Journal of Social Equity and Public Administration

It Does Not Stop at Treaties: Filling the Void of Indigenous Governance

Yamina Sfiat

University of Kansas

https://orcid.org/0009-0006-6744-8944

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24926/jsepa.v3i1.5600

Keywords: tribal governance, tribal public adminsitration, sovereignty, Indigenous governance

---

Abstract

The field of public administration has rarely investigated the complexities of intergovernmental relationships among Tribal governments. Very little is known about how Tribal governments function as their own administration or as an administration within another nation, or about the many intricacies and histories centralized within that dynamic. Not understanding how these governments function, how they overlap, or how the United States often works against sovereign nations is detrimental to any policy created with the intent of service to Tribal governments. This article seeks to address this issue and provides an agenda of questions for scholars to explore. Tribal public administration must be placed at the core of public administration rather than at the margins, and in doing so, public administration as a field must prioritize Indigenous voices.

---

Author Biography

Yamina Sfiat, University of Kansas

Yamina Sfiat (she/hers) (yaminasfiat@outlook.com) received her MA in Indigenous Studies at the University of Kansas. Her focus is on Tribal sovereignty in relation to criminal justice reform. Prior to graduate study, her educational background was within criminal justice and political science focusing on incarceration, Indigenous rights, and international relations. She is Chicana and North African, born and raised in Massachusetts to immigrant parents. Her Indigenous heritage is traced to Huichol, Nahuatl, and Amazigh communities, though she was not raised directly within those communities and traditions.

---

References

Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 [43 U.S.C.1601 et seq.]

Alcantara, Christopher, and Jen Nelles. 2014. “Indigenous Peoples and the State in Settler Societies: Toward a More Robust Definition of Multilevel Governance.” Publius 44 (1): 183–204.

Aufrecht, Steven E. 1999. “Missing: Native American Governance in American Public Administration Literature.” The American Review of Public Administration 29 (4): 370–390.

Aufrecht, Steven E., and Davis S. Case. 2005. “Indians 78, Washington State 0: Stories About Indians and the Law.” Public Administration Review 65 (4): 450–461.

Berman, David. R., and Tanis J. Salant. 1998. “Minority Representation, Resistance, and Public Policy: The Navajos and the Counties.” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 28 (4): 83–104.

Brown, Howard. L. 1999. “The Navajo Nation’s Peacemaker Division: An Integrated, Community-Based Dispute Resolution Forum.” American Indian Law Review 24 (2): 297–308.

Cobb, Amanda. J. 2005. “Understanding Tribal Sovereignty: Definitions, Conceptualizations, and Interpretations.” American Studies 46 (3–4): 115–132.

Coffey, Wallace, and Rebecca Tsosie. 2001. “Rethinking the Tribal Sovereignty Doctrine: Cultural Sovereignty and the Collective Future of Indian Nations.” Stanford Law & Policy Review 12 (2): 191–222.

Conner, Thaddeus. W., and Stephanie L. Witt. 2016. “The Role of Capacity and Problem Severity in Adopting Voluntary Intergovernmental Partnerships: The Case of Tribes, States, and Local Governments.” State and Local Government Review 48 (2): 87–99.

Evans, Laura. E. 2011. Power From Powerlessness: Tribal Governments, Institutional Niches, And American Federalism. Oxford University Press.

Galston, William A., and Geoffrey L. Tibbetts. 1994. “Reinventing Federalism: The Clinton/Gore Program for A New Partnership Among the Federal, State, Local, And Tribal Governments.” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 24 (3): 23–47.

Hae-June Ahn. 2010. “Tribal Governments Should Be Entitled to Special Solicitude: The Overarching Sentiment of the Parens Patriae Doctrine.” Ecology Law Quarterly 37 (2): 625–653.

Hill, Carolyn. J., and Laurence E. Lynn. 2004. “Governance and Public Management, an Introduction.” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 23 (1): 3–11.

Immarigeon, Russ, and Kathleen Daly. 1997. “Restorative Justice: Origins, Practices, Contexts, and Challenges.” The ICCA Journal on Community Corrections 8 (2): 13–19.

King, Cheryl. S., and Megan Beeby. 2008. “Colleen Jollie, State Tribal Liaison: A Story of Transformational Change.” Public Administration Review 68 (6): 1142–1150.

Light, Steven. A. 2004. “The Third Sovereign: Indian Gaming as a Teaching Case in Intergovernmental Relations and Public Administration.” Journal of Public Affairs Education 10 (4): 311–327.

