Indigenous Governance Database
constitutional governance
Frank Pommersheim: Constitutions: Powers, Implementation, and Interpretation
University of South Dakota Professor of Law Frank Pommersheim discusses the fundamental difference between a plenary power constitution and a reserved or enumerated powers constitution, and recommends that Native nations think very carefully about constitutional implementation and interpretation…
Traditional Governance and Constitution Making among the Gitanyow
This paper is a report on traditional governance and constitution making among the Gitanyow people prepared for the Gitanyow and for the First Nations Governance Centre. The Gitanyow are well along in the development of a national constitution based on traditional governance, and this paper will…
Muscogee Constitutional Jurisprudence: Vhakv Em Pvtakv (The Carpet Under The Law)
In 1974, a group of Mvskoke citizens from Oklahoma sued the federal government in federal court. Hanging in the balance was the future of Mvskoke self-determination. The plaintiffs insisted that their 1867 Constitution remained in full effect, and that they still governed themselves pursuant to it…