- Indigenous Peoples Rights, Law and Society, Law and Literature, American Indian Law, Critical Legal Theory, Legal Realism, and 12 moreLegal Education, Sovereignty, Socio-legal studies, Native American Studies, Native American, Native American (History), American Indian Studies, American Indian History, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, and Indigenous Politicsedit
- My research and writing on Indigenous Peoples' legal issues focuses on self-determination and territorial integrity i... moreMy research and writing on Indigenous Peoples' legal issues focuses on self-determination and territorial integrity in the face of nation-state colonial doctrines of "discovery," "terra nullius," "plenary power," and "trusteeship." I take a critical approach to U.S. "federal Indian law"— fully set forth in my book, Federal Anti-Indian Law: The Legal Entrapment of Indigenous Peoples (Praeger - ABC-CLIO, 2022) https://www.abc-clio.com/products/A6462C/ .
I was introduced to Indigenous legal issues in 1968, as an attorney in the Shiprock office of Dinébe’iiná Náhiiłna be Agha’diit’ahii—Navajo Legal Services. I represented individual clients and worked on special projects, including a juvenile code integrating U.S. due process standards with traditional Navajo clan practices, and a class action lawsuit against car dealers who exploited Navajo customers.
When I began teaching at the University of Massachusetts / Amherst, I developed a curriculum on global Indigenous legal issues, and courses on critical legal theory from an Indigenous perspective. I helped develop the Legal Studies Department and was its first Director. I am coauthor of Before the Law: An Introduction to the Legal Process (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 2006 [8th edition]), and author of essays, articles, and encyclopedia entries on Indigenous Peoples legal issues, in addition to my 2022 book.
I have also been active in litigation. In one case, I represented members of a Native American Spiritual Awareness Council—a group of inmates in a Massachusetts prison—to defend and expand their freedom of religion. The case, Trapp, et. al v. DuBois, et. al., concluded, after ten years of litigation, in a court-ordered agreement with the Department of Corrections to protect Native spiritual practices.
In another case, I represented two Wampanoag men charged with violating a local shellfishing ordinance. The case, Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Michael J. Maxim and David S. Greene, resulted in unanimous decisions of the Massachusetts Appeals Court and Supreme Judicial Court upholding Wampanoag fishing rights.
Elsewhere, I worked with the Western Shoshone National Council in a variety of legal contexts, including federal and state court litigation in Nevada, and petitions to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Organization of American States, and other international bodies.
I was a columnist for Indian Country Media Network from 2010 - 2017.
My life: born in West Virginia; lived in WV, MA, NY, LA, ND, ME, CT, NM
My education: Bates College, A.B., Philosophy, 1965; Yale Law School, LL.B. (J.D.), 1968
My current professional status: Emeritus Professor of Legal Studies, University of Massachusetts / Amherst; New Mexico Bar Member (Inactive)
Website: http://people.umass.edu/derrico/
Blog: https://blogs.umass.edu/derrico/edit
In Part 1 of this series, I told the story of two Supreme Court decisions elevating the concept of “corporate person” into US Constitutional law. Now, in Part 2, I look at political-economy. The 14th Amendment, having fostered the birth... more
In Part 1 of this series, I told the story of two Supreme Court decisions elevating the concept of “corporate person” into US Constitutional law.
Now, in Part 2, I look at political-economy.
The 14th Amendment, having fostered the birth of freedom for the “corporate person”, is superfluous for “human commodities”.
Now, in Part 2, I look at political-economy.
The 14th Amendment, having fostered the birth of freedom for the “corporate person”, is superfluous for “human commodities”.
Research Interests: History, Cultural History, Economic History, Sociology, Social Psychology, and 15 moreConstitutional Law, Economics, Political Economy, Political Theory, Corporate Law, Legal History, Political Science, Critical Legal Theory, Legal Theory, Philosophy Of Law, Corporate Finance, Civil Rights, Socio-legal studies, Civil Rights Movement, and Legal Philosophy
Christianizing Indians, Corporatizing America... Here’s Part 1 of a condensed version of the essay I wrote three decades ago, “Corporate Personality and Human Commodification”, exploring the US Supreme Court case of Dartmouth College v.... more
Christianizing Indians, Corporatizing America...
Here’s Part 1 of a condensed version of the essay I wrote three decades ago, “Corporate Personality and Human Commodification”, exploring the US Supreme Court case of Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819).
Here’s Part 1 of a condensed version of the essay I wrote three decades ago, “Corporate Personality and Human Commodification”, exploring the US Supreme Court case of Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819).
Research Interests:
A look behind the curtain of the latest denial of parole to Leonard Peltier. The 1975 shoot-out between American Indian Movement members — including Leonard Peltier — and FBI agents at Pine Ridge reservation was not a crime but a battle... more
A look behind the curtain of the latest denial of parole to Leonard Peltier. The 1975 shoot-out between American Indian Movement members — including Leonard Peltier — and FBI agents at Pine Ridge reservation was not a crime but a battle in an ongoing war.
Research Interests: History, Native American Studies, Criminal Law, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, and 10 moreLegal History, Political Science, Indigenous Politics, Socio-legal studies, Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Native American (History), Legal, and Peltier
The Family of Abraham — Jews, Muslims, and Christians — is a large, complex dysfunctional family. Each branch wars with the others; each claims for itself a divine mandate and a covenant to “inherit” the Earth. The world is caught in... more
The Family of Abraham — Jews, Muslims, and Christians — is a large, complex dysfunctional family. Each branch wars with the others; each claims for itself a divine mandate and a covenant to “inherit” the Earth.
The world is caught in their crossfire.
Those who seek peace among Christians, Muslims, and Jews must start by acknowledging these are warring factions of a single, though complex, Family.
Tolerance within and among these factions and sub-factions will require wholesale reevaluation of the underlying religious framework.
The world is caught in their crossfire.
Those who seek peace among Christians, Muslims, and Jews must start by acknowledging these are warring factions of a single, though complex, Family.
Tolerance within and among these factions and sub-factions will require wholesale reevaluation of the underlying religious framework.
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Several readers referred to my recent Substack piece about mass media at Big Mountain as a “new genre” of my writing… and encouraged me to do more “personal” writing. Their suggestions resonated with a sense already percolating in me to... more
Several readers referred to my recent Substack piece about mass media at Big Mountain as a “new genre” of my writing… and encouraged me to do more “personal” writing.
Their suggestions resonated with a sense already percolating in me to step back from an almost single-minded emphasis on legal and academic essays to write more broadly — personally, philosophically.
The broader perspective would still have roots in my legal / academic experiences with Original Peoples and Nations, building from something Muscogee Creek medicine teacher Phillip Deere said: “What we call the ‘Indian way of life’ is only a human being way of life.”
Their suggestions resonated with a sense already percolating in me to step back from an almost single-minded emphasis on legal and academic essays to write more broadly — personally, philosophically.
The broader perspective would still have roots in my legal / academic experiences with Original Peoples and Nations, building from something Muscogee Creek medicine teacher Phillip Deere said: “What we call the ‘Indian way of life’ is only a human being way of life.”
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A story of personal experience in 1986... I was at Big Mountain / Black Mesa returning with my sons Julian and Adrian and my wife Angela to the land where I first encountered “Indians” and “Indian law”. Big Mountain in 1986 became a site... more
A story of personal experience in 1986... I was at Big Mountain / Black Mesa returning with my sons Julian and Adrian and my wife Angela to the land where I first encountered “Indians” and “Indian law”.
Big Mountain in 1986 became a site for politics, a story for the media: Indigenous peoples confronting the nation-state industrial system. Media arrived to ‘cover’ the story.
The heart of my story is the two moments when I saw the truth of television, the fabrication of mass media, America's story to itself about “Indians”.
Big Mountain in 1986 became a site for politics, a story for the media: Indigenous peoples confronting the nation-state industrial system. Media arrived to ‘cover’ the story.
The heart of my story is the two moments when I saw the truth of television, the fabrication of mass media, America's story to itself about “Indians”.
Research Interests:
The perspectives of a Lakota Elder make a nice companion to my book, "Federal Anti-Indian Law". Example: • "I'm not an Indian. I'm not a Native American. I'm a Lakota. …The key to this thing is people should know the truth." My book:... more
The perspectives of a Lakota Elder make a nice companion to my book, "Federal Anti-Indian Law". Example: • "I'm not an Indian. I'm not a Native American. I'm a Lakota. …The key to this thing is people should know the truth." My book: There is no such entity as "Indian" except among the peoples of the Indian subcontinent. Christopher Columbus knew that; he just didn't know where he was when he "discovered America." The ensuing "misrecognition of natives as indians is both oppressive and a prison of false identities."
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European feudal societies developed the theory of human evolution from "barbarism to civilization" to defend against the evidence of Indigenous well-being and freedom. In 2021, The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity, by David... more
European feudal societies developed the theory of human evolution from "barbarism to civilization" to defend against the evidence of Indigenous well-being and freedom. In 2021, The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity, by David Graeber and David Wengrow, an anthropology and archaeology research team, joined the burgeoning twenty-first-century global awareness that life on Earth is in social and ecological crisis, and that the crisis is tied to the system of industrial state corporate society. The book's contribution is to help us understand why we are having such a difficult time figuring a way out of the mess. The reason, Graeber and Wengrow say, is that our thinking is trapped by a belief in the story that modern society is the end-state of human evolution-the inevitable result of "progressing" from "barbarism" to "civilization."
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Bloomsbury describes the book this way: Telling the crucial and under-studied story of the U.S. legal doctrines that underpin the dispossession and domination of Indigenous peoples, this book enhances global Indigenous movements for... more
Bloomsbury describes the book this way:
Telling the crucial and under-studied story of the U.S. legal doctrines that underpin the dispossession and domination of Indigenous peoples, this book enhances global Indigenous movements for self-determination.
Telling the crucial and under-studied story of the U.S. legal doctrines that underpin the dispossession and domination of Indigenous peoples, this book enhances global Indigenous movements for self-determination.
Research Interests: History, Native American Studies, Political Philosophy, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, and 11 morePolitical Theory, Legal History, Political Science, Indigenous Politics, Legal Theory, Socio-legal studies, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, Native American (History), Native Title, and Nomadic/Indigenous People
Viewing the Robinson Huron Treaty case within Canada's "Honour of the Crown".- McIvor: "The Supreme Court of Canada has repeatedly stated that at its heart reconciliation is about reconciling the pre-existing rights of Indigenous Peoples... more
Viewing the Robinson Huron Treaty case within Canada's "Honour of the Crown".- McIvor: "The Supreme Court of Canada has repeatedly stated that at its heart reconciliation is about reconciling the pre-existing rights of Indigenous Peoples with the assertion of Crown sovereignty. The phrase 'assertion of Crown sovereignty' is a Canadian euphemism for the Doctrine of Discovery." —-We will look at the 'historic settlement' of the Robinson Huron Treaty Annuities Case as an example of McIvor's critique: At first blush, the Robinson Huron settlement looks wonderful. What could be better than Canada paying the Anishinabek for profits derived from their ceded lands? But lurking beneath the surface-or we might say behind the curtain-are the troubling principles of "the honor of the Crown" and "Reconciliation".
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The rights of Native people as US citizens are inconsistent with the rights of Original Peoples as peoples. Exploring the complexities and contradictions of ‘multiculturalism’ and ‘multinationalism’ in relation to Original Peoples... more
The rights of Native people as US citizens are inconsistent with the rights of Original Peoples as peoples. Exploring the complexities and contradictions of ‘multiculturalism’ and ‘multinationalism’ in relation to Original Peoples dominated by the US.
Research Interests: History, Sociology, Native American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, and 10 morePolitical Theory, Legal History, Political Science, Indigenous Politics, Legal Theory, Politics, Socio-legal studies, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Indigenous Peoples, and Native American (History)
Thomas' critique is an opportunity to exploit lines of fracture in federal anti-Indian law doctrines that try to justify US domination of Original Peoples. https://peterderrico.substack.com/p/whos-afraid-of-clarence-thomas My very... more
Thomas' critique is an opportunity to exploit lines of fracture in federal anti-Indian law doctrines that try to justify US domination of Original Peoples. https://peterderrico.substack.com/p/whos-afraid-of-clarence-thomas My very first Substack post was about the 2023 Haaland v. Brackeen Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) case: "Cutting Through the US Claim of a Right of Domination over Indigenous People: An Analysis of Haaland v. Brackeen". I dissected the decision in minute detail and will not repeat that here. This post focuses on Haaland as an example of the US Supreme Court effort to "constitutionalize" federal anti-Indian law domination, as if that would legitimize it.
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How does a 15th century religious doctrine survive in a legal system that supposedly separates religion and law? https://peterderrico.substack.com/p/political-principles-and-indian-sovereignty . "Christian discovery" contradicts the... more
How does a 15th century religious doctrine survive in a legal system that supposedly separates religion and law? https://peterderrico.substack.com/p/political-principles-and-indian-sovereignty . "Christian discovery" contradicts the supposedly secular nature of the United States. Lee Hester says: "We cannot seriously consent to a law that would allow countries to 'legitimately' take over other countries just because they are the 'wrong' religion."
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The 2015 United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Final Report of its 14th Session addressed “Self-harm and suicide among [Indigenous] children and young people”. The Report said: "The lack of recognition of and respect for... more
The 2015 United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Final Report of its 14th Session addressed “Self-harm and suicide among [Indigenous] children and young people”. The Report said:
"The lack of recognition of and respect for the right of self-determination of
Indigenous peoples…can lead to desperation and hopelessness, with
Indigenous communities frequently seeing [high] suicide rates.
Suicidal behaviour, suicide and self-harm are directly related to …the loss by Indigenous peoples of their rights to their lands and territories, natural resources, traditional ways of life."
"The lack of recognition of and respect for the right of self-determination of
Indigenous peoples…can lead to desperation and hopelessness, with
Indigenous communities frequently seeing [high] suicide rates.
Suicidal behaviour, suicide and self-harm are directly related to …the loss by Indigenous peoples of their rights to their lands and territories, natural resources, traditional ways of life."
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Extermination of the buffalo destroyed the original free existence of original peoples and opened the way toward domination of the continent by concentrated corporate power allied with US empire. One way to tell this story is to see how... more
Extermination of the buffalo destroyed the original free existence of original peoples and opened the way toward domination of the continent by concentrated corporate power allied with US empire. One way to tell this story is to see how railroads were central to the extermination of the buffalo and to the creation of the corporate person.
Research Interests: History, Economic History, Native American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, and 9 moreIndigenous Politics, Indigenous Knowledge, Capitalism, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Social History, Indigenous Peoples, Native American (History), Buffalo reproduction, and History of Railroads
The paradigm choice for understanding American history https://peterderrico.substack.com/p/view-from-the-shore-vs-view-from America's claim to a right of domination over Native nations and peoples dominates the way American history is... more
The paradigm choice for understanding American history https://peterderrico.substack.com/p/view-from-the-shore-vs-view-from America's claim to a right of domination over Native nations and peoples dominates the way American history is studied.
Research Interests: History, Native American Studies, Political Philosophy, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, and 8 morePolitical Science, Indigenous Politics, Indigenous Knowledge, Clinical Legal Education, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Legal Philosophy, and Native American (History)
UMass Professor Emeritus of Legal Studies Peter d’Errico discusses how his research focusing on Indigenous and Native American law led him to new intellectual horizons and academic passions. I think I was as clear and succinct in this... more
UMass Professor Emeritus of Legal Studies Peter d’Errico discusses how his research focusing on Indigenous and Native American law led him to new intellectual horizons and academic passions.
I think I was as clear and succinct in this talk as I have ever been!
I think I was as clear and succinct in this talk as I have ever been!
Research Interests: History, Native American Studies, Political Philosophy, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, and 9 moreLegal History, Political Science, Indigenous Politics, Critical Race Theory, Socio-legal studies, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Legal Philosophy, and Native American (History)
We discuss the Osage Murders (Killers of the Flower Moon), Native gaming, and US domination…. https://peterderrico.substack.com/p/resistance-radio-john-kane-interviews — TWO INTERVIEWS: 11/19/2023: Author of "Federal Anti-Indian Law",... more
We discuss the Osage Murders (Killers of the Flower Moon), Native gaming, and US domination…. https://peterderrico.substack.com/p/resistance-radio-john-kane-interviews — TWO INTERVIEWS: 11/19/2023: Author of "Federal Anti-Indian Law", Peter d'Errico joins John Kane to talk about the Osage Murders, Native gaming, and US domination — 12/6/18: This was Peter d'Errico's first appearance on John Kane's show in New York. Shawnee Rice was co-hosting. We covered a wide range of issues and hit them hard.
