The Wrongs of Property Rights: The Erosion of Indigenous Communal Land Rights and Its Welfare Consequences.

This article presents a theoretical economic model analyzing how privatizing Indigenous reserve land—by dividing communal land into individual fee simple plots—can reduce the well-being of Indigenous Peoples in North America. It argues that communal land ownership supports cultural goods and collective activities essential to Indigenous identity, and that privatization undermines these by shifting effort toward individual production at the expense of culture, consistent with the Theory of the Second Best. Drawing on historical examples such as the 1887 U.S. Dawes Act and similar Canadian policies, the article links land privatization to declines in Indigenous welfare, emphasizing that Indigenous concepts of land as a collective, sacred entity differ fundamentally from Western private property notions. The findings suggest that policy initiatives promoting privatization risk eroding Indigenous culture and well-being, highlighting the importance of incorporating Indigenous worldviews and cultural continuity in land rights discussions.