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One Step Forward, Two Giant Steps Back: How The "Existing Indian Family" Exception (Re)Imposes Anglo American Legal Values On American Indian Tribes To The Detriment Of Culltural Autonomy, Suzianne D. Painter-Thorne

American Indian Law Review

This article describes the profound changes to American Indian kinship and social structures caused when European and Anglo American legal norms were imposed on American Indian tribes without respect for Indian culture or values. Although these sovereign nations were entitled to self-determination, they were for centuries subjected to laws crafted without their input or representation. This article takes the position that law should come from within a culture to ensure that it reflects that culture's values and permits it to flourish in its own way. When law is imposed by outsiders, it becomes a means of colonization, forcing one group …