Research Interests:
Media fixation on racism obscures the fundamental domination of US Anti-Indian Law…. Criticism of Governor Hochul's denial of Montaukett land rights as an act of racism obscures the fundamental US doctrine claiming a right of domination... more
Media fixation on racism obscures the fundamental domination of US Anti-Indian Law…. Criticism of Governor Hochul's denial of Montaukett land rights as an act of racism obscures the fundamental US doctrine claiming a right of domination over Indigenous peoples. It thus plays into the hands of anti-Indigenous assimilationists. The rhetoric of racism takes a strange turn in the history of Indigenous peoples. I have no doubt that racism befouled the 100-year old Montaukett court decisions. The judges' writings speak for themselves. But the focus on 'racism' obscures the actual basis of the court rulings-the doctrine of 'Christian Discovery'.
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In September 1970, Plymouth, MA, planners asked Wamsutta Frank James (Aquinnah Wampanoag) to deliver a speech for the 350th anniversary of the Pilgrim invasion of (they called it an ‘arrival’ on) Wampanoag lands. James agreed. But when... more
In September 1970, Plymouth, MA, planners asked Wamsutta Frank James (Aquinnah Wampanoag) to deliver a speech for the 350th anniversary of the Pilgrim invasion of (they called it an ‘arrival’ on) Wampanoag lands.
James agreed. But when the planners saw the text of his speech they refused to let him deliver it. They suggested he use a text prepared by their public relations staff. He refused.
Instead, James delivered his speech at a separate gathering, which marked the beginning of a tradition that continues to this day: The National Day of Mourning.
James agreed. But when the planners saw the text of his speech they refused to let him deliver it. They suggested he use a text prepared by their public relations staff. He refused.
Instead, James delivered his speech at a separate gathering, which marked the beginning of a tradition that continues to this day: The National Day of Mourning.
Research Interests:
Mashpee Nine tells the story of modern anti-Native bigotry on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and the survival—and triumph—of Native people practicing traditional ways in their own lands. Mashpee Nine—the book and film—packs a punch. It... more
Mashpee Nine tells the story of modern anti-Native bigotry on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and the survival—and triumph—of Native people practicing traditional ways in their own lands.
Mashpee Nine—the book and film—packs a punch.
It demonstrates that Indigenous Peoples across the continent—east and west of the Mississippi—confront the same issues: pressures to give up their lands and waters, assimilate and disappear into the long colonial project.
Mashpee Nine—the book and film—packs a punch.
It demonstrates that Indigenous Peoples across the continent—east and west of the Mississippi—confront the same issues: pressures to give up their lands and waters, assimilate and disappear into the long colonial project.
Research Interests:
Names have power, and naming is a power. Kiowa writer N. Scott Momaday, in "The Names: A Memoir," said names sometimes reveal, sometimes conceal identities. I've thought a lot about names over the decades I've taught and litigated about... more
Names have power, and naming is a power. Kiowa writer N. Scott Momaday, in "The Names: A Memoir," said names sometimes reveal, sometimes conceal identities. I've thought a lot about names over the decades I've taught and litigated about issues affecting Indigenous peoples of this continent. When you come at "Indian" this way, from a historical, legal matter, it is obvious the name is the result of a mistake. Columbus didn't know where he was. He thought he was going to India and insisted he had arrived, so he named the people Indians. "Native American" is an equally fake name that came into vogue as political correctness. How can a people be "natives" of an entity (i.e., "America") that they preexist?
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Steven J. Schwartzberg’s Arguments over Genocide: The War of Words in the Congress and the Supreme Court over Cherokee Removal was published in March 2023 by Ethics Press. Schwartzberg’s incisive reading of ‘founding era’ documents lays... more
Steven J. Schwartzberg’s Arguments over Genocide: The War of Words in the Congress and the Supreme Court over Cherokee Removal was published in March 2023 by Ethics Press.
Schwartzberg’s incisive reading of ‘founding era’ documents lays bare the arguments that occurred during the development of the US Constitution, regarding the relationship of the US to Indigenous peoples and their lands.
He reveals the deeply conflicting views expressed in those formative debates and shows that the claim of racial superiority and a right of domination over Indigenous peoples that persists to this day was not the only path open at the time.
Schwartzberg’s incisive reading of ‘founding era’ documents lays bare the arguments that occurred during the development of the US Constitution, regarding the relationship of the US to Indigenous peoples and their lands.
He reveals the deeply conflicting views expressed in those formative debates and shows that the claim of racial superiority and a right of domination over Indigenous peoples that persists to this day was not the only path open at the time.
Research Interests:
I visited the Native Circle one evening in Winter, 1994, to decide whether to represent these inmates. Slow Turtle, Wampanoag Medicine Man, worked with a Native American Spiritual Awareness Council in a Massachusetts prison. He said... more
I visited the Native Circle one evening in Winter, 1994, to decide whether to represent these inmates. Slow Turtle, Wampanoag Medicine Man, worked with a Native American Spiritual Awareness Council in a Massachusetts prison. He said prison administrators subjected the Circle to varying forms of harassment and intimidation. Prayer pipes, headbands, drums, smudge sticks and other items of sacred significance were confiscated from time to time as 'contraband'. Inmates who were not members of "federally recognized tribes" were told they could not participate in the Circle. When he asked me to represent the men, I decided to visit the Circle to get first-hand insights. One evening in Winter, 1994, I went to the prison. I wrote the following essay after that visit. In April, 1995, my colleague Bob Doyle and I filed Trapp, et al. v. DuBois, et al., (MA Superior Ct., Civil No. 95-0779). In March 2003, the case settled after the Massachusetts Appeals Court ordered the Defendants to negotiate with the Plaintiffs. In July 2003, the first Purification Lodge ceremonies were held in three Massachusetts prisons.
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Slow Turtle was Massapowau for the People of the Morning Light https://peterderrico.substack.com/p/in-memory-slow-turtle-wampanoag-medicine Slow Turtle (AKA 'John Peters', which he referred to as his 'tax name') passed October 27,... more
Slow Turtle was Massapowau for the People of the Morning Light https://peterderrico.substack.com/p/in-memory-slow-turtle-wampanoag-medicine
Slow Turtle (AKA 'John Peters', which he referred to as his 'tax name') passed October 27, 1997. In his memory, we read Bob Doyle's poem of the sea burial of Slow Turtle's ashes; the long interview of Slow Turtle by Steve McFadden; and links to a series of video interviews of Slow Turtle by a group of young filmmakers.
Slow Turtle (AKA 'John Peters', which he referred to as his 'tax name') passed October 27, 1997. In his memory, we read Bob Doyle's poem of the sea burial of Slow Turtle's ashes; the long interview of Slow Turtle by Steve McFadden; and links to a series of video interviews of Slow Turtle by a group of young filmmakers.
Research Interests:
Cognitive theory shows us that a premise for rethinking any area of law is cognitive awareness: we must understand what it is that needs to be rethought. This requires a break with ordinary practice and an exercise of our human capacity... more
Cognitive theory shows us that a premise for rethinking any area of law is cognitive awareness: we must understand what it is that needs to be rethought. This requires a break with ordinary practice and an exercise of our human capacity for self-awareness and reflection. Pagans in the Promised Land provides us with this break, and encourages us to think anew about foundational legal issues.
Research Interests: History, Cognitive Psychology, Native American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, and 10 moreLegal History, Political Science, Indigenous Politics, Legal Theory, Socio-legal studies, Indigenous Knowledge, Cognitive Linguistics, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Indigenous Peoples, and Indigenous Communication Theory
On September 14, 2023, the Onondaga / Haudenosaunee filed a Motion For Reconsideration Of Admissibility Ruling On The Violation Of The Right To Property. The Motion for Reconsideration significantly ramps up the argument. The argument is... more
On September 14, 2023, the Onondaga / Haudenosaunee filed a Motion For Reconsideration Of Admissibility Ruling On The Violation Of The Right To Property. The Motion for Reconsideration significantly ramps up the argument. The argument is detailed and explicit: Colonialism Is Not An Event: It Is a Continuing Structure of Domination.
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In honor of Indigenous People's Day-a discussion of the 'legal' theft of Indigenous lands https://peterderrico.substack.com/p/sam-seder-talks-with-peter-derrico
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An October 5, 2023, article by Gilda Geist in The Falmouth (MA) Enterprise reported a panel of Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal members speaking at Mashpee Community Park; the panel was arranged by the organization Linking Indigenous and... more
An October 5, 2023, article by Gilda Geist in The Falmouth (MA) Enterprise reported a panel of Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal members speaking at Mashpee Community Park; the panel was arranged by the organization Linking Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Knowledge (LINK)—was to raise awareness about aboriginal rights.
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Hundreds of court decisions and thousands of law review articles have been written about the 'commerce clause'; untold blood has been spilled in the enforcement of the claim of US power supposedly derived from the clause:... more
Hundreds of court decisions and thousands of law review articles have been written about the 'commerce clause'; untold blood has been spilled in the enforcement of the claim of US power supposedly derived from the clause:
https://peterderrico.substack.com/p/missing-history-in-federal-anti-indian IN THIS POST: Historical clarity and strong argumentation are both needed to overturn the US claim of a right of domination over Indigenous peoples.
https://peterderrico.substack.com/p/missing-history-in-federal-anti-indian IN THIS POST: Historical clarity and strong argumentation are both needed to overturn the US claim of a right of domination over Indigenous peoples.
Research Interests:
Indigenous peoples have been subjects of western study for centuries. Native BioData Consortium responds with Indigenous-led science. IN THIS POST: Medical and pharmaceutical abuses of Indigenous peoples and other marginalized persons;... more
Indigenous peoples have been subjects of western study for centuries. Native BioData Consortium responds with Indigenous-led science. IN THIS POST: Medical and pharmaceutical abuses of Indigenous peoples and other marginalized persons; ignoring the principle of ‘informed consent’; the antidote: independent biobanks.
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On May 12, 2023, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), an arm of the Organization of American States (OAS), issued an “Admissibility Report” upholding the Onondaga Nation’s right to pursue its claims against the United... more
On May 12, 2023, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), an arm of the Organization of American States (OAS), issued an “Admissibility Report” upholding the Onondaga Nation’s right to pursue its claims against the United States for wrongful appropriation of Onondaga land that reduced their homelands from 2.5 million acres to 7,500 acres.
The Commission rejected the US argument that Supreme Court decisions barred the Onondaga from bringing the case. It notified US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken on June 26, 2023, that the Onondaga Petition (No. 624-14) has been registered as a formal Case (No. 15.250).
The Commission rejected the US argument that Supreme Court decisions barred the Onondaga from bringing the case. It notified US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken on June 26, 2023, that the Onondaga Petition (No. 624-14) has been registered as a formal Case (No. 15.250).
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Western property theories stand in sharp relief to property systems found in many Indigenous communities.
Research Interests:
The sovereignty claim of ‘Christian discovery’ underpins the entire edifice of US laws regarding Indigenous land rights. It is a US claim of ‘title’ and ‘dominion’ over Indigenous lands. ‘Christian discovery’ necessarily underlies... more
The sovereignty claim of ‘Christian discovery’ underpins the entire edifice of US laws regarding Indigenous land rights. It is a US claim of ‘title’ and ‘dominion’ over Indigenous lands.
‘Christian discovery’ necessarily underlies ‘LandBack’ campaigns because the doctrine is embedded in US property law. See Johnson v. McIntosh (1823).
Understanding Indigenous “LandBack” requires understanding the depths of property law and sovereignty theory.
Some campaigns for ‘landback’ miss this and instead are based on ‘equal protection’ law — ‘race’ theory.
‘Christian discovery’ necessarily underlies ‘LandBack’ campaigns because the doctrine is embedded in US property law. See Johnson v. McIntosh (1823).
Understanding Indigenous “LandBack” requires understanding the depths of property law and sovereignty theory.
Some campaigns for ‘landback’ miss this and instead are based on ‘equal protection’ law — ‘race’ theory.
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MAPPING THE DOCTRINE OF DISCOVERY: Johnson v. McIntosh and Federal Anti-Indian Law with Peter d’Errico ---- https://peterderrico.substack.com/p/podcast-philip-p-arnold-and-sandy
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Lithium America is already moving dirt …. [and] …. doing basic infrastructure such as putting in a water line [and] fencing … about 50 miles north of Winnemucca even as the permitting process is still being hashed out in the courts. How... more
Lithium America is already moving dirt …. [and] …. doing basic infrastructure such as putting in a water line [and] fencing … about 50 miles north of Winnemucca even as the permitting process is still being hashed out in the courts.
How can this happen — starting the project before it is approved? See my substack: https://peterderrico.substack.com/p/lithium-mine-at-thacker-pass-we-dont
How can this happen — starting the project before it is approved? See my substack: https://peterderrico.substack.com/p/lithium-mine-at-thacker-pass-we-dont
Research Interests:
Neil Gorsuch is emerging as a master of masking federal anti-Indian law. He hides US domination of Indigenous peoples in plain sight. Read this essay at Substack: https://peterderrico.substack.com/p/neil-gorsuch-mcgirt-v-oklahoma-and
Research Interests:
On June 22, 2023, in Arizona v. Navajo Nation, the US Supreme Court ruled against the Navajo under the federal anti-Indian law ‘trust doctrine’. I analyze the significance of this case in an essay at:... more
On June 22, 2023, in Arizona v. Navajo Nation, the US Supreme Court ruled against the Navajo under the federal anti-Indian law ‘trust doctrine’. I analyze the significance of this case in an essay at: https://peterderrico.substack.com/p/navajo-treaty-water-the-untrustworthy
Research Interests:
HAALAND v. BRACKEEN: MISPLACED CELEBRATION The celebration of Haaland v. Brackeen as “a significant victory for federal Indian law and the rights of tribes and Native children across the nation” is an oxymoron, because ‘federal Indian... more
HAALAND v. BRACKEEN: MISPLACED CELEBRATION
The celebration of Haaland v. Brackeen as “a significant victory for federal Indian law and the rights of tribes and Native children across the nation” is an oxymoron, because ‘federal Indian law’ is actually federal anti-Indian law. It is a structure of US domination, not ‘protection’ (unless we want to see ‘protection racket’ as the real meaning of the system).
Let’s explore why that is the case.
FEDERAL ANTI-INDIAN LAW
CONSTITUTIONALIZING DOMINATION
THE RACE QUESTION
JUSTICE GORSUCH TRIES TO PAINT LIPSTICK ON DOMINATION
UNDOING THE DOMINATION
WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN AND ADOPTION?
The celebration of Haaland v. Brackeen as “a significant victory for federal Indian law and the rights of tribes and Native children across the nation” is an oxymoron, because ‘federal Indian law’ is actually federal anti-Indian law. It is a structure of US domination, not ‘protection’ (unless we want to see ‘protection racket’ as the real meaning of the system).
Let’s explore why that is the case.
FEDERAL ANTI-INDIAN LAW
CONSTITUTIONALIZING DOMINATION
THE RACE QUESTION
JUSTICE GORSUCH TRIES TO PAINT LIPSTICK ON DOMINATION
UNDOING THE DOMINATION
WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN AND ADOPTION?
Research Interests:
An article in The Nation, November 18, 2022, "It's Time to Give Indigenous Land Back," starts out strong, but misunderstands the crucial legal issue. The strong start is a clear statement that the root of the land issue is a bizarre... more
An article in The Nation, November 18, 2022, "It's Time to Give Indigenous Land Back," starts out strong, but misunderstands the crucial legal issue. The strong start is a clear statement that the root of the land issue is a bizarre doctrine by which the US claims to own Indigenous lands: "A genocidal campaign of conquest-fueled and justified by the Doctrine of Discovery that declared all land not occupied by Christians as terra nullius (nobody's land)-dispossessed millions of Indigenous peoples from their homelands in the name of the United States' policy of western expansion and Manifest Destiny." The confusion arises when the authors try to interpret US Supreme Court cases about jurisdiction in what US law calls "Indian country". First, the interpretation misstates what the cases say; second, it gives the impression that "land back" can somehow happen within existing US law, if only the Supreme Court would be friendly. Let's unpack this.