Luna-Firebaugh, Eileen. 2007. Tribal Policing: Asserting Sovereignty, Seeking Justice. University of Arizona Press.

Lutz, Donald. S. 1998. “The Iroquois Confederation Constitution: An Analysis.” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 28 (2): 99–127.

Lynn, Laurence. E., Carolyn J. Heinrich and Carolyn J. Hill. 2000. “Studying Governance and Public Management: Challenges and Prospects.” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 10 (2): 233–262.

Mason, Dale E. 1998. “Tribes and States: A New Era in Intergovernmental Affairs.” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 28 (1): 111–130.

McDowell, Bruce. D. 2003. “Wildfires Create New Intergovernmental Challenges.” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 33 (3): 45–61.

Menzies, Charles R., ed. 2006. Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Natural Resource Management. University of Nebraska Press.

Nancarrow, Heather. 2006. “In Search of Justice for Domestic and Family Violence.” Theoretical Criminology 10 (1): 87–106.

Ortiz, James. 2001. “Solid Waste Management in Indian Country: Multiple Sovereigns and Multiple Relationships at the Nexus of Federalism and Tribal Governance.” Administrative Theory & Praxis 23 (2): 263–268.

Papillon, Martin. 2012. “Adapting Federalism: Indigenous Multilevel Governance in Canada and the United States.” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 42 (2): 289–312.

Philpott, Daniel. 1995. “Sovereignty: An Introduction and Brief History.” Journal of International Affairs 48 (2): 353–368.

Prucha, Francis. P. 1984. “American Indian Policy in the Twentieth Century.” The Western Historical Quarterly 15 (1): 5–18.

Reed, Graeme, Nicolas D. Brunet, Sheri Longboat, and David C. Natcher. 2021. “Indigenous Guardians as an Emerging Approach to Indigenous Environmental Governance.” Conservation Biology 35 (1): 179–189.

Ronquillo, John. C. 2011. “American Indian Tribal Governance and Management: Public Administration Promise or Pretense?” Public Administration Review 71 (2): 285–292.

Saito-Jensen, Moeko. 2015. Theories and Methods for the Study of Multilevel Environmental Governance. Center for International Forestry Research.

Skenandore, Francine. R. 2002. “Revisiting Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez: Feminist Perspectives on Tribal Sovereignty Comment.” Wisconsin Women’s Law Journal 17 (2): 347–370.

Snipp, Matthew C. 1986. “American Indians and Natural Resource Development: Indigenous Peoples’ Land, Now Sought After, Has Produced New Indian-White Problems.” American Journal of Economics and Sociology 45 (4): 457–474.

Spruhan, Paul. 2006. “A Legal History of Blood Quantum in Federal Indian Law to 1935.” SDL Rev., 51 (1). https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=955032

Steinman, Erich. 2004. “American Federalism and Intergovernmental Innovation in State-Tribal Relations.” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 34 (2): 95–114.

Stivers, Camilla. 2017. “Elouise Cobell and the Indian Trust Funds: Accountability and Trust in Public Administration.” Administrative Theory & Praxis 39 (2): 157–169.

Tortola, Pier. D. 2017. “Clarifying Multilevel Governance.” European Journal of Political Research 56 (2): 234–250.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). n.d. American Indians and Alaska Natives—What Are State Recognized Tribes? The Administration for Children and Families, an Office of the Administration for Children & Families.

Webster, Rebecca M., and Joseph Bauerkemper, eds. 2022. Tribal Administration Handbook: A Guide for Native Nations in the United States. MSU Press.

Wilkins, David. E. 1994. “Reconsidering the Tribal-State Compact Process.” Policy Studies Journal 22 (3): 474–488.

Wilkins, David. E. 1998. “Tribal-State Affairs: American States as “Disclaiming” Sovereigns.” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 28 (4): 55–81.

Wilkins, David. E., and Keith Richotte. 2003. “The Rehnquist Court and Indigenous Rights: The Expedited Diminution of Native Powers of Governance.” Publius 33 (3): 83–110.

Wilson, Patrick. I. 2002. “Tribes, States, and the Management of Lake Resources: Lakes Coeur d’Alene and Flathead.” Publius: The Journal of Federalism 32 (3): 115–131.

Wunder, John. R. 1994. “Retained By the People”: A History of American Indians and The Bill of Rights. Oxford University Press.

Younging, Gregory. 2018. Elements of Indigenous Style: A Guide for Writing By and About Indigenous Peoples. Brush Education.