Federal Indian Policy and the Fulfillment of the Trust Responsibility for Disaster Management in Indian Country

Abstract

Pre-colonization, Tribes lived in ways that were well-adapted to natural hazards and stewarded the environment respectfully. Colonization and the federal reservation system have stuck Tribes in static, often hazard-prone, areas; removing their foundational capabilities for avoiding disaster and environmental hazard impacts. The premise of ceded lands and the reservation system was a trust responsibility of the federal government to provide resources for continuing self-governance of Tribal Nations. Fulfillment of the federal government’s trust responsibility to Tribal Nations in the realm of climate change and disasters is predicated on the provision of sufficient resources for the Tribal Nation itself to properly govern. The trust responsibility is not fulfilled through the federal government allowing applications to program-dictated grant opportunities or even consistent, yet insufficient, recurring funding for disaster management. Nor is the trust responsibility fulfilled through the preparation and resourcing of outside entities – local, state, and up to the federal government itself – to enact disaster management actions on sovereign lands. The ability of a nation to develop and administer governmental programs and services independent of outside interference is the very foundation of sovereignty and self-determination. The fulfillment of the trust responsibility for disaster management hinges, therefore, on the allocation of sufficient resources and legal space for self-governance for Tribal Nations to return to pre-colonization levels of capability and sovereignty for disaster management for their citizens and residents.

Citation

Cordova, S.J. (2022), "Federal Indian Policy and the Fulfillment of the Trust Responsibility for Disaster Management in Indian Country", Jerolleman, A. and Waugh, W.L. (Ed.) Justice, Equity, and Emergency Management (Community, Environment and Disaster Risk Management, Vol. 25), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 89-106. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2040-726220220000025005