Research Interests: Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Indigenous Politics, Indigenous Knowledge, Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and 6 moreIndigenous Peoples Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous ecological knowledges and practices, 'Decolonization' and the politics of settler state/Indigenous relations, Indigenous knowledge systems, and Nomadic/Indigenous People
The issue in the Brackeen case is whether the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) is constitutional. Some observers are fearful the Supreme Court will use the case to attack the notion of “tribal sovereignty” by applying “race theory” to... more
The issue in the Brackeen case is whether the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) is constitutional. Some observers are fearful the Supreme Court will use the case to attack the notion of “tribal sovereignty” by applying “race theory” to characterize Indigenous peoples, in contrast to an approach that sees Indigenous peoples as “political” entities quasi-separate from the US. A racial approach would collapse Native peoples into groups of Native persons within the US polity.
The effort to bring about a collapse of Indigenous independent existence has been long underway. Indeed, this effort begins with the first Supreme Court decisions in the field — the so-called “Marshall trilogy,” named after the chief justice who authored the opinions. A doctrinal matrix of federal anti-Indian law domination was laid down in these three early nineteenth-century cases.
The effort to bring about a collapse of Indigenous independent existence has been long underway. Indeed, this effort begins with the first Supreme Court decisions in the field — the so-called “Marshall trilogy,” named after the chief justice who authored the opinions. A doctrinal matrix of federal anti-Indian law domination was laid down in these three early nineteenth-century cases.
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The Dawn of Everything, a “new history of humanity” by David Graeber and David Wengrow, an anthropology and archaeology research team, joins a burgeoning global awareness that life on Earth is in social and ecological crisis and that the... more
The Dawn of Everything, a “new history of humanity” by David Graeber and David Wengrow, an anthropology and archaeology research team, joins a burgeoning global awareness that life on Earth is in social and ecological crisis and that the crisis is tied to the system of industrial state corporate society. The book’s contribution is to help us understand why we are having a difficult time figuring a way out of the mess. The reason, they say, is that our thinking is trapped by belief in the story that modern corporate state society is the end state of human evolution, the inevitable result of “progress” from “barbarism” to “civilization.” The obstacle to thinking of alternatives to the current organization of society is a belief that there is no alternative to this organization.
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Steve Russell is a big man, physically, intellectually, and morally. He's also a great writer and storyteller. His recent memoir, Lighting the Fire: A Cherokee Journey from Dropout to Professor, tells the story of his life through... more
Steve Russell is a big man, physically, intellectually, and morally. He's also a great writer and storyteller. His recent memoir, Lighting the Fire: A Cherokee Journey from Dropout to Professor, tells the story of his life through overlapping and intertwining tales. The overall structure is chronological, but the chapters often take a step back or to the side, opening a new perspective on something we've already learned in order to build on it and add detail, nuance, and the ground for a following tale that will do the same thing. It's an adventure book, a journey through space and time that becomes full of many people's lives. We gradually realize, even if we don't know Steve, we are part of his community-the community of people working against adversity toward realization.
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So much hoopla surrounded the McGirt v. Oklahoma decision that few people could see what the case really decided. McGirt did not transform federal Indian law. In fact, McGirt upheld the key federal Indian law doctrine of US domination... more
So much hoopla surrounded the McGirt v. Oklahoma decision that few people could see what the case really decided. McGirt did not transform federal Indian law. In fact, McGirt upheld the key federal Indian law doctrine of US domination over Native nations and peoples — the doctrine called “congressional plenary power.” It said the Creek Nation existed because Congress had not (yet) “disestablished” it.
We should, therefore, not be surprised that the US Environmental Protection Agency has stepped through the “disestablishment” door left wide open in McGirt. On October 1, 2020, the EPA, at the request of the governor of Oklahoma, granted the state regulatory control over environmental issues in “areas of Indian country described in the state’s request.”
Life is at stake. And federal anti-Indian law is part of the problem. Despite the fancy rhetoric of “trust relationship” and “government-to-government relationship,” the basic doctrine in federal Indian law is “plenary power.” McGirt may have some usefulness to those who will try to block the EPA – Oklahoma deal. The majority said Congress must be “clear” when it “disestablishes” a Native nation. Was the tiny provision hidden in the “Transportation Equity Act” a “clear expression” of the intent of Congress to impose state jurisdiction over Native nations surrounded by Oklahoma? That will be the technical question.
The real question is how much longer America will tolerate a racist religious doctrine as part of its legal system.
We should, therefore, not be surprised that the US Environmental Protection Agency has stepped through the “disestablishment” door left wide open in McGirt. On October 1, 2020, the EPA, at the request of the governor of Oklahoma, granted the state regulatory control over environmental issues in “areas of Indian country described in the state’s request.”
Life is at stake. And federal anti-Indian law is part of the problem. Despite the fancy rhetoric of “trust relationship” and “government-to-government relationship,” the basic doctrine in federal Indian law is “plenary power.” McGirt may have some usefulness to those who will try to block the EPA – Oklahoma deal. The majority said Congress must be “clear” when it “disestablishes” a Native nation. Was the tiny provision hidden in the “Transportation Equity Act” a “clear expression” of the intent of Congress to impose state jurisdiction over Native nations surrounded by Oklahoma? That will be the technical question.
The real question is how much longer America will tolerate a racist religious doctrine as part of its legal system.
Research Interests: Native American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Environmental Law, Environmental Studies, Law and Society, and 10 morePolitical Science, Critical Legal Theory, Indigenous Politics, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, Environmental Sustainability, American Indian Studies, Critical Legal Studies, Legal Studies, and Indiigenous Rights
The strangest aspect of US federal Indian law is its imperviousness to critique. Imagine that you were reading an article by lawyers before 1954 (Brown v. Board of Education) discussing how to fit their Black clients into the ‘separate... more
The strangest aspect of US federal Indian law is its imperviousness to critique. Imagine that you were reading an article by lawyers before 1954 (Brown v. Board of Education) discussing how to fit their Black clients into the ‘separate but equal’ doctrine. There were such lawyers, until Thurgood Marshall and his team pushed through them and made the successful challenge that overturned the racist law.
Despite repeated demonstrations that the doctrine of “Christian discovery” is the foundation of the US claim of ownership of Native lands and dominion over Native peoples, federal Indian law practitioners act as if their job is only to guide clients through the bizarre maze built around that doctrine (“trust relation,” “plenary power,” “government-to-government,” “domestic dependent nation,” etc.). Federal Indian law has not yet found its Thurgood Marshall.
With this in mind, let us review some assertions in the Warren / Tanana discussion of McGirt and energy development.
Despite repeated demonstrations that the doctrine of “Christian discovery” is the foundation of the US claim of ownership of Native lands and dominion over Native peoples, federal Indian law practitioners act as if their job is only to guide clients through the bizarre maze built around that doctrine (“trust relation,” “plenary power,” “government-to-government,” “domestic dependent nation,” etc.). Federal Indian law has not yet found its Thurgood Marshall.
With this in mind, let us review some assertions in the Warren / Tanana discussion of McGirt and energy development.
Research Interests: Native American Studies, Constitutional Law, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Legal Profession, and 14 moreProperty Law, Political Science, Critical Legal Theory, Indigenous Politics, Legal Theory, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Native American (History), Native Title, Critical Legal Studies, Aboriginal Studies, and Legal Studies
Justice Neil Gorsuch’s use of the conservative “strict interpretation, originalist” approach to legal reasoning in McGirt v. Oklahoma has changed the climate in US federal Indian law jurisprudence in ways not imaginable in recent years.... more
Justice Neil Gorsuch’s use of the conservative “strict interpretation, originalist” approach to legal reasoning in McGirt v. Oklahoma has changed the climate in US federal Indian law jurisprudence in ways not imaginable in recent years. Many commentators have gushingly described the decision as “a major victory for Indigenous sovereignty.” But Native sovereignty requires more: overturning “Christian discovery,” the doctrine that Indigenous nations are “mere occupants” of their lands.
Research Interests: Native American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Legal History, Political Science, and 9 moreCritical Legal Theory, Legal Theory, Socio-legal studies, Supreme Court, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Native American (History), American Indian Studies, and Aboriginal Studies
A major international publication reports the significance of Native candidates / politicians in U.S. elections: The Economist, " The rise of Native American politicians " (November 29th, 2018) <... more
A major international publication reports the significance of Native candidates / politicians in U.S. elections: The Economist, " The rise of Native American politicians " (November 29th, 2018) < https://www.economist.com/united-states/2018/12/01/the-rise-of-native-american-politicians? frsc=dg|e > Although the article is likely to be well-received by many people, it displays an immense knowledge gap and educational task facing those who work, live, and study Native Nations. A few statements jumped out at me; here they are, with my comments:
Research Interests: Political Sociology, Native American Studies, American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, and 9 morePolitical Theory, American Indian History, Political Science, Politics, Native American, Indigenous Peoples, Native American (History), American Indian Studies, and Native Americans
Robert Kuttner’s review of Adam Tooze’s book, Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World — “The Crash That Failed,” in the November 22, 2018, The New York Review of Books... more
Robert Kuttner’s review of Adam Tooze’s book, Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World — “The Crash That Failed,” in the November 22, 2018, The New York Review of Books https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2018/11/22/financial-crash-that-failed/ — provides a useful example of the critical limitations of America’s liberal commentariat.
In the guise of criticizing the emperor’s neoliberal clothes, liberal intelligentsia repeatedly fail to see the emperor’s nakedness. Indeed, while seeming to critique, liberals embrace the boundaries of the emperor’s hegemony! The result is superficiality and —worse — intensification of the hegemony. The Broadway extravaganza “Hamilton” illustrates this: actors “of color” celebrate the architect of the foundational U.S. alliance with capitalism — an alliance incorporating both Black slavery and confiscation of Native lands!
The following ten comments on Kuttner’s review of Tooze aim at demonstrating liberal complicity with neoliberalism. I conclude with a suggestion about the focus of a deep critique — “radical” — going to the roots.
In the guise of criticizing the emperor’s neoliberal clothes, liberal intelligentsia repeatedly fail to see the emperor’s nakedness. Indeed, while seeming to critique, liberals embrace the boundaries of the emperor’s hegemony! The result is superficiality and —worse — intensification of the hegemony. The Broadway extravaganza “Hamilton” illustrates this: actors “of color” celebrate the architect of the foundational U.S. alliance with capitalism — an alliance incorporating both Black slavery and confiscation of Native lands!
The following ten comments on Kuttner’s review of Tooze aim at demonstrating liberal complicity with neoliberalism. I conclude with a suggestion about the focus of a deep critique — “radical” — going to the roots.
Research Interests:
New York Magazine’s “Spring Fashion Issue” [Table of Contents – February 5, 2018] raises the #MeToo debate to a fever pitch, partly as a result of editorial intention, partly as a result of media finance infrastructure, which in-... more
New York Magazine’s “Spring Fashion Issue” [Table of Contents – February 5, 2018] raises the #MeToo debate to a fever pitch, partly as a result of editorial intention, partly as a result of media finance infrastructure, which in- termingles intellectual content and advertising: The articles may be read as criticism of the ads, which may, in turn, be read as examples for the critique; OR, the ads and articles may be read as a complex whole, exemplify- ing and demonstrating a moment in the history of culture, when virtual (the world of advertising images) and real (the world of intellectual apperception) are confusedly interpenetrated. Either mode of reading points to a question about the role of fashion and social media in relation to lived experience.
Research Interests: Critical Theory, Marketing, Social Theory, Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and 63 moreCognitive Psychology, Psychoanalysis, Social Psychology, Media Studies, New Media, Media and Cultural Studies, Self and Identity, Fashion design, Social Networks, Social Sciences, Fashion Theory, Influence, Consciousness (Psychology), Social Networking, Popular Culture, Digital Media, Critical Pedagogy, Fashion Photography, Sexuality, Gender and Sexuality, Creativity and Consciousness, William James, History of Capitalism, Fashion ethics and sustainability, Fashion History, Pop Culture, Self Consciousness, Consciousness, Social Media, The Self, Capitalism, Ethical Fashion, Media, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Baudrillard, Philosophy Of Fashion, Anthropology of Consciousness, Marketing Strategy, Fashion Discourse, Social Influence, Jean Baudrillard, Fashion (Business), Fashion and Fashion Industry, Social Media Marketing, Consciousness Studies, Self-Esteem, Simulation, Sociology of Fashion, Fashion Studies, Fashion Marketing, Fashion Merchandising, Fashion Retailing, Baudrillard, Simulation & Simulacra, Reality Television, History of clothing and fashion, Fashion Communication and Marketing, Media Impact and Effects and Usages, Self Concept, Fashion Business, Fashion, Instagram, Fashion Industry, Fashion Retailer, and Consciousness and Creativity
On 9 October 2017, I wrote about how social media exploits the frailties of human consciousness and monetizes the results of mental addiction — “Capitalism’s Attack on Mind; Meditation as Antidote to Social Media Addiction”. I suggested... more
On 9 October 2017, I wrote about how social media exploits the frailties of human consciousness and monetizes the results of mental addiction — “Capitalism’s Attack on Mind; Meditation as Antidote to Social Media Addiction”. I suggested meditation as an antidote because the mental phenomena targeted by social media are understood in meditation as forms of suffering, to be alleviated rather than exploited. Recently, other voices have pointed to the same underlying vulnerability in human consciousness and have suggested withdrawal from social media. Among the most prominent critics are former executives and engineers at FaceBook (which a friend calls FacelessBook, to highlight the virtuality of its “community” experience).
Research Interests: Buddhism, Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Social Psychology, and 34 moreDevelopmental Psychology, Media Studies, New Media, Buddhist Philosophy, Social Networks, Social Sciences, Consciousness (Psychology), Social Networking, Digital Media, Buddhist Studies, Mindfulness, Engaged Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, Consciousness, Social Media, Capitalism, Facebook, Twitter, Media, Buddhist Psychology, Social Media Marketing, Consciousness Studies, Self-Esteem, Media Research, Facebook Studies, Mindfulness and well being, Mindfulness and Resilience and Psychological Well Being, Mindfulness and Psychological Wellbeing, New Media, Social Network Analysis, e-research, Link analysis, Social Network Sites, Twitter, Facebook, Political Communication, Twitter as a News Source, Twitter as Medium and Message, Mindfulness Meditation, Media Impact and Effects and Usages, Buddhist Meditation, and Consciousness and Creativity
Arguments Over Genocide presents an essentially spiritual critique of US laws regarding Indigenous peoples. This is most fitting, since these laws are an expression of a specific religious tradition rooted in fifteenth century... more
Arguments Over Genocide presents an essentially spiritual critique of US laws regarding Indigenous peoples. This is most fitting, since these laws are an expression of a specific religious tradition rooted in fifteenth century Christianity. No doubt, this fact likely surprised many readers. Among those familiar with the history of Christian colonization and imperialism that led to the “discovery” of the “New World”, many were likely surprised to learn that “Christian discovery” is not an artifact of history, but an active doctrine in twenty-first century US law. Moreover, a further surprise was in store for those who presumed this strange doctrine was embraced only by “right wing” jurists. Steven Schwartzberg makes amply clear that the Supreme Court “left” is equally comfortable with imposing religious ideas of “superior civilization” on Indigenous peoples today. The task for any reader of this book is to grapple with the consequences of these startling revelations.
Research Interests:
2023 is the bi-centennial year of Johnson v. McIntosh, the case that put ‘Christian discovery’ into US property law in a way that simultaneously created ‘federal Indian law’: The 200th year since the imposition of domination on the basis... more
2023 is the bi-centennial year of Johnson v. McIntosh, the case that put ‘Christian discovery’ into US property law in a way that simultaneously created ‘federal Indian law’: The 200th year since the imposition of domination on the basis of a religious and racist theory of humankind. A domination that two-hundred years later is still considered ‘law.’
Research Interests: History, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Legal History, Indigenous Politics, and 8 moreSocio-legal studies, Indigenous Knowledge, Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Legal Philosophy, 'Decolonization' and the politics of settler state/Indigenous relations, and Nomadic/Indigenous People
Telling the crucial and under-studied story of the U.S. legal doctrines that underpin the dispossession and domination of Indigenous peoples, this book intends to enhance global Indigenous movements for self-determination. In this... more
Telling the crucial and under-studied story of the U.S. legal doctrines that underpin the dispossession and domination of Indigenous peoples, this book intends to enhance global Indigenous movements for self-determination. In this wide-ranging historical study of federal Indian law—the field of U.S. law related to Native peoples—attorney and educator Peter P. d’Errico argues that the U.S. government’s assertion of absolute prerogative and unlimited authority over Native peoples and their lands is actually a suspension of law.
Combining a deep theoretical analysis of the law with a historical examination of its roots in Christian civilization, d’Errico presents a close reading of foundational legal cases and raises the possibility of revoking the doctrine of domination. The book’s larger context is the increasing frequency of Indigenous conflicts with nation-states around the world as ecological crises caused by industrial extraction impinge drastically on Indigenous peoples’ existences. D’Errico’s goal is to rethink the role of law in the global order—to imagine an Indigenous nomos of the earth, an order arising from peoples and places rather than the existing hegemony of states.
