Abstract
The federal government's three branches—executive, legislative, judicial, and that unwieldy mass known simply as "the bureaucracy" have, during the last half-decade—1987-1991—produced a dizzying crop of laws, policies, proclamations, regulations, and court decisions which have served simultaneously to 1) reaffirm tribal sovereignty; 2) permit and encourage greater state interference within Indian Country; 3) enhance federal legislative authority over tribes; and 4) deny constitutional free-exercise protections both to individual Indians and to tribes.
On the legislative side, Congress has established the experimental Tribal Self-Governance Demonstration Project which is a major step towards restoring the tribal right of self-determination, and is discussing the potentiality of reestablishing a more constitutionally-grounded policy with tribes—"New Federalism." This policy would resemble the bilateral agreement period between tribes and the U.S. which lasted from 1875 to 1914.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1992
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 1992 University of California, Davis. This article first appeared in Wicazo Sa Review 8:1 (April 1992), 40-64.
Please note that downloads of the article are for private/personal use only.
Recommended Citation
Wilkins, David E. “Who’s in Charge of U.S. Indian Policy? Congress and the Supreme Court at Loggerheads Over American Indian Religious Freedom.” Wicazo Sa Review 8, no. 1 (April 1992), 40-64.