Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Will Tribes Ever Be Able To "Trust" Their Federal Trustee?, David E. Wilkins

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

It is widely reported that the federal government has a trust relationship with the Indian peoples of this land, one of the many distinctive features of the indigenous/federal relationship. Despite the importance of this concept, legal and political commentators and, surprisingly, federal policy makers have radically conflicting definitions of what the trust relationship actually means.