Features
* Combines a deep theoretical analysis of the law with historical perspective * Argues that federal Indian law is an exception from regular legal processes * Offers a global Indigenous perspective on human civilization * Provides analysis from an attorney and educator with decades of experience in federal Indian law
Combining a deep theoretical analysis of the law with a historical examination of its roots in Christian civilization, d’Errico presents a close reading of foundational legal cases and raises the possibility of revoking the doctrine of domination. The book’s larger context is the increasing frequency of Indigenous conflicts with nation-states around the world as ecological crises caused by industrial extraction impinge drastically on Indigenous peoples’ existences. D’Errico’s goal is to rethink the role of law in the global order—to imagine an Indigenous nomos of the earth, an order arising from peoples and places rather than the existing hegemony of states.
Features
* Combines a deep theoretical analysis of the law with historical perspective * Argues that federal Indian law is an exception from regular legal processes * Offers a global Indigenous perspective on human civilization * Provides analysis from an attorney and educator with decades of experience in federal Indian law
Research Interests: Native American Studies, Constitutional Law, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, International Law, and 15 moreLegal History, Indigenous Politics, Legal Theory, International Human Rights Law, Indigenous Knowledge, Indigeneity, Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Aboriginal history in Canada, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Native American (History), Native Title, American Indian Studies, Aboriginal Rights, and Native American and Indigenous Studies
Rethinking the use of "Indian" in common plant names. Article in Wildflower Magazine, University of Texas at Austin Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. https://www.wildflower.org/magazine/people/whats-in-a-name-2
Research Interests:
The documents provided here are images of microfilmed original letters written between General Amherst and his officers and others in his command during the summer of 1763, when the British were fighting what became known as Pontiac's... more
The documents provided here are images of microfilmed original letters written between General Amherst and his officers and others in his command during the summer of 1763, when the British were fighting what became known as Pontiac's Rebellion.
These are the pivotal letters:
Colonel Henry Bouquet to General Amherst, dated 13 July 1763, suggests in a postscript the distribution of blankets to "inocculate the Indians";
Amherst to Bouquet, dated 16 July 1763, approves this plan in a postscript and suggests as well as "to try Every other method that can serve to Extirpate this Execrable Race." (This postcript spans two pages.)
These letters also discuss the use of dogs to hunt the Indians, the so-called "Spaniard's Method," which Amherst approves in principle, but says he cannot implement because there are not enough dogs. In a letter dated 26 July 1763, Bouquet acknowledges Amherst's approval and writes, "all your Directions will be observed."
These are the pivotal letters:
Colonel Henry Bouquet to General Amherst, dated 13 July 1763, suggests in a postscript the distribution of blankets to "inocculate the Indians";
Amherst to Bouquet, dated 16 July 1763, approves this plan in a postscript and suggests as well as "to try Every other method that can serve to Extirpate this Execrable Race." (This postcript spans two pages.)
These letters also discuss the use of dogs to hunt the Indians, the so-called "Spaniard's Method," which Amherst approves in principle, but says he cannot implement because there are not enough dogs. In a letter dated 26 July 1763, Bouquet acknowledges Amherst's approval and writes, "all your Directions will be observed."
Research Interests:
"Making Indian Law" is an effort to explain the Hualapai case from a Hualapai perspective, but the book is more than that: It is an effort to position the Hualapai case as a turning point in federal Indian law. If McMillen had delved more... more
"Making Indian Law" is an effort to explain the Hualapai case from a Hualapai perspective, but the book is more than that: It is an effort to position the Hualapai case as a turning point in federal Indian law. If McMillen had delved more deeply, he would have seen the case as a way station, not a turning point, and could have given us an example of what needs to be done to reach a true turning point.
Research Interests:
Sovereignty is classically defined as supreme legal authority. The concept was formulated by sixteenth century legal philosopher Jean Bodin and elaborated by many theorists since then. One basic controversy has been whether to trace... more
Sovereignty is classically defined as supreme legal authority. The concept was formulated by sixteenth century legal philosopher Jean Bodin and elaborated by many theorists since then. One basic controversy has been whether to trace supreme authority to the people or to a "divine right" of rulers. Another has been about the relation between legal authority and political-economic power which may influence or dominate law. The definition of sovereignty in federal Indian law partakes of both ancient controversies. An ambiguous concept from the start, surrounded by disagreement, sovereignty is perhaps most cryptic in federal Indian law.
Research Interests:
The fact that Justice Gorsuch has emerged as a serious scholar of Treaties and Treaty history is important. But it is not sufficient to remake US federal Indian law in the way it needs to be remade. His opinions in Cougar Den and McGirt,... more
The fact that Justice Gorsuch has emerged as a serious scholar of Treaties and Treaty history is important. But it is not sufficient to remake US federal Indian law in the way it needs to be remade. His opinions in Cougar Den and McGirt, and his joining the four “liberal” justices to affirm Crow Nation hunting rights in Herrera v. Wyoming (2019) are indeed significant legal victories for the Yakama, Creek, and Crow nations. But none of those decisions reached and overturned the fundamental federal Indian law doctrine of US domination over Indigenous lands and peoples—the doctrine of “Christian discovery.”
Research Interests:
Commentary after the McGirt v. Oklahoma decision has split between those who praise it as a victory for “tribal sovereignty” and those who bemoan the “jurisdictional complexity” left in its wake. These perspectives ignore the fundamental... more
Commentary after the McGirt v. Oklahoma decision has split between those who praise it as a victory for “tribal sovereignty” and those who bemoan the “jurisdictional complexity” left in its wake. These perspectives ignore the fundamental reasoning of the decision—affirmation of US “plenary power” over Native nations premised on a claim of “Christian discovery.”
Research Interests: Critical Theory, Native American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Legal History, and 10 moreIndigenous Politics, Legal Theory, Socio-legal studies, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Native American (History), Native Title, and Legal
"Making Indian Law" is an effort to explain the Hualapai case from a Hualapai perspective, but the book is more than that: It is an effort to position the Hualapai case as a turning point in federal Indian law. If McMillen had delved more... more
"Making Indian Law" is an effort to explain the Hualapai case from a Hualapai perspective, but the book is more than that: It is an effort to position the Hualapai case as a turning point in federal Indian law. If McMillen had delved more deeply, he would have seen the case as a way station, not a turning point, and could have given us an example of what needs to be done to reach a true turning point.
Research Interests:
An essay written in December 1995 for Interracial Voice, commenting on the murder trial of O. J. Simpson. "O. J.'s blood (or was it?) appeared to be the only question in the trial of O. J. Simpson. Media, frustrated with low-tech legal... more
An essay written in December 1995 for Interracial Voice, commenting on the murder trial of O. J. Simpson.
"O. J.'s blood (or was it?) appeared to be the only question in the trial of O. J. Simpson. Media, frustrated with low-tech legal processes, fixated on DNA. In the end, the jury appeared concerned with other blood that emerged from police testimony, bad blood between races. O. J.'s acquittal appeared to have more to do with racial than individual blood."
"O. J.'s blood (or was it?) appeared to be the only question in the trial of O. J. Simpson. Media, frustrated with low-tech legal processes, fixated on DNA. In the end, the jury appeared concerned with other blood that emerged from police testimony, bad blood between races. O. J.'s acquittal appeared to have more to do with racial than individual blood."
Research Interests:
Anishinaabe White Earth Ojibwe Gerald Vizenor in the 1990's repurposed an old legal term — "survivance" — to define a combination of survival and resistance of Native Peoples. Vizenor deployed the term in conjunction with a new phrase of... more
Anishinaabe White Earth Ojibwe Gerald Vizenor in the 1990's repurposed an old legal term — "survivance" — to define a combination of survival and resistance of Native Peoples. Vizenor deployed the term in conjunction with a new phrase of his own making — "postindian"— to mount an assault on conventional discourse about Native Peoples. He proposed that the dominant discourse about Native Peoples is a discourse of domination. He attacked "Indian" as a rhetorical trope inextricably tied to subjugation, assimilation, and simulation, which he called "manifest manners."
With these thoughts in mind, let us look at the project to decolonize Native Studies discourses and, by extension, discourses emanating beyond classrooms. I suggest four arguments every student in Native Studies must encounter if we are to continue to move away from manifest manners and toward survivance, struggle, resistance, and innovation. The arguments focus on "INDIAN", "TRIBE", "GENOCIDE", and "NATIVE RIGHTS / CIVIL RIGHTS".
With these thoughts in mind, let us look at the project to decolonize Native Studies discourses and, by extension, discourses emanating beyond classrooms. I suggest four arguments every student in Native Studies must encounter if we are to continue to move away from manifest manners and toward survivance, struggle, resistance, and innovation. The arguments focus on "INDIAN", "TRIBE", "GENOCIDE", and "NATIVE RIGHTS / CIVIL RIGHTS".
Research Interests: American History, Native American Studies, American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, and 15 moreLegal History, Genocide Studies, Political Science, Indigenous Politics, Legal Theory, Socio-legal studies, Native American Literature (Literature), Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Native American Anthropology, Native American (History), Native Americans, and Aboriginal Studies
Indigenous experiences complement official national histories with forgotten narratives; in the process, they contribute new epistemologies. Rather than expanding history; they revert it, destabilizing state-centric conceptualizations of... more
Indigenous experiences complement official national histories with forgotten narratives; in the process, they contribute new epistemologies. Rather than expanding history; they revert it, destabilizing state-centric conceptualizations of the political. This special issue explores the complexity and diversity of indigenous resistance to argue that the vibrancy of Indigenous resistance today is testimony to ongoing forms of colonial dispossession. Contributions range from Australia to Bolivia, cover the USA - Canada border, and put Zapatista interventions in dialogue with resistance in Amazonia. Their interdisciplinary perspective show that Indigenous politics may contribute singular, radical critiques because they are co-constitutive of state-formation.
Research Interests:
United States " federal Indian law " consists of a body of rules rooted in the colonial doctrine of " Christian discovery. " Viewed through the lens of Carl Schmitt's concept of " sovereign ban, " Christian discovery creates a " state of... more
United States " federal Indian law " consists of a body of rules rooted in the colonial doctrine of " Christian discovery. " Viewed through the lens of Carl Schmitt's concept of " sovereign ban, " Christian discovery creates a " state of exception, " placing Native Peoples both inside and outside the constitutional order of the United States and simultaneously constituting the claim of U.S. sovereignty. The instability inherent in this double performance emerges as the " paradox of sovereignty. " Native self-determination efforts appear as lèse-majesté – " insults to sovereignty " – heretical acts challenging Christian colonial domination.
[New Diversities • Volume 19, No. 2, 2017
http://newdiversities.mmg.mpg.de/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2017_19-02_06_Errico.pdf ]
[New Diversities • Volume 19, No. 2, 2017
http://newdiversities.mmg.mpg.de/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/2017_19-02_06_Errico.pdf ]
Research Interests: American History, Political Sociology, Native American Studies, American Studies, Law, and 62 moreJurisprudence, Constitutional Law, Political Philosophy, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Political Theory, American Indian History, Political Anthropology, Sovereignty, Legal Anthropology, Legal History, Political Science, Critical Legal Theory, Indigenous Politics, Legal Theory, Political Violence and Terrorism, Federalism, Philosophy Of Law, Political History, Socio-legal studies, Indigeneity, Giorgio Agamben, American Indian Law, History of Political Thought, Aboriginal history in Canada, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, Alaska Native Studies, Legal interpretation, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Legal Reasoning, Legal Philosophy, Carl Schmitt, Aboriginal History in Australia, Carl Schmitt (Political Science), Theories of Sovereignty, Socio-Legal Studies (Law), Native American (History), Agamben, American Indians, American Indian Studies, Critical Legal Studies, Indigenous Psychology, Legal, Aboriginal Rights, Native Americans, Schmitt, Aboriginal Studies, American Indian and Indigenous Studies, State sovereignty, Pueblos indígenas, Political Economy and History, Giorgo Agamben, Theories of Sovereignty (Schmitt, Agamben, constructivist theories), Native American and Indigenous Studies, American Indian intellectual history, Carl Schmitt, Giorgio Agamben, Jurisprudence, Nomadic/Indigenous People, Ceremonial and Symbolic Representations of Sovereignty In Early Modern Europe, Georgio Agamben, and Agamben, Giorgio
The definition of indigenous justice -- rooted in spirituality -- shifts attention away from state institutions and toward community relations. Indigenous justice is peace-making that allows each community to survive from "time... more
The definition of indigenous justice -- rooted in spirituality -- shifts attention away from state institutions and toward community relations. Indigenous justice is peace-making that allows each community to survive from "time immemorial.” State institutions are based on a framework of absolute power and such power is generally absent in indigenous communities; indigenous justice is thus a challenge to state sovereignty as the organizing principle of the world. Restorative justice movements may learn from the diversity of indigenous peoples' experiences and practices, which challenge the imposed unity of state institutions.
Research Interests: Critical Theory, Political Sociology, Native American Studies, Criminal Justice, Political Philosophy, and 29 moreIndigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, American Indian History, Community Engagement & Participation, Community Ecology, Political Science, Social Justice, Critical Criminology, Indigenous Knowledge, Restorative Justice, State Theory, American Indian Law, Native American, Community, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous ecological knowledges and practices, Anthropology of the State, Community Empowerment, Native American Anthropology, American Indians, American Indian Studies, Indigenous Psychology, State, Nation-State, Native Americans, Community participation and engagement, Native American and Indigenous Studies, Sociology of the State, and Nomadic/Indigenous People
The formative influence of Christian doctrines on U.S. law was once clear and unambiguous. Religious dogmas of fifteenth-century Vatican papal bulls were deployed as the foundation of property law, nationhood, and federal Indian law in... more
The formative influence of Christian doctrines on U.S. law was once clear and unambiguous. Religious dogmas of fifteenth-century Vatican papal bulls were deployed as the foundation of property law, nationhood, and federal Indian law in the early nineteenth century. Court decisions bound U.S. law to the world of Christendom and Christian imperialism. This process was not hidden or mysterious, nor was it a conspiracy among judges and priests. It was long-range planning for the takeover of a continent and a hemisphere. It was the theory that guided colonial practices. It is the story of Pagans in the Promised Land.
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Christian nationalism has achieved hegemony, but has not been able to end its conflict with those it regards as "aboriginal," here before the beginning. The prior inhabi- tants of colonialized lands have survived, and continue to assert... more
Christian nationalism has achieved hegemony, but has not been able to end its conflict with those it regards as "aboriginal," here before the beginning. The prior inhabi- tants of colonialized lands have survived, and continue to assert prior claims to the land in domestic and international proceedings. Un- abashed colonialism continues internation- ally in the guise of multinational corporatism, but has been transformed domestically into welfare state "social service" programs. The twin problem of domination and resistance persists. The world is not yet "safe" for the juggernaut of industrialization. But neither is it comfortable for humans whose lives revolve around ancient and sustainable relations with nature.
The path ahead is not clear. While former colonies have become self-governing nation- states within the overall scheme of global capitalism, some 250 million people still live as domestic colonies within nation-states.
These books, especially Armitage and the Hazlehurst volume on Legal Pluralism and the Colonial Legacy, provide a supply of fresh thinking in the midst of confusion.
The path ahead is not clear. While former colonies have become self-governing nation- states within the overall scheme of global capitalism, some 250 million people still live as domestic colonies within nation-states.
These books, especially Armitage and the Hazlehurst volume on Legal Pluralism and the Colonial Legacy, provide a supply of fresh thinking in the midst of confusion.
Research Interests: Comparative Law, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Legal History, Critical Legal Theory, and 12 moreColonialism, Legal Pluralism, Socio-legal studies, Post-Colonialism, Justice, Aboriginal history in Canada, Indigenous Peoples, Aboriginal History in Australia, Human Rights and Legal Pluralism, Pluralism, Cultural Assimilation, and Assimilation
Richland and Deer have built Introduction to Tribal Legal Studies on a life foundation. Their approach to law and the study of law is grounded in historical and contemporary realities of what it means to be a "tribal person." The result... more
Richland and Deer have built Introduction to Tribal Legal Studies on a life foundation. Their approach to law and the study of law is grounded in historical and contemporary realities of what it means to be a "tribal person." The result is a book "designed to ask how studying tribal law can give us insight into the institutions, practices, and beliefs that shape the everyday lives of tribal people" (2). This perspective informs the whole book, from the text selections to the pedagogical tools. The book achieves a remarkably difficult goal: It is simultaneously a work of critical legal history and a handbook for readers who intend to become participants in tribal legal systems. This double virtue cuts through the wall that so often separates academic critique from practical training, even, and sometimes especially, in law schools.
