A Proposal to the Hanodaganyas to Decolonize Federal Indian Control Law

In this Article, cast in the form of a letter to President William Jefferson Clinton, Professor Porter argues for the decolonization of federal Indian control law. After detailing the religious and colonialist roots of early Supreme Court decisions dealing with the Indian nations and giving an overview of the evolution of federal Indian policy, Professor Porter argues for the decolonization of federal Indian control law on several grounds: 1. the world community has rejected colonialism policies; 2. federal Indian control law denies basic human rights of self-determination; 3. colonization has partially succeeded in destroying the Indian nations; and 4. decolonization is an efficient use of federal resources. Professor Porter then describes recent reform efforts in this field of law and explains why they have not been as successful as their proponents might have hoped. He concludes by outlining a proposal to decolonize federal Indian control law through several means: 1. defining all aspects of the federal-tribal relationship by agreement; 2. implementing Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) reform; 3. repealing colonial federal Indian control law; and 4. abandoning the colonial foundation of federal Indian control doctrine.