Tribal Self-Determination in the Age of Scarcity

Abstract:     
Today, tribes throughout the country stand at the intersection of two major political and economic forces, either of which possesses the intensity to relegate time-honored principles of tribal sovereignty to mere federally-ordained dictates. The first is the U.S. Supreme Court's inclination to reshape the contours of tribal sovereignty by abandoning a formalistic adherence to these foundational principles of federal Indian law for a more functional approach involving a complex balancing of state and tribal political interests, with the scale tipping more frequently in favor of the state's interests, or at least against the tribe's interests. The second is the current global economic crisis and its repercussions on tribal economies. Many tribes already have suffered a backlash from the failing economy and more tribal economies undoubtedly will be debilitated by severe pressures on the federal budget. Such scarcity of resources raises somber questions about the possible diminishment in federal responsiveness to tribal needs.

Keywords: tribal sovereignty, sovereign immunity, Indian law, economics, governance

Accepted Paper Series