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The Law of Baron and Femme, by Tapping Reeve, judge and founding teacher of the Litchfield Law School, is an artifact of legal history: an explanation of marriage (and other "domestic relations") in late 18th and early 19th century United... more
The Law of Baron and Femme, by Tapping Reeve, judge and founding teacher of the Litchfield Law School, is an artifact of legal history: an explanation of marriage (and other "domestic relations") in late 18th and early 19th century United States.
I emphasize property and political-economy in discussing Baron and Femme because the whole book and the field of law with which it is concerned centers not on human relations, but on property as refracted through human relations; or, perhaps it should be said, on human relations as refracted through property.
Reeve is sometimes credited with proposing emancipation of women from the restrictions of feudal laws of baron and femme. It seems clear to me, however, that Reeve focused on issues of women’s property from his concern for the development of a market economy. If Reeve was a feminist in any sense, it was because his commitment to a market concept of property led him to that perspective.
The market concept of property brings us to the commingling of women and American Indians in early colonial law. Reeve’s book nowhere discusses Indians; but his exegesis of property concepts in the transformation from feudalism to capitalism was completely congruent with what was happening in American law to define title to lands of indigenous peoples within the exterior borders of the United States.
I emphasize property and political-economy in discussing Baron and Femme because the whole book and the field of law with which it is concerned centers not on human relations, but on property as refracted through human relations; or, perhaps it should be said, on human relations as refracted through property.
Reeve is sometimes credited with proposing emancipation of women from the restrictions of feudal laws of baron and femme. It seems clear to me, however, that Reeve focused on issues of women’s property from his concern for the development of a market economy. If Reeve was a feminist in any sense, it was because his commitment to a market concept of property led him to that perspective.
The market concept of property brings us to the commingling of women and American Indians in early colonial law. Reeve’s book nowhere discusses Indians; but his exegesis of property concepts in the transformation from feudalism to capitalism was completely congruent with what was happening in American law to define title to lands of indigenous peoples within the exterior borders of the United States.
Research Interests:
Late 20th century Native America presents the same conflicts as the late 18th century: land and water rights, hunting and fishing, religious freedom, criminal and civil jurisdiction. In fact, these conflicts are typical of relations... more
Late 20th century Native America presents the same conflicts as the late 18th century: land and water rights, hunting and fishing, religious freedom, criminal and civil jurisdiction. In fact, these conflicts are typical of relations between indigenous peoples and colonizers on the American continent as a whole beginning over five centuries ago.
The persistence of fundamental issues over a period of 500 years demonstrates the ongoing existence of Native Americans as distinct peoples, despite repeated attempts to make them disappear. America was not a virgin land when boat people from across the Atlantic arrived. From the earliest days to the present, Native peoples have been a presence in America. The existence of Native Americans as peoples -- as self-governing groups, rather than simply individuals sharing personal and cultural traits -- is what sets them apart from other "minorities" in America. This difference warrants theoretical and historical overview, so that the variety of particular issues and controversies active at any given time or place can be understood in an overall perspective.
The persistence of fundamental issues over a period of 500 years demonstrates the ongoing existence of Native Americans as distinct peoples, despite repeated attempts to make them disappear. America was not a virgin land when boat people from across the Atlantic arrived. From the earliest days to the present, Native peoples have been a presence in America. The existence of Native Americans as peoples -- as self-governing groups, rather than simply individuals sharing personal and cultural traits -- is what sets them apart from other "minorities" in America. This difference warrants theoretical and historical overview, so that the variety of particular issues and controversies active at any given time or place can be understood in an overall perspective.
Research Interests:
It is not unusual to find John Marshall lauded as the "greatest judicial advocate of Indian sovereignty." Three seminal Supreme Court opinions authored by him -- Johnson v. McIntosh (1823), Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831), and Worcester... more
It is not unusual to find John Marshall lauded as the "greatest judicial advocate of Indian sovereignty." Three seminal Supreme Court opinions authored by him -- Johnson v. McIntosh (1823), Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831), and Worcester v. Georgia (1832) -- are frequently said to have established legal "protection" for American Indians.
What is in question here is whether Marshall's opinions in the Indian cases were an expression of "concern for the Indians" or something quite different. The critical perspective developed here will focus on a close textual analysis of the first of the three cases, Johnson v. McIntosh, which produced a legal theory and a jurisprudential basis for all that followed.
What is in question here is whether Marshall's opinions in the Indian cases were an expression of "concern for the Indians" or something quite different. The critical perspective developed here will focus on a close textual analysis of the first of the three cases, Johnson v. McIntosh, which produced a legal theory and a jurisprudential basis for all that followed.
Research Interests:
My purpose in this essay was to explore the doctrine of "corporate personality," to deconstruct the metaphor of legal "being," and to reveal it "as an intersection of competing discourses… as a point of fracture in which different systems... more
My purpose in this essay was to explore the doctrine of "corporate personality," to deconstruct the metaphor of legal "being," and to reveal it "as an intersection of competing discourses… as a point of fracture in which different systems of signs are transposed, translated and articulated."
Recent events, including the January 2009 U.S. S.Ct. decision, "Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission," and the continuing devastation of the planet for corporate profit, made me take a new look at what I wrote nearly 15 years ago. I think the essay carries new weight....
Recent events, including the January 2009 U.S. S.Ct. decision, "Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission," and the continuing devastation of the planet for corporate profit, made me take a new look at what I wrote nearly 15 years ago. I think the essay carries new weight....
Research Interests:
Adaptations of this lecture appear in the following publications: "Introduction: Native Americans in American Politics," Encyclopedia of Minorities in American Politics, American Political Landscape Series, Jeffrey D. Schultz, editor... more
Adaptations of this lecture appear in the following publications:
"Introduction: Native Americans in American Politics," Encyclopedia of Minorities in American Politics, American Political Landscape Series, Jeffrey D. Schultz, editor (Phoenix, AZ: The Oryx Press, 2000), pp. 569-580.
"Native Americans In America: A Theoretical And Historical Overview," Wicazo Sa Review, Spring 1999, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 7-28. [University of Minnesota Press]. Reprinted in American Nations: Encounters in Indian Country, 1850 to the Present, Frederick E. Hoxie, Peter C. Mancall, and James H. Merrell, editors (New York: Routledge, 2001), chapter 23, pp. 481-499.
"Introduction: Native Americans in American Politics," Encyclopedia of Minorities in American Politics, American Political Landscape Series, Jeffrey D. Schultz, editor (Phoenix, AZ: The Oryx Press, 2000), pp. 569-580.
"Native Americans In America: A Theoretical And Historical Overview," Wicazo Sa Review, Spring 1999, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 7-28. [University of Minnesota Press]. Reprinted in American Nations: Encounters in Indian Country, 1850 to the Present, Frederick E. Hoxie, Peter C. Mancall, and James H. Merrell, editors (New York: Routledge, 2001), chapter 23, pp. 481-499.
Research Interests:
A Preface to Randall Trapp, et al. v. Commissioner DuBois, et al.; Massachusetts Superior Court (Worcester, Civil No. 95-0779); Massachusetts Appeals Court, No. 2000-P-1640. Randall Trapp, et al. v. Commissioner DuBois, et al., was filed... more
A Preface to Randall Trapp, et al. v. Commissioner DuBois, et al.; Massachusetts Superior Court (Worcester, Civil No. 95-0779); Massachusetts Appeals Court, No. 2000-P-1640.
Randall Trapp, et al. v. Commissioner DuBois, et al., was filed in 1995 on behalf of a group of inmates who were part of a Native American Spiritual Awareness Council in a Massachusetts prison. The Council maintained a weekly Circle and other practices associated with American Indian spirituality. At the time of filing, the Circle had already been in existence at the prison for more than five years.
The case proceeded to trial in 1999. In 2002, the Massachusetts Appeals Court ordered the Defendants to settle the controversy by negotiations with the Plaintiffs. In 2003, the first Purification Lodges were held inside three Massachusetts prisons, where named Plaintiffs were incarcerated (several having been transferred from the original prison). By 2003, Native Circles were meeting regularly in many prisons in the state.
http://www.umass.edu/legal/derrico/trapp/index.html
Randall Trapp, et al. v. Commissioner DuBois, et al., was filed in 1995 on behalf of a group of inmates who were part of a Native American Spiritual Awareness Council in a Massachusetts prison. The Council maintained a weekly Circle and other practices associated with American Indian spirituality. At the time of filing, the Circle had already been in existence at the prison for more than five years.
The case proceeded to trial in 1999. In 2002, the Massachusetts Appeals Court ordered the Defendants to settle the controversy by negotiations with the Plaintiffs. In 2003, the first Purification Lodges were held inside three Massachusetts prisons, where named Plaintiffs were incarcerated (several having been transferred from the original prison). By 2003, Native Circles were meeting regularly in many prisons in the state.
http://www.umass.edu/legal/derrico/trapp/index.html
Research Interests:
Jeffrey Amherst's name became tarnished by stories of smallpox-infected blankets used as germ warfare against American Indians. These stories are reported, for example, in Carl Waldman's Atlas of the North American Indian [NY: Facts on... more
Jeffrey Amherst's name became tarnished by stories of smallpox-infected blankets used as germ warfare against American Indians. These stories are reported, for example, in Carl Waldman's Atlas of the North American Indian [NY: Facts on File, 1985]. Waldman writes, in reference to a siege of Fort Pitt (Pittsburgh) by Chief Pontiac's forces during the summer of 1763:
... Captain Simeon Ecuyer had bought time by sending smallpox-infected blankets and handkerchiefs to the Indians surrounding the fort -- an early example of biological warfare -- which started an epidemic among them. Amherst himself had encouraged this tactic in a letter to Ecuyer. [p. 108]
Some people have doubted these stories; other people, believing the stories, nevertheless assert that the infected blankets were not intentionally distributed to the Indians, or that Lord Jeff himself is not to blame for the germ warfare tactic.
The documents provided here are made available to set the record straight. These are images of microfilmed original letters written between General Amherst and his officers and others in his command during the summer of 1763, when the British were fighting what became known as Pontiac's Rebellion.
... Captain Simeon Ecuyer had bought time by sending smallpox-infected blankets and handkerchiefs to the Indians surrounding the fort -- an early example of biological warfare -- which started an epidemic among them. Amherst himself had encouraged this tactic in a letter to Ecuyer. [p. 108]
Some people have doubted these stories; other people, believing the stories, nevertheless assert that the infected blankets were not intentionally distributed to the Indians, or that Lord Jeff himself is not to blame for the germ warfare tactic.
The documents provided here are made available to set the record straight. These are images of microfilmed original letters written between General Amherst and his officers and others in his command during the summer of 1763, when the British were fighting what became known as Pontiac's Rebellion.
Research Interests:
Peter Mattiessen's In the Spirit of Crazy Horse is a momentous work. It was published in a period of renewed agitation about Native sovereignty and treaty claims more than a decade after the last flowering of public interest in American... more
Peter Mattiessen's In the Spirit of Crazy Horse is a momentous work. It was published in a period of renewed agitation about Native sovereignty and treaty claims more than a decade after the last flowering of public interest in American Indians. The book is a detailed tome of investigative reporting on a topic of inflammatory significance—the deaths of two FBI agents in a shoot-out on Sioux territory. The Indian wars have not ended. Range-land is now less important than the minerals beneath it, and the cowboys have been supplemented by the forces of giant energy corporations. The overall coordination of the war is still in the hands of government officials whose vision of the world is dominated by the quest for ever greater accumulation of material wealth. In this context, a shoot-out between Indians and FBI agents at Pine Ridge reservation in 1975 becomes a battle and not simply a crime. Leonard Peltier, the Indian convicted of killing the agents, becomes something more than an ordinary prisoner. Indeed, the only "ordinary" event is the death of an Indian man in the shoot-out: his killer has never even been sought by the law. NOTE: On the first page of my essay, the proofreader at the journal blew my probably too abstruse reference to Christianity by “correcting” “Calvary” to “Cavalry” in my text “Hooray! The C…. is coming!"
Research Interests:
From its inception, Before the Law was intended to be “like planting a garden or begetting a child… entering as one cause into a causal stream which works, so to speak, in its own way” (1974, p. xi, quoting C. S. Lewis). The authors’... more
From its inception, Before the Law was intended to be “like planting a garden or begetting a child… entering as one cause into a causal stream which works, so to speak, in its own way” (1974, p. xi, quoting C. S. Lewis). The authors’ intentions were to provoke readers’ personal engagement with legal questions, rather than to provide a conventional textbook. We believed with Doris Lessing that a “book is alive and potent and fructifying and able to promote thought and discussion only when its plan and intention are not understood…” (2d edition, 1979, p. xiii). We opted for presenting confusion that is inherent in law, rather than masking it with authoritative outlines and purported explanations.
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We are living in a time of changing consciousness about the meaning and function of authority. Law, which is often taken to be the backbone of authority structures in society, has come increasingly under scrutiny, both for its role in... more
We are living in a time of changing consciousness about the meaning and function of authority. Law, which is often taken to be the backbone of authority structures in society, has come increasingly under scrutiny, both for its role in maintaining oppressive social conditions and for the exceeding narrowness of legalism as a world view.
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America was not a virgin land when the United States was formed, nor previously in the colonial era. From the earliest days to the present, Native Americans have been a factor in American politics. In an even wider perspective, current... more
America was not a virgin land when the United States was formed, nor previously in the colonial era. From the earliest days to the present, Native Americans have been a factor in American politics. In an even wider perspective, current Native American issues reflect the scope and content of relations between indigenous peoples and colonizers on the continent as a whole beginning over five centuries ago: Wampanoag and Narraganset fishermen charged with violations of Massachusetts and Rhode Island regulations for fishing in ocean bays where their peoples have fished since time immemorial; United States antagonism to traditional leadership of Hopi and Western Shoshone peoples; Alaska native land title ignored or denied; native spirituality interfered with or destroyed by government action; civil and criminal jurisdiction over Native Americans on their own lands the subject of heated controversy. These are only a very small sample of 20th century conflicts that can also be dated in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.
Research Interests:
Sovereignty is classically defined as supreme legal authority. The concept was formulated by sixteenth century legal philosopher Jean Bodin and elaborated by many theorists since then. One basic controversy has been whether to trace... more
Sovereignty is classically defined as supreme legal authority. The concept was formulated by sixteenth century legal philosopher Jean Bodin and elaborated by many theorists since then. One basic controversy has been whether to trace supreme authority to the people or to a "divine right" of rulers. Another has been about the relation between legal authority and political-economic power which may influence or dominate law. The definition of sovereignty in federal Indian law partakes of both ancient controversies. An ambiguous concept from the start, surrounded by disagreement, sovereignty is perhaps most cryptic in federal Indian law.
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Michael Tomasky, in “The Specter Haunting the Senate” [NYR, September 30], repeats the conventional, misguided, self-defeating notion that the Senate cannot do anything significant without sixty votes to invoke cloture on threatened... more
Michael Tomasky, in “The Specter Haunting the Senate” [NYR, September 30], repeats the conventional, misguided, self-defeating notion that the Senate cannot do anything significant without sixty votes to invoke cloture on threatened filibusters. To the contrary, perhaps the most significant action the Senate majority might now take is to call the Republicans’ bluff and let them go forward with a filibuster.
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Efforts at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst illustrate how academic programs such as Legal Studies can form the basis for conflict resolution in the local community as well as on campus. The study of conflict and its resolution... more
Efforts at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst illustrate how academic programs such as Legal Studies can form the basis for conflict resolution in the local community as well as on campus.
The study of conflict and its resolution lies at the core of many disciplines , but perhaps none touches as closely on this subject as legal studies, the liberal arts study of law in society. Legal studies examines the form and structure of authority in society and the conflicts that authority is expected to resolve. Legal studies also examines the role of officially sanctioned authority in exacerbating conflict. Humanistic, liberal arts legal studies differs considerably from its law school counterpart, the professional study of law. While law school builds its curriculum around the needs of a profession, a liberal arts curriculum operates within a broader context: the study of power and conflict within cultural and historical perspectives. As distinct from a pre-law curriculum, legal studies explores legal issues that arise in connection with the design of public policy and the content of public interest research. Legal studies is not limited to the study of adjudication and adversary processes. It takes these as the dominant themes for conflict management in our society and examines their development and relationship to the structure of society. Official systems of dispute resolution are compared with informal systems, such as the family.
