Abstract
This Essay explores the Indian trust relationship in light of recent decisions, especially Arizona v. Navajo Nation, that severely limit the judicial enforcement of federal trust responsibilities. Given the built-in tension between the trust responsibility and self-determination, periodic reassessment of the role and power of the Indian trust is perhaps inevitable. The Supreme Court's attack on meaningful enforcement of the trust responsibility is deeply problematic in that it puts tribes in the position of getting neither the benefits of a special Indian trust nor those principles that are supposed to govern trusts in general. But the Court is not the only voice that matters when it comes to the trust relationship between the United States and Indian nations.
Repository Citation
Ezra Rosser,
The Unenforceable Indian Trust,
61
Tulsa L. Rev.
27
(2025).
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/facsch_lawrev/2335