Shaping Tribal Self-Governance with Lloyd Miller

Welcome to another episode of Impact Unfiltered, where we dive deep into honest conversations with leaders creating real change in healthcare and beyond. In this session, host Stuart sits down at the Self-Governance Conference with Lloyd Miller — an Indian law attorney and registered lobbyist who has been practicing Indian law since 1979, with three U.S. Supreme Court victories under his belt and his fingerprints on nearly every major piece of tribal self-governance legislation. Lloyd Miller takes us through a living history of how tribal self-governance went from a vision to the dominant operating model for tribal healthcare and government services. He walks from the 1988 Indian Self-Determination Act amendments through the pivotal 1994 reforms to today’s expansion into HHS and beyond — and shares what 45 years of this work has taught him about persistence, the long view, and why tribally-run services consistently outperform federal delivery. With reflections on the Maine tribes case that inspired his career, the moral weight of the federal trust responsibility, and Martin Luther King’s “bending the arc,” this episode is a master class in the patient work of changing systems. Tune in for a conversation about Indian law, sovereignty, and the persistence it takes to win cases that span decades.