The study of conflict and its resolution lies at the core of many disciplines , but perhaps none touches as closely on this subject as legal studies, the liberal arts study of law in society. Legal studies examines the form and structure of authority in society and the conflicts that authority is expected to resolve. Legal studies also examines the role of officially sanctioned authority in exacerbating conflict. Humanistic, liberal arts legal studies differs considerably from its law school counterpart, the professional study of law. While law school builds its curriculum around the needs of a profession, a liberal arts curriculum operates within a broader context: the study of power and conflict within cultural and historical perspectives. As distinct from a pre-law curriculum, legal studies explores legal issues that arise in connection with the design of public policy and the content of public interest research. Legal studies is not limited to the study of adjudication and adversary processes. It takes these as the dominant themes for conflict management in our society and examines their development and relationship to the structure of society. Official systems of dispute resolution are compared with informal systems, such as the family.
Research Interests:
When Lloyd Omdahl referred to “tribal sovereignty” as “an idea that is over 200 years old,” he was talking about a U.S. legal concept, not the status of Indigenous nations based on their existence in these lands for millennia. The concept... more
When Lloyd Omdahl referred to “tribal sovereignty” as “an idea that is over 200 years old,” he was talking about a U.S. legal concept, not the status of Indigenous nations based on their existence in these lands for millennia. The concept of “tribal sovereignty” is a denial of the free existence of Indigenous nations.
March 10, 2023, will be the 200th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that started the watered-down idea of “tribal sovereignty” as the basis for a U.S. claim of domination over Indigenous nations. Johnson v. McIntosh, an 1823 property law decision written by Chief Justice John Marshall, said the United States owns Indigenous lands “discovered” by Christian colonizers!
March 10, 2023, will be the 200th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that started the watered-down idea of “tribal sovereignty” as the basis for a U.S. claim of domination over Indigenous nations. Johnson v. McIntosh, an 1823 property law decision written by Chief Justice John Marshall, said the United States owns Indigenous lands “discovered” by Christian colonizers!
Research Interests:
We have long known that federal Indian law "trust doctrine" is not trustworthy. The US Supreme Court admitted this fact in 2011, when Justice Samuel Alito said, "Throughout the history of the Indian trust relationship, we have recognized... more
We have long known that federal Indian law "trust doctrine" is not trustworthy. The US Supreme Court admitted this fact in 2011, when Justice Samuel Alito said, "Throughout the history of the Indian trust relationship, we have recognized that the organization and management of the trust is a sovereign function subject to the plenary authority of Congress. …the Government has often structured the trust relationship to pursue its own policy goals." [United States v. Jicarilla Apache Nation, 564 U.S. 162, 175-176].
The untrustworthy federal Indian law trust doctrine was fully on view in the March 28, 2020, termination of Mashpee Wampanoag trust land status. The US Interior Department, following a February decision by the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Littlefield v. Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribe [951 F.3d 30, 33], revoked the "trust" status approved in 2015.
Supposedly, under the federal Indian law "plenary power doctrine," only the US Congress has power to terminate trust land status. That point was also made by Justice Alito in the Jicarilla case. The Mashpee termination decision by Interior shows that no part of federal Indian law is trustworthy, even the parts that declare Congress has full authority over "Indian affairs."
"Trust doctrine" and "plenary power doctrine" go way back to the beginning of federal Indian law and its roots in "Christian discovery doctrine."
The untrustworthy federal Indian law trust doctrine was fully on view in the March 28, 2020, termination of Mashpee Wampanoag trust land status. The US Interior Department, following a February decision by the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Littlefield v. Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribe [951 F.3d 30, 33], revoked the "trust" status approved in 2015.
Supposedly, under the federal Indian law "plenary power doctrine," only the US Congress has power to terminate trust land status. That point was also made by Justice Alito in the Jicarilla case. The Mashpee termination decision by Interior shows that no part of federal Indian law is trustworthy, even the parts that declare Congress has full authority over "Indian affairs."
"Trust doctrine" and "plenary power doctrine" go way back to the beginning of federal Indian law and its roots in "Christian discovery doctrine."
Research Interests: Native American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Indigenous Politics, Socio-legal studies, and 9 moreIndigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Socio-Legal Studies (Law), Native American (History), Critical Legal Studies, Native Americans, and Federal Indian Law
Secwépemc Shuswap George Manuel's The Fourth World: An Indian Reality burst onto the international stage in 1974. The book tells the story of Manuel's years-long leadership and activism among Indigenous communities worldwide. Thanks to... more
Secwépemc Shuswap George Manuel's The Fourth World: An Indian Reality burst onto the international stage in 1974. The book tells the story of Manuel's years-long leadership and activism among Indigenous communities worldwide. Thanks to the University of Minnesota Press, it is once again in print. The Fourth World stands as evidence that George Manuel's knowledge, perspectives, persistence, and organizing abilities helped create the global stage for Indigenous discourse that continues today. Manuel's efforts are what Anishinaabe White Earth Ojibwe Gerald Vizenor calls acts of Indigenous survivance—survival and resistance. Yellowknives Dene Professor Glen Coulthard, in his introduction to the new edition, describes The Fourth World as a "crucial Indigenous intervention" into the discourses of decolonization and self-determination.
Research Interests: History, Native American Studies, Canadian Studies, International Relations, Indigenous Studies, and 14 moreIndigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Canadian History, Political Science, Indigenous Politics, Indigenous Knowledge, Canadian Politics, Aboriginal history in Canada, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, Indigenous Peoples, Native American (History), First Nations of Canada, Canada, and Aboriginal Studies
For the fifth time, the US Supreme Court has affirmed Yakama rights under the 1855 Treaty with the United States. The decision in Washington State Department of Licensing v. Cougar Den, Inc., prohibits Washington from taxing a Yakama... more
For the fifth time, the US Supreme Court has affirmed Yakama rights under the 1855 Treaty with the United States. The decision in Washington State Department of Licensing v. Cougar Den, Inc., prohibits Washington from taxing a Yakama trucking company for using state highways to transport fuel to the Yakama Nation. The prohibition was previously put in place by Washington's own courts, but the state appealed those decisions. Cougar Den takes its place in a line of cases extending back to early decisions protecting Yakama Treaty rights.
What makes Cougar Den especially significant is that for the first time the court was presented with a direct challenge to "Christian Discovery." That is the US legal fiction declared in 1823 (in the case of Johnson v. McIntosh) that the United States has an “ultimate dominion” over the lands of Native Nations, and that Native Nations only hold a title of “occupancy” to their own lands because they are "heathen” nations.
The Yakama Nation challenged Christian Discovery in its amicus brief (a brief by a non-party) filed in support of the Yakama Nation licensed Cougar Den trucking company, the defendant. The Yakama brief says Washington's legal argument, which was defeated in the state's own courts, is based on "the religious, racist, genocidal, fabricated doctrine of Christian discovery." It says the relationship between the United States and the Yakama Nation is founded on the Yakama treaty. It says Christian discovery has no legitimate place in that relationship.
What makes Cougar Den especially significant is that for the first time the court was presented with a direct challenge to "Christian Discovery." That is the US legal fiction declared in 1823 (in the case of Johnson v. McIntosh) that the United States has an “ultimate dominion” over the lands of Native Nations, and that Native Nations only hold a title of “occupancy” to their own lands because they are "heathen” nations.
The Yakama Nation challenged Christian Discovery in its amicus brief (a brief by a non-party) filed in support of the Yakama Nation licensed Cougar Den trucking company, the defendant. The Yakama brief says Washington's legal argument, which was defeated in the state's own courts, is based on "the religious, racist, genocidal, fabricated doctrine of Christian discovery." It says the relationship between the United States and the Yakama Nation is founded on the Yakama treaty. It says Christian discovery has no legitimate place in that relationship.
Research Interests: History, American History, Native American Studies, American Studies, Political Economy, and 15 moreIndigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Legal Education, Political Theory, International Law, Legal History, Political Science, Critical Legal Theory, Legal Theory, Socio-legal studies, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, Indigenous Peoples, Native American (History), and American Indian Studies
American Apartheid demonstrates the best of investigative journalism – digging into social issues to discover their systemic political and economic elements. In every chapter, Woodard presents detailed information about how contemporary... more
American Apartheid demonstrates the best of investigative journalism – digging into social issues to discover their systemic political and economic elements. In every chapter, Woodard presents detailed information about how contemporary Native problems arise from historical forces and conditions besetting Native Nations and Peoples. She carries the stories forward, showing through interviews and close observation how Native persons and communities are engaging with history as they tackle present-day problems. American Apartheid demonstrates that Native Nations and Peoples are alive and active today, dealing with multiple forms of historical trauma at the hands of the United States. Woodard doesn’t shy from showing how the U.S. continues to inflict trauma on Natives, even as Natives bind up their wounds and gird for further struggle to protect coming generations.
Research Interests: History, American History, Native American Studies, American Studies, Indigenous Studies, and 15 moreIndigenous or Aboriginal Studies, American Indian History, Indigenous Politics, Politics, Indigenous Knowledge, Apartheid, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Native American Anthropology, Native American (History), American Indian Studies, Indigenous Psychology, and Native Americans
Of all the legal briefs filed in the current U.S. Supreme Court case of Carpenter v. Murphy, the most startling is the United States amicus brief in support of Oklahoma. The brief argues that Native reservation lands no longer exist in... more
Of all the legal briefs filed in the current U.S. Supreme Court case of Carpenter v. Murphy, the most startling is the United States amicus brief in support of Oklahoma. The brief argues that Native reservation lands no longer exist in the territory that became the state of Oklahoma. As the basis of this argument, the brief presents a history of intentional genocide actions against Native Nations by the federal government. In short, the U.S. amicus brief not only admits historical attempts at genocide but argues that the results of genocide are legal today and should be extended!
Research Interests: American History, Native American Studies, American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, and 15 moreAmerican Indian History, Legal History, Genocide Studies, Political Science, Indigenous Politics, Socio-legal studies, American Indian Law, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, Indigenous Peoples, Native American (History), Genocide, American Indian Studies, Legal, and Native Americans
On September 7, 2018, the U.S. government – through the person of Tara Sweeney, Interior Department Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs – wrote a letter to Mashpee Wampanoag Chairman Cedric Cromwell informing him that the Mashpee “do... more
On September 7, 2018, the U.S. government – through the person of Tara Sweeney, Interior Department Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs – wrote a letter to Mashpee Wampanoag Chairman Cedric Cromwell informing him that the Mashpee “do not satisfy” a federal Indian law definition of “Indian” and are therefore not eligible to hold reservation lands. The letter reverses a 2015 Interior Department approval of Mashpee reservation lands.
Think about it! One of the most famous Native Nations in the “new world” – the Nation who helped the English Christian Pilgrims establish their Plymouth Colony in America – are not “Indian” enough to have a reservation! The Mashpee have survived 400 years of invasion and domination by the Christian colonizers and their descendants. They have tenaciously held onto their homelands, despite repeated efforts to destroy their bonds with these lands. The Mashpee continue to live as a Native Nation in the very lands they have held since time immemorial. But the U.S. says they don’t “satisfy” the legal rules to have their land rights acknowledged. What is this legal mumbo-jumbo all about?!
Think about it! One of the most famous Native Nations in the “new world” – the Nation who helped the English Christian Pilgrims establish their Plymouth Colony in America – are not “Indian” enough to have a reservation! The Mashpee have survived 400 years of invasion and domination by the Christian colonizers and their descendants. They have tenaciously held onto their homelands, despite repeated efforts to destroy their bonds with these lands. The Mashpee continue to live as a Native Nation in the very lands they have held since time immemorial. But the U.S. says they don’t “satisfy” the legal rules to have their land rights acknowledged. What is this legal mumbo-jumbo all about?!
Research Interests: History, Native American Studies, American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, and 15 moreAmerican Indian History, Legal History, Political Science, Critical Legal Theory, Indigenous Politics, Legal Theory, Socio-legal studies, American Indian Law, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Native American (History), American Indian Studies, and Legal
A statement in support of the Yakama Nation’s amicus brief challenging the Doctrine of Christian Discovery and Domination in the U.S. Supreme Court case, Washington State Department of Licensing v. Cougar Den, Inc.(2018)
Research Interests: Native American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, American Indian History, Legal History, and 15 moreNative American Politics, American Indian Law, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, Indigenous Peoples, American Indians, American Indian Studies, Critical Legal Studies, Legal, Native American Indian Studies, American Indian, Native American history, Indigenous Peoples,legal History, American Indians, American Indian and Indigenous Studies, and Native Studies
Daniel Sharfstein, in "Thunder in the Mountains: Chief Joseph, Oliver Otis Howard and the Nez Perce War," notes that people have been writing about the Nez Perce war from the moment it ended in 1877. If you include journalist accounts and... more
Daniel Sharfstein, in "Thunder in the Mountains: Chief Joseph, Oliver Otis Howard and the Nez Perce War," notes that people have been writing about the Nez Perce war from the moment it ended in 1877. If you include journalist accounts and U.S. Army transmissions about pre-war federal, state, and local machinations that steadily encroached on Nez Perce lands and traditional self-determined existence, as Sharfstein does, you can say writing about the war started before the war.
The publisher bills "Thunder in the Mountains" as an "exploration of post Reconstruction America." That rubric may attract a readership beyond those interested in "Indian" issues, but it misconstrues the plan of the work, suggesting that Sharfstein explores the Nez Perce War as an aspect of post-Reconstruction America. Other books have framed so-called "Indian wars" as episodes in American history, presuming that American history has a trajectory independent of wars against Indigenous Peoples.
The publisher bills "Thunder in the Mountains" as an "exploration of post Reconstruction America." That rubric may attract a readership beyond those interested in "Indian" issues, but it misconstrues the plan of the work, suggesting that Sharfstein explores the Nez Perce War as an aspect of post-Reconstruction America. Other books have framed so-called "Indian wars" as episodes in American history, presuming that American history has a trajectory independent of wars against Indigenous Peoples.
Research Interests: History, American History, Native American Studies, American Studies, Indigenous Studies, and 14 moreIndigenous or Aboriginal Studies, American Indian History, War Studies, American Indian Law, Native American, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Native American (History), American Indians, American Indian Studies, Native Americans, American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Native American and Indigenous Studies, and Nomadic/Indigenous People
At this point, we are in position to understand the limited nature of the environmental rights stated in the U.S. National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the statute which Standing Rock relies on in this court action. There seems to be... more
At this point, we are in position to understand the limited nature of the environmental rights stated in the U.S. National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the statute which Standing Rock relies on in this court action. There seems to be a common misperception that this U.S. law creates a "right" to a healthy environment. In fact, as the court points out with quotes from prior cases, "NEPA’s requirements are 'procedural.'" NEPA requires agencies "to consider every significant aspect of the environmental impact of a proposed action." Thus, as Boasberg's ruling points out, "Agency actions with adverse environmental effects can thus be NEPA compliant where 'the agency has considered those effects and determined that competing policy values outweigh those costs.'" NEPA does not prohibit "adverse impacts" or "irreversible commitments of resources." It merely requires that "the adverse environmental effects of the proposed action are adequately identified and evaluated."
The danger inherent in Standing Rock's reliance on U.S. law becomes apparent. A traditional Native perspective views human actions as part of an interdependent ecosystem, rather than as independent variables within a container called "the environment." These two views clash repeatedly in ongoing conflicts between Indigenous life-ways and colonizing, extractive economic practices.
The danger inherent in Standing Rock's reliance on U.S. law becomes apparent. A traditional Native perspective views human actions as part of an interdependent ecosystem, rather than as independent variables within a container called "the environment." These two views clash repeatedly in ongoing conflicts between Indigenous life-ways and colonizing, extractive economic practices.
Research Interests: Native American Studies, Law, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Environmental Law, and 20 moreIndigenous Health, Environmental Studies, Political Science, Critical Legal Theory, Indigenous Politics, Legal Theory, Socio-legal studies, Ecology, American Indian Law, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, American Indian & Alaska Native, Environmental Sustainability, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous ecological knowledges and practices, American Indians, American Indian Studies, Legal, Native Americans, and Aboriginal Studies
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg) has accomplished an amazing feat in her forthcoming book, "As We Have Always Done." She confronts colonialism from the perspective of Indigenous nationhood, but goes beyond arguing... more
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg) has accomplished an amazing feat in her forthcoming book, "As We Have Always Done." She confronts colonialism from the perspective of Indigenous nationhood, but goes beyond arguing for changes in politics, writing in a way that enacts changes in our thinking about politics. Simpson articulates Indigenous nationhood as "a radical and complete overturning of the nation-state's political formations." This reiterates what others have found when they dig to the roots ['radical' comes from Latin 'radix': root]: Indigenous reality in and of itself challenges Western modes of thinking and acting. Simpson deploys the content of this insight in the process of her writing. She writes—rather than writes about—Indigenous nationhood.
