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"Straight Stealing": Towards An Indigenous System Of Cultural Property Protection, Angela R. Riley

Washington Law Review

Incidents involving theft of indigenous peoples' traditional knowledge and the blatant appropriation of culture have become more widely acknowledged in recent decades. It is now apparent that international, national, and tribal laws must work together to protect the cultural property of indigenous groups. However, tribal law, which provides vital cultural context, must serve as the foundation. Unlike top-down legal systems, tribal laws reflect tribal economic systems, cultural beliefs, and sensitive sacred knowledge in nuanced ways that national and international regimes simply cannot. Accordingly, this Article offers two central reasons why the development of tribal law is critical for indigenous peoples …