkins
The Cloaking Of Justice: The Supreme Court's Role In The Application Of Western Law To America's Indigenous Peoples, David E. Wilkins
Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications
The debate over which legal Indigenous Peoples should govern Native American political power and property rights, or even whether they should be protected by law at all, caused conflicts challenging the autonomy of the legal system and led to changes of the original principles of Indian rights. The outcome of that conflict raises two questions of federal Indian law. One is where its principles contributed to the survival of Native Americans in the United States; the other is whether the same legal principles are responsible for the perpetual inferiority of Natives Americans in their own land. More starkly, the question …
Breaking Into The Intergovernmental Matrix: The Lumbee Tribe's Efforts To Secure Federal Acknowledgment, David E. Wilkins
Breaking Into The Intergovernmental Matrix: The Lumbee Tribe's Efforts To Secure Federal Acknowledgment, David E. Wilkins
Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications
This article discusses the concept of political recognition (both federal and state) of Indian tribes; explains the difference between administrative and legislative recognition; examines who is or should be empowered to extend federal recognition, the Congress or the executive branch; discusses the major factors that have compelled the Lumbees to seek federal recognition when they were already acknowledged by the state; and examines the major factors that have precluded them from securing complete federal recognition.
Diné Bibee Haz' Áanii: An Analysis Of The Navajo Political System, David E. Wilkins
Diné Bibee Haz' Áanii: An Analysis Of The Navajo Political System, David E. Wilkins
Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications
The Diné (Navajo) people have a representative/legislative form of government modeled loosely after the American system. The present governmental structure, established in 1938 by the Secretary of Interior, is outlined in the Navajo Tribal Code. This article encompasses the background of the Code, describes the efforts of tribal and federal officials to enact a tribal constitution, and discusses the key functions of government: legislative, executive and judicial. It also examines the various subunits of government operating within the reservation. Finally, it contains recommendations that, if enacted, could strengthen and legitimize Navajo government.