Research Interests: Native American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Indigenous education, American Indian History, and 27 moreIndigenous Politics, Indigenous Knowledge, Indigeneity, Truth and Reconciliiation, Native American, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Reconciliation Process, Reconciliation, Native American Anthropology, Native American (History), American Indians, American Indian Studies, Indigenous Psychology, Forgiveness and Reconciliation, Transitional justice and reconciliation processes, Native Americans, Aboriginal Studies, American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Peace and Reconciliation, Resurgence, Peace & Reconciliation, Native American and Indigenous Studies, American Indian intellectual history, Nomadic/Indigenous People, Truth and Reconciliation Commissions, and Indigenous Resurgence
The Economist recently reported, "Australians should soon get the chance to vote on [a] constitutional amendment concerning aboriginal rights…, in some way acknowledging aborigines as the first Australians. But just how far it should go... more
The Economist recently reported, "Australians should soon get the chance to vote on [a] constitutional amendment concerning aboriginal rights…, in some way acknowledging aborigines as the first Australians. But just how far it should go is a matter of intense debate." A “First Nations National Constitutional Convention” at Uluru put forward the proposal in May 2017, when delegates called for "Makarrata"—"coming together after a struggle"—accomplished by a "First Nations voice enshrined in the constitution."
The Uluru Statement reproduces sovereignty conundrums. It asserts, "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander…sovereignty…has never been ceded or extinguished, and co-exists with the sovereignty of the Crown." The Statement then asks, "How could it be otherwise?" But, I ask, how can Aboriginal sovereignty—from "time immemorial"—coexist with British sovereignty created 200 years ago? What does co-existing sovereignty mean?
The Uluru Statement reproduces sovereignty conundrums. It asserts, "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander…sovereignty…has never been ceded or extinguished, and co-exists with the sovereignty of the Crown." The Statement then asks, "How could it be otherwise?" But, I ask, how can Aboriginal sovereignty—from "time immemorial"—coexist with British sovereignty created 200 years ago? What does co-existing sovereignty mean?
Research Interests: Political Sociology, Native American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Political Theory, and 32 moreAustralian Studies, American Indian History, Sovereignty, Political Science, Indigenous Politics, Politics, Australia, Australian society, Indigeneity, Australian Indigenous Studies, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, Australian Politics, Australian History, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Aboriginal History in Australia, Theories of Sovereignty, Native American (History), American Indians, Aboriginal Australia, American Indian Studies, Aboriginal Rights, Twentieth-Century Australian History, Native Americans, Aboriginal Studies, American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Aboriginal organizing, State sovereignty, Native American and Indigenous Studies, Aboriginal Law, and Nomadic/Indigenous People
The new music documentary from Rezolution Pictures, "Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World," provides a lesson in what Felix Cohen called "Americanizing the White Man." As Alex Jacobs wrote, "The film tells the story of a profound,... more
The new music documentary from Rezolution Pictures, "Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World," provides a lesson in what Felix Cohen called "Americanizing the White Man." As Alex Jacobs wrote, "The film tells the story of a profound, essential, and, until now, missing chapter in the history of American music: the Indigenous influence." "Rumble" explores Indigenous roots of American music—blues, country, jazz, rock, gospel, funk, R&B, and more—through interviews with contemporary music icons remembering formative encounters with Native artistry, archival footage of legendary artists, and clips of major bands working from these roots. The global influence of American popular music justifies the film's subtitle—"Indians who rocked the world."
Felix Cohen, widely known for his "Handbook of Federal Indian Law," a compilation of U.S. laws affecting Native Peoples, also authored numerous essays, including a 1952 piece, "Americanizing the White Man." Cohen asserted, "few Americans … realize that America is not just a pale reflection of Europe - that what is distinctive about America is Indian, through and through." He criticized the notion of "the vanishing Indian, …the theme of song and folklore, of sculpture, of fiction and of the special sort of fiction that sometimes passes as American history."
Felix Cohen, widely known for his "Handbook of Federal Indian Law," a compilation of U.S. laws affecting Native Peoples, also authored numerous essays, including a 1952 piece, "Americanizing the White Man." Cohen asserted, "few Americans … realize that America is not just a pale reflection of Europe - that what is distinctive about America is Indian, through and through." He criticized the notion of "the vanishing Indian, …the theme of song and folklore, of sculpture, of fiction and of the special sort of fiction that sometimes passes as American history."
Research Interests: History, American History, Cultural History, Cultural Studies, Native American Studies, and 27 moreAmerican Studies, Music, Music History, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Media and Cultural Studies, Popular Music Studies, Popular Music, Cultural Heritage, Popular Culture, American Indian History, Legal History, Critical Legal Theory, Culture, Socio-legal studies, Sociology of Music, History of Popular Music, Native American, Social History, Cultural Anthropology, Popular musicology, Native American (History), American Indians, American Indian Studies, Native Americans, Rock and Roll History, and Native American and Indigenous Studies
The Sioux Chef provides food for thought as well as for the body. Throughout the recipes and descriptions of ingredients, Sherman includes reminiscences of his early education about Native foods—learning to hunt and gather, to behave... more
The Sioux Chef provides food for thought as well as for the body. Throughout the recipes and descriptions of ingredients, Sherman includes reminiscences of his early education about Native foods—learning to hunt and gather, to behave respectfully to plants and animals to assure their continued existence. He brings readers and cooks into an awareness that a recipe involves a collaboration not only with ingredients, but with the sources of ingredients: Human nourishment intertwines with the nourishment of all beings. The recipes will teach cooks everywhere how to pay attention to the world around them for sources of ingredients and how to prepare those ingredients. The personal stories—the wisdom they share—will teach all readers about sustainable living—the interdependence of beings, living with the earth instead of on the earth.
Research Interests: Native American Studies, Nutrition and Dietetics, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Nutrition, and 26 moreIndigenous Health, Action Research (Indigenous Health), American Indian History, Indigenous Knowledge, Food and Nutrition, Aboriginal Health, Health, Native American, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous ecological knowledges and practices, Human Nutrition, Native American Anthropology, Native American (History), Food Security, American Indians, American Indian Studies, Cooking, Native Americans, Aboriginal Studies, Home Cooking Recipes, American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Native Plants, Native American and Indigenous Studies, Nomadic/Indigenous People, and History of Cooking and Food Culture
The notion of "a country built by immigrants" has become a kind of fetish in the polarized debates roiling the status of "foreigners" in the U.S. Those who embrace immigration frequently assert "we are all immigrants." Opponents demand... more
The notion of "a country built by immigrants" has become a kind of fetish in the polarized debates roiling the status of "foreigners" in the U.S. Those who embrace immigration frequently assert "we are all immigrants." Opponents demand deportation of immigrants who are not "legal." While both sides pat themselves on the back for their "correctness," neither steps back to examine the history—the "social and political change over time"—that would shed light on the issue. Xenophobia—"intense or irrational dislike or fear of people from other countries"—has characterized American history from its inception in rival colonies bent on domination and exploitation of the continent. It will not do to celebrate an "inclusiveness" that muddies the debate—as in the strange phenomenon of the Broadway show "Hamilton," where non-white actors sing and dance the story of the white men who founded the federal scheme of empire-building—nor will it be acceptable to sanctify "legal" status as the determining factor of immigration rights.
Research Interests: American History, Native American Studies, American Studies, Law, Indigenous Studies, and 39 moreIndigenous or Aboriginal Studies, American Indian History, Legal History, Immigration, Immigration Studies, Political Science, Critical Legal Theory, Indigenous Politics, Native American Politics, Immigration Law, Political History, Socio-legal studies, American Indian Law, Immigration and Emmigration, Undocumented Immigration, Native American Law, Immigration History, Immigration an Citzenship, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, Indigenous Peoples, Immigration Policy (Immigration History), immigration, migration, identity, Immigration and identity (Anthropology), Immigration and Citizenship, Native American Anthropology, Native American (History), International Migration and Immigration Policy, American Indians, American Indian Studies, Native American history, Native Americans, Xenophobia, American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Refugees, migration and immigration, Immigration Policy, Immigration and Ethnicity, Native American and Indigenous Studies, and Immigration Status & Nationality
"Navajo Sovereignty: Understandings and Visions of the Diné People," a new collection of essays by Navajo authors, edited by Professor Lloyd L. Lee, tackles Indigenous sovereignty from a specifically Navajo perspective. The essays vary in... more
"Navajo Sovereignty: Understandings and Visions of the Diné People," a new collection of essays by Navajo authors, edited by Professor Lloyd L. Lee, tackles Indigenous sovereignty from a specifically Navajo perspective. The essays vary in tone and depth, but they all hit on or near the bulls-eye: revealing "the ongoing consequences of an imposed Western democratic governmental structure that transformed Navajo governance and leadership." The book demonstrates that Navajo society has not succumbed to the imposition of an alien governmental structure. The essays depict "tribal government" as a collaborator with colonial forms, but as Professor Jennifer Denetdale says in her Foreword, the authors "note the multiple ways and layers of how we are Diné and how we practice sovereignty and self-determination [and how] we work to transform governance…."
Research Interests: Political Sociology, Native American Studies, Law, Political Economy, Political Philosophy, and 33 moreIndigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, American Indian History, Indigenous Research Methodologies, Legal Anthropology, Legal History, Political Science, Critical Legal Theory, Indigenous Politics, Legal Theory, Socio-legal studies, Indigenous Knowledge, American Indian Law, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, Indigenous Peoples, Legal Philosophy, Indigenous ecological knowledges and practices, Native American Anthropology, Native American (History), Tribal Culture and Local self Goverment, American Indians, American Indian Studies, Indigenous Psychology, Tribal studies, Native Americans, American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Navajo Studies, Political Economy and History, Native American and Indigenous Studies, Navajo Culture, Nomadic/Indigenous People, and Navajo Nation
A deep irony emerges here: While the U.S., North Dakota, and Energy Transfer Partners all ignored the possibility that Native sovereignty might be a relevant factor at Standing Rock—and as Standing Rock lawyers ignored the doctrine of... more
A deep irony emerges here: While the U.S., North Dakota, and Energy Transfer Partners all ignored the possibility that Native sovereignty might be a relevant factor at Standing Rock—and as Standing Rock lawyers ignored the doctrine of Christian discovery—TigerSwan took the possibility seriously. Notwithstanding TigerSwan's invocation of "soft security" and "community engagement," the company's military surveillance tactics put it in the posture of a confrontation with a sovereign power. A lesson learned from TigerSwan: The defense of Native sovereignty against the "uncertainties" of nation-state and corporate challenges demands deep due diligence, starting with understanding the "cerebral environment" of U.S. federal Indian law—a set of ideas intended to subjugate Native Peoples—and extending to strategic global surveillance of forces arrayed against Indigenous Peoples. Imagine if Standing Rock had retained TigerSwan to defend Native territory and economic interests!
Research Interests: American History, Political Sociology, Native American Studies, American Studies, Law, and 33 morePolitical Economy, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Political Theory, Political Ecology, American Indian History, Legal History, Political Science, Critical Legal Theory, Indigenous Politics, Native American Politics, Political Violence and Terrorism, Political communication, Socio-legal studies, American Indian Law, Native American Law, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Native American (History), American Indians, American Indian Studies, Legal, Native American history, Aboriginal Rights, Native Americans, Aboriginal Studies, Native American Business Management, Aboriginal organizing, Political Economy and History, Native American and Indigenous Studies, and Nomadic/Indigenous People
Robert Alexander's new book, "The Northwest Ordinance: Constitutional Politics and the Theft of Indian Land" (McFarland, April 2017), exposes the murky dealings leading to the 1787 Northwest Ordinance—"An Ordinance for the Government of... more
Robert Alexander's new book, "The Northwest Ordinance: Constitutional Politics and the Theft of Indian Land" (McFarland, April 2017), exposes the murky dealings leading to the 1787 Northwest Ordinance—"An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, North-West of the River Ohio"—a mechanism for extending U.S. jurisdiction into the interior of the continent beyond the original thirteen colonies. Alexander's research points to "an intimate link between the two original sins of the [United States]: the enslavement of millions of African-American men, women and children—and the theft of millions of acres of Native land." The book displays how northern anti-slavery and southern pro-slavery interests managed to agree that Black people, as slaves, would count in the new constitution as three-fifths of a person, and that Native lands would be seized.
Research Interests: American History, Black Studies Or African American Studies, Native American Studies, American Studies, Constitutional Law, and 27 moreAmerican Politics, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Political Theory, American Indian History, Legal History, Political Science, Critical Legal Theory, Indigenous Politics, Political History, Socio-legal studies, American Indian Law, African American Studies, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, United States History, Indigenous Peoples, Native American (History), American Indians, American Indian Studies, Legal, United States, Native Americans, Aboriginal Studies, American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Political Economy and History, and Native American and Indigenous Studies
Colonialism, neo-colonialism, post-colonialism: These terms arise in discussions of Indigenous Peoples' relations to political-economic agendas of the global nation-state system. Too frequently, the terms appear as rhetoric, with little... more
Colonialism, neo-colonialism, post-colonialism: These terms arise in discussions of Indigenous Peoples' relations to political-economic agendas of the global nation-state system. Too frequently, the terms appear as rhetoric, with little or no theoretical framework and empirical context to explain them. Moreover, a linear view of history often accompanies their use, so that colonialism refers to something past, while neo- and post-colonialism refer to competing views about the present. All three terms often appear in binary opposition to a situation presented as non-colonial autonomy, so that the potential for a nuanced understanding of colonialism disappears in a simplistic, vague, and historicist muddle—which may nonetheless involve heated discussion. These considerations help us understand why discussions of U.S. federal Indian law so quickly become problematic. A helpful framework exists in the concept of "Collaborative Colonial Power," the title of a 2009 history of colonialism in Hong Kong, by Law Wing Sang. Sang summarizes the theory of "collaborative colonialism" by asserting that "domination is only practicable in so far as alien power is translated into terms of indigenous political economy." The theory's major benefit in our time stems from its power to help us understand power formations that have shifted from open colonialism while still operating on the original colonial basis: i.e., formations like "government-to-government" coexisting with the doctrine of Christian Discovery.
Research Interests: Critical Theory, Native American Studies, Law, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, and 31 moreAmerican Indian History, Legal Anthropology, Legal History, Religion and Colonialism, Critical Legal Theory, Indigenous Politics, Native American Politics, Critical Race Theory, Legal Theory, Colonialism, Socio-legal studies, Post-Colonialism, American Indian Law, Native American, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Anthropology of Colonialism, Settler Colonial Studies, Native American Anthropology, Native American (History), Colonial Discourse, American Indians, Settler Colonialism & Its Legacies, American Indian Studies, Indigenous Psychology, Settler colonialism, Native Americans, Aboriginal Studies, Anti-Colonialism, Native American and Indigenous Studies, and Colonialism and Imperialism
On April 25, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Lewis v. Clarke, a case involving the scope of Mohegan sovereign immunity. The substance of the decision—an employee of Mohegan Sun Casino was acting on his own and not protected by... more
On April 25, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Lewis v. Clarke, a case involving the scope of Mohegan sovereign immunity. The substance of the decision—an employee of Mohegan Sun Casino was acting on his own and not protected by Mohegan's immunity—focused on general immunity rules. One commentator pointed to an ominous sign—which should be a wakeup call to Native Nations' lawyers: "The court declined to reconsider … core issues of the scope of tribal sovereignty (such as whether there should be any separate tribal sovereignty). Although recent opinions have teed up these questions...." the Supreme Court has "teed up" the question "whether there should be any separate tribal sovereignty." If Native Nations fail to challenge the presumption that the U.S. "owns" Native Nations' lands, they leave the field to parties who want to "terminate" Indigenous sovereignty and land rights altogether. These are pre-colonial, pre-U.S. Constitution rights, equally significant as civil rights. The battle looms; where are the warriors?
