Lobbying as a Strategy for Tribal Resilience

2018 BYU Law Review 1159

73 Pages Posted: 14 Aug 2019

Date Written: August 9, 2019

Abstract

Indian tribes have endured as separate governments despite the taking of their land, the forced relocation of their people, and the abrogation of their treaty rights. Many threats to tribal existence have stemmed from federal policies aimed at assimilating Indians into mainstream American society. In crafting these policies, members of Congress often relied on the input of non-Indians, including the Bureau of Indian Affairs. As a result, American Indians were largely left out of the federal policy-making process. This started to change in the 1970s when Congress adopted the Tribal Self-Determination Policy, which encouraged tribal participation in the creation of federal Indian policy. Tribes have responded to this opening of the political process by increasingly lobbying Congress. This Article explores how tribes have used legislative strategies to influence federal Indian policy. It demonstrates how tribes have used lobbying as a way to build resilience over time by influencing the development of federal Indian policies that protect tribal sovereignty. This Article emphasizes the role of American Indian voices in federal policy–making and shows how tribes have used legislative advocacy to initiate new policies, to reverse court decisions, and to oversee the implementation of existing policies. In conclusion, this Article considers some of the implications of this research for federal Indian law and interest group and advocacy studies more generally.

Keywords: Sociolegal Studies, Advocacy, Federal Indian Law

Suggested Citation

Carlson, Kirsten Matoy, Lobbying as a Strategy for Tribal Resilience (August 9, 2019). 2018 BYU Law Review 1159, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3435168 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3435168

Kirsten Matoy Carlson (Contact Author)

Wayne State University Law School ( email )

471 Palmer
Detroit, MI 48202
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
113
Abstract Views
1,017
Rank
439,112
PlumX Metrics