By Lesley Morales-Sanchez
In this essay, it argues how disproportionately high rates of unsolved crime Native American women experience comes from how complex the relationship between the federal and tribal governments. To make the argument, the essay focused on how the complexity between federal and tribal government policies contribute to reservations being unable to address these high rates of unsolved crime among their community through the analysis of the history between the U.S. federal government and tribal government. This history includes the negligence, violence, and failures of the U.S. federal government towards the reservations and its handling of the crimes committed by non-tribe members toward Native American women; the lack of autonomy over the criminal jurisdiction in reservations; and the attempts made to address the legal discord between the federal and tribal government.
To begin, the paper overlooks the tense history between the U.S. federal government and the tribal government by analyzing the federal government’s negligence, violence, and failures towards the reservations, especially when it came to crimes committed by non-tribe members toward Native American women. Since the colonial era of the United States, the tense relationship between the federal and tribal government created a complex environment in which who has legal jurisdiction and responsibility over the crimes being committed has become blurred. Examples of the legal structure that contributed to this complexity can be seen through other scholarly works that have addressed this matter. One such work, for instance, noted how though formal apologies by U.S. government officials are important, like that done by former Assistant Secretary Kevin Gover of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, they do not go far enough to make meaningful change to the situation many Native American women are unfortunately experiencing. Changes to the current structure of federal laws, policies, and regulations towards reservations are needed. Without these changes that can help bring more sovereignty and ability to prosecute offenders, tribal governments are often left unable to protect their members.
In the present-day, these historical failures continue to have an impact on how crime toward Native American women is addressed by both federal and tribal governments. As mentioned in another scholarly work addressing this matter, the U.S. government’s attempt to address and achieve criminal justice has been rather inconsistent and often discriminatory in its legislation towards the Native American community. Much of these attempts have actually emboldened offenders as there is often little to no real punishment or accountability for an individual, as a non-tribe member, for committing a crime in the reservations by either the federal or tribal government. As a result, violent crimes all too frequently go unresolved, and Native American women are left vulnerable to high rates of unsolved crime.
There have been more attempts to better the situation of these women through reform changes in the current legal structure. Such reform acts include the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 and the 2013 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. Though both of these reform efforts attempt to expand the tribal government’s authority, in reality, they both impose strict requirements that limit the practical use and impact of these new laws, ultimately undermining tribal autonomy. Why these acts attempt to remedy the past mistakes, they do not adequately resolve the complex jurisdiction issue between the federal and tribal government that has led to the disproportionately high rates of unsolved crime towards Native American Women.
