Law Commons^™

Clinton's Legacy On Indigenous Issues, David E. Wilkins

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

The president, of course, has not express constitutional responsibility for Indian nations—that is a power reserved to the Congress under the commerce clause. Nevertheless, it is to the president, dating back to George Washington, who had an active hand in Indian affairs through the treaty process, that tribal nations and their leaders have most often looked to gauge the federal government's character and commitment to fulfill the nation's historic treaty and ongoing trust obligations to indigenous people.

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 …

Judicial Terror Confronts Indian Nations, David E. Wilkins

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

As the Bush Administration broadens its constitutionally problematic assault on real and alleged terrorists, both home and abroad, endangering the very rights and liberties it accused Osama bin Laden of savagely attacking, the judicial branch of the government, occupied by a majority of conservative justices, is doing its part to shatter the sovereign rights and economic liberties of indigenous nations.