Research Reports
Reflections on Traditional American Indian Ways, 1998
Threats to Tribal Sovereignty, 1998
Traditional American Indian Leadership: A Comparison with U.S. Governance, 1997
Introduction
The American Indian Research and Policy Institute (AIRPI), was contracted by the Building Communities Across Cultures initiative, at the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, to document perceptions of communications and relationships between reservation American Indians and non-Indian persons from communities near reservations.
This research was conducted in response to increases in longstanding problems between American Indian tribes and people from communities neighboring the reservation. The furor over the court rulings on the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe hunting and fishing rights, over the proposal to construct a toll booth on the road leading into the Mdewankanton Dakota Sioux reservation and over court rulings about tribal sovereign immunity are a few highly visible examples of the heightened friction.
To better understand this friction requires an understanding of the context in which it rests. The following outline describes this context. As sovereign nations, American Indian tribes have a legal "nation-to-nation" relationship with the United States federal government. Their unique political and legal relationship with the United States has been established in treaties, in the United States Constitution1 and in court precedence2. While the U.S. government recognizes tribal sovereignty, the U.S. Congress is recognized by the courts as having the sole right to limit the sovereign powers of tribes. However, in limiting tribal sovereign powers, Congress must do so in definite terms and not by implication.
Therefore, American Indians possess a unique political and legal relationship with the U.S. government based on their aboriginal status, not race. Because of this special relationship, American Indian tribes conduct most of their governance business with the U.S. federal government. Only since 1953 has Congress provided for states to have limited relationships with American Indian tribes. Tribal-state relations are limited to specific areas where the U.S. Congress has delegated authority to states3, and to areas where tribes voluntarily choose to work with states. Therefore, American Indian tribes work on a limited governmental and political basis with states.
No formal venue exists for American Indian tribes to work with city, county and local municipalities. As a result, communications about issues between tribes and their neighboring communities often occurs only when conflicts arise on a crisis-by-crisis basis.
Underlying the difficulty of the situation is a lack of established informal communications networks between the respective communities. Informal communications between American Indian and non-Indian community members is rare. This lack of communications exists for various political and historical reasons, one of which is a lack in U.S. educational systems of accurate historical, legal and political information about American Indians.
This research is a pilot effort to document tribal and local community member's perceptions on ways to improve communications between American Indian and non-Indian people. The research was conducted during the Summer of 1997. Two primary researchers, John Poupart, AIRPI President, and Tracy Becker, University of Minnesota, gathered data and wrote this summary report. Questions regarding this research should be directed to the AIRPI website, airpi@cpinternet.com or, to the AIRPI office, (651) 644-1728.
The
Well-Being of American Indian Children in Minnesota: Economic Conditions,
1994
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