• Aila Hoss.
• Aila Hoss, J.D., is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law. Her research explores topics in public health law, health policy development, and the impact of federal Indian law and Tribal law on health outcomes. Prior to joining the faculty at IU, Aila served as a staff attorney for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Public Health Law Program, where she worked to improve public health through the development of legal tools and the provision of legal technical assistance to state, Tribal, local, and territorial governments. Aila completed her B.A. at Emory University and her J.D. at the University of Oregon. She is an active member of the Indiana bar. She calls Indianapolis and Atlanta home and is Iranian-American.
• J Law Med Ethics. 2019 Dec 1; 47 (4_suppl): 34-42.

AbstractFederal Indian law is the body of law that defines the rights, responsibilities, and relationships between three sovereigns, Tribes, states, and the federal government. This area of law has defined, oftentimes poorly, the contours of treaty rights, criminal and civil jurisdiction, economic development, among other issues. Much has been documented in terms of the implications of social, legal, political, and economic systems that perpetuate inequities amongst American Indian and Alaska Native populations. There has also been substantial research on health inequalities. Yet, there has been less discussion on the role of law in perpetuating these adverse health outcomes in these populations. The social and structural determinants of health are the factors and conditions, such as housing, education, and politics, that create health disparities. For years, law has been described as a tool to promote health and even a determinant of health. And while research has explored Tribal health laws and federal Indian health policies, more needs to be analyzed in terms of the role of foundational principles of federal Indian law in perpetuating health disparities. This article argues that federal Indian law is a structural determinant of health by linking health disparities to the constructs of this body of law.

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