A Planner’s Guide to Tribal Sovereignty & Partnerships

This panel will introduce and deepen planners’ understanding of tribal sovereignty, retained rights, and the legal constructions and limitations surrounding land use on tribal lands. Planning education and existing resources often fail to account for the enduring role of Tribal Nations in America, despite their importance as governing nations. Speakers will walk through the arc of Tribal Nations, through history into today, including the role of treaties, major pieces of legislation, and Supreme Court decisions that shape the framework of land and law under which we operate. Key concepts will include: treaty rights, allotment, Trust land, checkerboarding, and consultation obligations. Panelists will use case examples to illustrate areas of tension and strategies for partnership throughout planning processes, including infrastructure and conservation projects with cross jurisdictional boundaries and obligations planners have to respect and preserve native sites and cultural assets. Planners will be encouraged to face inconvenient truths regarding treaties and the intentional dispossession of land to better understand the manifestations of disregard for affected community residents who bring local, indigenous knowledge to planning processes. Panelists will help planners engage, as individuals and professionals, with their own responsibility in the face of a heavy history, current community needs, and ethical responsibilities.