“These governments were not very sophisticated and were often unwieldy, with no provisions for court systems. These systems usually hampered efforts to get things done,” says Dr. Stephen Cornell, faculty chairman of the University of Arizona’s Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management and Policy.
The old governments also carry a legacy of colonialism that creates distrust in leadership and fosters economic dependence, Cornell says. As one tribal leader told Cornell, “We’re trying to replace the victim attitude with the victor attitude.”
“If someone in Washington, D.C., is making your decisions for you, you aren’t likely to go very far,” Cornell says. “Tribal nation building must be done by Indian people.”
