Indigenous Governance Database
Constitutions
David Wilkins: Patterns in American Indian Constitutions
University of Minnesota American Indian Studies Professor David Wilkins provides a comprehensive overview of the resiliency of traditional governance systems among Native nations in the period leading up to the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA), and shares some data about the types of…
From the Rebuilding Native Nations Course Series: "The Citizen Potawatomi Nation's Path to Self-Determination"
Professor Joseph P. Kalt describes the dramatic rebirth of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, citing its development of capable governance as the key to its economic development success.
Greg Gilham: Engaging the Nation's Citizens and Effecting Change: The Blackfeet Nation Story
Greg Gilham, Former Chair of the Blackfeet Nation's Constitution Reform Committee, discusses the process the committee developed to move constitutional reform forward.
From the Rebuilding Native Nations Course Series: "The First Key to Effective Constitutions: Legitimacy"
Frank Ettawageshik, Joan Timeche and Frank Pommersheim discuss the importance of constitutional legitimacy to effective Native nation governance, and stress that the source of that legitimacy is the very people a constitution is designed to serve.
Virgil Edwards: How Are We Going About Remaking Our Constitution?
Blackfeet Constitution Reform Committee Member Virgil Edwards discusses the process the Blackfeet Nation devised to reform its constitution, and describes how politics ultimately derailed the process before it could produce a new constitution for the Blackfeet people. This video resource is…
Miriam Jorgensen: Organizing the Reform Process
NNI Director of Research Miriam Jorgensen shares what she sees as some of the critical keys to Native nations' efforts to develop and implement effective constitutional reform processes. This video resource is featured on the Indigenous Governance Database with the permission of…
From the Rebuilding Native Nations Course Series: "What Do We Mean When We Say 'Constitutions'?"
Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development Co-Director Joseph P. Kalt provides a definition of 'constitutions' in the context of nation building.
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…
Hepsi Barnett: How Did We Go About Remaking Our Constitution?
Former staff member Hepsi Barnett of the Osage Government Reform Commission discusses the process by which the Osage Nation approached the task of developing a new constitution and system of government, and also provides the complex history that necessitated their creation. This video…
From the Rebuilding Native Nations Course Series: "Remaking the Tools of Governance: What Can Native Nations Do?"
Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development Co-Director Stephen Cornell discusses the need for Native nations to reclaim and remake their tools of governance in order to meet the nation-building challenges they face today.
Priscilla Iba: Osage Government Reform
Osage Government Reform Commission Member Priscilla Iba discusses the historical factors that prompted the Osage Nation to create an entirely new constitution and governance system, and how the Nation went to great lengths to cultivate the participation and ownership of Osage citizens in the…
James R. Gray: Government Reform: Mobilizing Citizen Participation
Former Osage Nation Principal Chief Jim Gray explains the significant citizen-engagement hurdle the Osage Nation had to overcome in creating a new constitution and governance system, and how its ability to cultivate citizen participation and ownership in the development of Osage's new government…
Honoring Nations: Hepsi Barnett, Tony Fish and Joyce Wells: Reclaiming Native Nations (Q&A)
Native leaders Hepsi Barnett, Tony Fish, and Joyce Wells share a deeper level of detail about the roots and impacts of their nations' Honoring Nations award-winning programs.
Honoring Nations: Hepsi Barnett: The Osage Government Reform Initiative
Former Osage Government Reform Commission Staff Member Hepsi Barnett discusses the historical events and resulting governance issues that prompted the Osage Nation to create an entirely new constitution and system of government in 2006.
Honoring Nations: Sovereignty Today: Q&A
The 2007 Honoring Nations symposium "Sovereignty Today" panel presenters as well as members of the Honoring Nations Board of Governors field questions from the audience and offer their thoughts on the state of tribal sovereignty today and the challenges that lie ahead.
From the Rebuilding Native Nations Course Series: "Constitutions: Reflecting and Enacting Culture and Identity"
Hepsi Barnett, Frank Ettawageshik, Greg Gilham and Donald "Del" Laverdure offer their perspectives on the opportunity that constitutional reform presents Native nations with respect to reintegrating their distinct cultures and identities into their governance systems.
Gwen Phillips: Reforming the Ktunaxa Nation Constitution: What We're Doing and Why
Gwen Phillips, Director of Corporate Services and Governance Transition for the Ktunaxa Nation, discusses how Ktunaxa is using the British Columbia treaty process to reconceive and restructure its governance system from the ground up in order to revitalize Ktunaxa culture, language and core values…
Frank Pommersheim: A Key Constitutional Issue: Dispute Resolution
University of South Dakota Professor of Law Frank Pommersheim discusses the key constitutional issue of dispute resolution and presents three cases demonstrating how tribes are endowing their constitutions with legitimacy through the careful, thoughtful resolution of disputes.
Taylor Keen: The Disenfranchisement of the Cherokee Freedmen: Assertion or Abuse of Sovereignty?
Taylor Keen (Cherokee), a former member of the Cherokee Nation Council, discusses the stand he took against his nation's recent decision to disenfranchise the Cherokee Freedman. He offers a convincing argument against the move, explaining that taking away the citizenship rights of the Freedmen…
Constitutional Reform: A Wrap-Up Discussion (Q&A)
NNI "Tribal Constitutions" seminar presenters, panelists and participants Robert Breaker, Julia Coates, Frank Ettawageshik, Miriam Jorgensen, Gwen Phillips, Ian Record, Melissa L. Tatum and Joan Timeche field questions from the audience about separations of powers, citizenship, blood quantum and…