Law Commons^™

Indigenous Nations As Reserved Sovereigns, David E. Wilkins

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

Some adhere to the idea that the federal government, as a democratic state founded on the rule of law, contains within its legal and political institutions and ideologies a framework that provides the necessary vaccines that will eventually cure the various and sundry indigenous ailments generated throughout American society by its social, economic, political and legal institutions.

By contrast, there are others who vigorously argue that the prevailing institutions of governance and law of the United States are incapable of providing justice to First Nations because they entail systems, ideologies, and values that represent non-Indians and thus they cannot possibly …

A Constitutional Confession: The Permanent If Malleable Status Of Indigenous Nations, David E. Wilkins

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

I appreciate the opportunity to address such an august group of students and faculty. When Amy invited me to join you, and she certainly is a very persuasive person, I debated long and hard on what kind of talk to give since I study politics comparatively. Although much of my work is infused with law and history, and a smidgen of culture, economics, and geography, I work largely at the intersection of politics, history and law, and have coined the awkward though accurate term, "Polegalorian," to describe what I do. My research is concerned broadly with how indigenous peoples generate, …

The Manipulation Of Indigenous Status: The Federal Government As Shape-Shifter, David E. Wilkins

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

"The federal-Indian relationship is like no other in the world. Indian tribes are denominated 'domestic-dependent nations' but their practical relationship with the United States 'resembles that of a ward to his guardian.' Indian tribes appear to have the same political status as the independent states of San Marino, Monaco, and Liechtenstein, yet they have little real self-government and seem to be forever mired in a state of political and economic pupilage."

This fifteen-year-old statement from Vine Deloria, Jr., the preeminent Indian political and legal scholar, still accurately reflects the convoluted nature of indigenous political, legal, and economic statuses in the …

An Inquiry Into Indigenous Political Participation: Implications For Tribal Sovereignty, David E. Wilkins

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

When we set out to examine the various forms and patterns of indigenous political participation in the three polities they are connected to—tribal, state, and federal—we are stepping into a most complicated subject matter. It is complicated in large part because Indians are citizens of separate extra-constitutional nations whose members have only gradually been incorporated in various ways by various federal policies and day to day interactions with non-Indians. Tribal nations, of course, have never been constitutionally incorporated and still retain their standing as separate political bodies not beholden to either federal or state constitutions for their existence.