Research Interests: Native American Studies, Law, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, American Indian History, and 26 moreLegal History, Critical Legal Theory, Indigenous Politics, Native American Politics, Legal Theory, Legal Pluralism, Socio-legal studies, American Indian Law, Native American Law, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, Alaska Native Studies, Legal interpretation, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Socio-Legal Studies (Law), Native American (History), American Indians, American Indian Studies, Critical Legal Studies, Legal, Native American history, Native Americans, American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Native American and Indigenous Studies, and Nomadic/Indigenous People
The rhetoric of "self-government" requires careful analysis. The surface looks appealing, since it seems to support what Native Peoples are demanding; but beneath the glittering surface lurk difficult and dangerous assumptions and... more
The rhetoric of "self-government" requires careful analysis. The surface looks appealing, since it seems to support what Native Peoples are demanding; but beneath the glittering surface lurk difficult and dangerous assumptions and institutional forces. In the Spanish case, "self-government" policy presumed Native Peoples would abandon their Indigenous modes of life and adopt Christian modes—including modes of land ownership and political leadership. In the United States, federal "government-to-government" programs presume that Native Peoples will subordinate themselves to settler-state extractive economic programs and land laws based on Christian Discovery claims.
Research Interests: American History, Native American Studies, American Studies, Law, Indigenous Studies, and 33 moreIndigenous or Aboriginal Studies, International Law, American Indian History, Legal Anthropology, Legal History, Self-Determination Theory, Critical Legal Theory, Indigenous Politics, Native American Politics, Legal Theory, Socio-legal studies, American Indian Law, Native American Law, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, Legal interpretation, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Legal Philosophy, Socio-Legal Studies (Law), Native American Anthropology, Native American (History), American Indians, American Indian Studies, Critical Legal Studies, Legal, Native American history, Aboriginal Rights, Native Americans, Aboriginal Studies, American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Native American and Indigenous Studies, and Nomadic/Indigenous People
What would a truly Indigenous reexamination of Christian Discovery look like? For some guidance on this question, we may learn from an architect whose designs express an Indigenous way of thinking and building: Christopher T. Cornelius... more
What would a truly Indigenous reexamination of Christian Discovery look like? For some guidance on this question, we may learn from an architect whose designs express an Indigenous way of thinking and building: Christopher T. Cornelius (Oneida), Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and founding principal of Studio Indigenous, an architectural design and consulting practice serving American Indian clients.
In a stunning presentation at the University of Massachusetts / Amherst in March 2017—"Imagining Indigeneity"—Professor and Architect Cornelius offered a look at creating Indigenous cultural meaning through architecture. He demonstrated, through words and images, the difference between buildings that merely mimic Indigenous themes and structures that are in themselves indigenous to their locations.
In a stunning presentation at the University of Massachusetts / Amherst in March 2017—"Imagining Indigeneity"—Professor and Architect Cornelius offered a look at creating Indigenous cultural meaning through architecture. He demonstrated, through words and images, the difference between buildings that merely mimic Indigenous themes and structures that are in themselves indigenous to their locations.
Research Interests: Native American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Architecture, American Indian History, and 12 moreArchitectural History, Indigenous Knowledge, Architectural Theory, Modern Architecture, Native American, Indigenous Peoples, Native American (History), History of architecture, American Indians, American Indian Studies, Native Americans, and Native American and Indigenous Studies
Robert Williams' book, "Like a Loaded Weapon," lays out a critique of federal Indian law as racist, an argument he has developed in many books and articles. For all that, however, the argument misses the critical target and exposes Indian... more
Robert Williams' book, "Like a Loaded Weapon," lays out a critique of federal Indian law as racist, an argument he has developed in many books and articles. For all that, however, the argument misses the critical target and exposes Indian rights to a dangerous counter-argument.
Don't get me wrong: federal Indian law decisions contain plenty of racist language; and I have no doubt that many of the judges who wrote those decisions harbor racist stereotypes about Indians. But the aim of a critique must go deeper than stereotypes in judges' minds: it must go to the legal doctrines judges use to supposedly justify their decisions.
The critical elements in any field of law are its foundational doctrines—its basic premise. If you aim to change law you must focus on foundational doctrines. Williams argues that federal Indian law rests on racism, and he quotes from cases to make his point. Unfortunately, his quotations hit all around the basic premise and miss the bull's eye.
To put it precisely: federal Indian law—racist language and all—rests on a religious foundation: the doctrine of Christian Discovery. For some reason I cannot understand, Williams skates all around that foundational religious doctrine, even when it stares him in the face. He comes so close that you wonder how he could miss it.
Don't get me wrong: federal Indian law decisions contain plenty of racist language; and I have no doubt that many of the judges who wrote those decisions harbor racist stereotypes about Indians. But the aim of a critique must go deeper than stereotypes in judges' minds: it must go to the legal doctrines judges use to supposedly justify their decisions.
The critical elements in any field of law are its foundational doctrines—its basic premise. If you aim to change law you must focus on foundational doctrines. Williams argues that federal Indian law rests on racism, and he quotes from cases to make his point. Unfortunately, his quotations hit all around the basic premise and miss the bull's eye.
To put it precisely: federal Indian law—racist language and all—rests on a religious foundation: the doctrine of Christian Discovery. For some reason I cannot understand, Williams skates all around that foundational religious doctrine, even when it stares him in the face. He comes so close that you wonder how he could miss it.
Research Interests: American History, Native American Studies, American Studies, Law, Indigenous Studies, and 31 moreIndigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Human Rights Law, Critical Race Studies, American Indian History, Race and Racism, Critical Legal Theory, Indigenous Politics, Critical Race Theory, Legal Theory, International Human Rights Law, Race and Ethnicity, Socio-legal studies, Indigeneity, American Indian Law, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, Critical Race Theory and Whiteness theory, Race And Ethnicity (in ) migration of indigenous people, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Legal Philosophy, Native American (History), American Indians, Race, American Indian Studies, Indigenous Psychology, Legal, Native Americans, American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Native American and Indigenous Studies, and Nomadic/Indigenous People
Stephen Kinzer's new book, "The True Flag," suffers from an alarming fault among historical writers: blindness to history. The book's subtitle—"Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of the American Empire"—demonstrates the... more
Stephen Kinzer's new book, "The True Flag," suffers from an alarming fault among historical writers: blindness to history. The book's subtitle—"Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of the American Empire"—demonstrates the blindness: the American Empire was born more than 200 years before the era of Roosevelt and Twain. Kinzer's subjects were protagonists in the expansion of the American Empire, not its birth. Kinzer's unacknowledged truncation of U.S. history mars what would otherwise be a good book; as we shall see, it also prevents him from coming to a useful conclusion and a happy end.
Research Interests: History, American History, Native American Studies, American Studies, American Politics, and 21 moreIndigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Political Science, Indigenous Politics, Native American Politics, Political Violence and Terrorism, United States In The World, Native American, United States History, Indigenous Peoples, 19th and 20th Century United States, Native American (History), United States Foreign Policy, American Indians, Imperialism, Theodore Roosevelt, Native American history, United States, Native Americans, Native American and Indigenous Studies, and Colonialism and Imperialism
The Yankton Sioux and their Chairman, Robert Flying Hawk, have broken new ground in litigation against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to protect the waters of the Missouri River from invasion and desecration by the Dakota Access... more
The Yankton Sioux and their Chairman, Robert Flying Hawk, have broken new ground in litigation against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to protect the waters of the Missouri River from invasion and desecration by the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL): Their complaint challenges the federal Indian law concept of "plenary power," by which the U.S. claims total authority over Indians and Indian lands. Standing Rock and other parties challenging DAPL have limited their arguments to conventional federal Indian law and U.S. statutes like the National Historic Preservation Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. These arguments presume the U.S. does have a "right" to dominate Indian Country, but challenge the specifics of the domination—such as whether the U.S. followed proper procedures in its claim of domination. Native Nations have been in existence far longer than the United States. The Constitution of the United States sets up a government for the United States. Native Nations are not a party to that constitution. How could it govern them, let alone provide "plenary power" against them?
Research Interests: American History, Native American Studies, American Studies, Law, Constitutional Law, and 26 moreAmerican Politics, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Political Theory, American Indian History, Legal History, Critical Legal Theory, Indigenous Politics, Legal Theory, Politics, Political History, Socio-legal studies, American Indian Law, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, South American indigenous languages, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Native American (History), American Indians, American Indian Studies, Legal, Native Americans, American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Native American and Indigenous Studies, and Nomadic/Indigenous People
Cozzens' analysis amounts to assertions of stereotypical and erroneous "facts." For example, he says the "founding fathers [had not] simply coveted Indian land," but had "wanted to …lead [Indians] from 'savagery' to Christianity." The... more
Cozzens' analysis amounts to assertions of stereotypical and erroneous "facts." For example, he says the "founding fathers [had not] simply coveted Indian land," but had "wanted to …lead [Indians] from 'savagery' to Christianity." The record shows—in the 1823 Johnson v. McIntosh decision of the US Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Marshall—that "coveting the land" was precisely the motivation, and that "civilization and Christianity" were the supposed payments for the land.
But Cozzens doesn't study Supreme Court decisions, so he makes the huge mistake (again, this all occurs on page one of chapter one!) of saying that the "federal government…negotiated [treaties] on the legal premise that tribes held title to their land." Wow! Here's what the Supreme Court said in Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831), the case after Johnson: "the tribes…occupy a territory to which we assert a title independent of their will."
Who you going to believe—Cozzens or the Supreme Court?
Cozzens compounds his error by saying the federal government sought to purchase Indian lands "at the best possible price." That assertion flies in the face of the economics of "monopsony," which means the distortion of a market that has only one buyer and many sellers: in this case, the sellers—the Indians—were coerced into dealing with only one buyer—the federal government. The fight to understand the "legacy of the Indian Wars" continues in life, as Indigenous Peoples worldwide defend themselves—their ways of life and their lands—against genocidal intentions and forces that remain operative today: colonial and neo-colonial extractive programs—and intentions—carried out under the rubric of "civilization."
The present and the history remain invisible to those who don't know the historical-legal-economic foundation of settler nation-states. The rash of books trying to deny genocidal intent betray an underlying allegiance to the notion that this present and that history are benign and inevitable.
But Cozzens doesn't study Supreme Court decisions, so he makes the huge mistake (again, this all occurs on page one of chapter one!) of saying that the "federal government…negotiated [treaties] on the legal premise that tribes held title to their land." Wow! Here's what the Supreme Court said in Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831), the case after Johnson: "the tribes…occupy a territory to which we assert a title independent of their will."
Who you going to believe—Cozzens or the Supreme Court?
Cozzens compounds his error by saying the federal government sought to purchase Indian lands "at the best possible price." That assertion flies in the face of the economics of "monopsony," which means the distortion of a market that has only one buyer and many sellers: in this case, the sellers—the Indians—were coerced into dealing with only one buyer—the federal government. The fight to understand the "legacy of the Indian Wars" continues in life, as Indigenous Peoples worldwide defend themselves—their ways of life and their lands—against genocidal intentions and forces that remain operative today: colonial and neo-colonial extractive programs—and intentions—carried out under the rubric of "civilization."
The present and the history remain invisible to those who don't know the historical-legal-economic foundation of settler nation-states. The rash of books trying to deny genocidal intent betray an underlying allegiance to the notion that this present and that history are benign and inevitable.
Research Interests: History, American History, Native American Studies, American Studies, American Politics, and 13 moreIndigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, American Indian History, Political Science, Indigenous Politics, American West, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Social History, Indigenous Peoples, American Indians, American Indian Studies, Native American and Indigenous Studies, and Nomadic/Indigenous People
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers December 4, 2016, decision to undertake a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) crossing of Lake Oahe states something quite startling: Paragraph 5 in the... more
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers December 4, 2016, decision to undertake a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) crossing of Lake Oahe states something quite startling: Paragraph 5 in the full text states, "Because of security concerns and sensitivities, several documents supporting the [original] Environmental Assessment were marked confidential and were withheld from the public or representatives and experts of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. These documents include a North Dakota Lake Oahe Crossing Spill Model Discussion…."
How does that square with the February 7, 2017, statement by Acting Secretary of the Army Robert Speer when he announced the Army was aborting the EIS process and withdrawing the notice of intent? Speer said, "the decision was made based on a sufficient amount of information already available which supported approval to grant the easement request."
What information? Available to whom? How sufficient? In whose judgement?
How does that square with the February 7, 2017, statement by Acting Secretary of the Army Robert Speer when he announced the Army was aborting the EIS process and withdrawing the notice of intent? Speer said, "the decision was made based on a sufficient amount of information already available which supported approval to grant the easement request."
What information? Available to whom? How sufficient? In whose judgement?
Research Interests: Native American Studies, Law, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Legal Education, and 21 moreAmerican Indian History, Legal History, Critical Legal Theory, Indigenous Politics, Legal Theory, Socio-legal studies, American Indian Law, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Native American (History), American Indians, American Indian Studies, Legal, Aboriginal Rights, Native Americans, Aboriginal Studies, American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Native American and Indigenous Studies, and Nomadic/Indigenous People
Standing Rock should never agree with the idea that the Black Hills are "under federal ownership," nor should they accept the U.S. assertion that it cannot return lands it has invaded and claimed for its own. The time has come to stand up... more
Standing Rock should never agree with the idea that the Black Hills are "under federal ownership," nor should they accept the U.S. assertion that it cannot return lands it has invaded and claimed for its own. The time has come to stand up against the centuries-long violation of Indigenous Peoples' lands by any government claiming the "right" of "discovery." In 1958, Standing Rock lawyers did not challenge the U.S. claim. As the judge said, "the authority of Congress…is not questioned." Standing Rock should not make that mistake again!
Research Interests: American History, Native American Studies, American Studies, American Politics, Indigenous Studies, and 13 moreIndigenous or Aboriginal Studies, American Indian History, Indigenous Politics, American Indian Law, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, Indigenous Peoples, Native American (History), American Indians, American Indian Studies, Native Americans, American Indian and Indigenous Studies, and Native American and Indigenous Studies
Once again, Germany steps forward to confront and compensate for historical crimes—this time, its colonial genocide in Africa. Germany began a process of national self-criticism after World war II, investigating atrocities of its Nazi... more
Once again, Germany steps forward to confront and compensate for historical crimes—this time, its colonial genocide in Africa.
Germany began a process of national self-criticism after World war II, investigating atrocities of its Nazi past and creating large-scale education programs. Confronting history was understood as a necessary part of moving forward. Many other countries have made efforts to recover from historical traumas caused by official violence. The United States Institute of Peace Truth Commissions Digital Collection contains profiles of bodies of inquiry from nations worldwide—with links to the official legislative texts establishing such commissions and each commission's final reports and findings. One notable—but unremarked—omission from the list of countries: The United States. No "truth commission" or "holocaust memorial" has ever been undertaken by the U.S. to acknowledge—let alone compensate for—its historical violence against Native Peoples.
Germany began a process of national self-criticism after World war II, investigating atrocities of its Nazi past and creating large-scale education programs. Confronting history was understood as a necessary part of moving forward. Many other countries have made efforts to recover from historical traumas caused by official violence. The United States Institute of Peace Truth Commissions Digital Collection contains profiles of bodies of inquiry from nations worldwide—with links to the official legislative texts establishing such commissions and each commission's final reports and findings. One notable—but unremarked—omission from the list of countries: The United States. No "truth commission" or "holocaust memorial" has ever been undertaken by the U.S. to acknowledge—let alone compensate for—its historical violence against Native Peoples.
Research Interests: American History, Native American Studies, African Studies, German Studies, American Studies, and 45 moreLaw, American Politics, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, German History, Human Rights Law, Colonial America, American Indian History, Legal History, African History, Genocide Studies, Critical Legal Theory, Indigenous Politics, Colonialism, Socio-legal studies, Indigeneity, Post-Colonialism, American Indian Law, Holocaust Studies, Comparative genocide, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, American Indian & Alaska Native, Holocaust education, Indigenous Peoples, Settler Colonial Studies, Native American (History), Holocaust Literature, Holocaust, Germany, Genocide, Colonial Discourse, American Indians, American Indian Studies, Legal, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Native Americans, The Holocaust, Colonial Studies, Anti-Colonialism, American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Holocaust History and Historiography, Nomadic/Indigenous People, Colonial Genocide, and Colonialism and Imperialism
Al Jazeera reported on December 29 that the government of Ecuador has deployed thousands of military and police personnel to impose a "state of exception" across the Amazonian province of Morona Santiago—which encompasses the ancestral... more
Al Jazeera reported on December 29 that the government of Ecuador has deployed thousands of military and police personnel to impose a "state of exception" across the Amazonian province of Morona Santiago—which encompasses the ancestral territories of the Indigenous Shuar People. The Shuar are protesting an invasion of their homelands by a Chinese mining company. The courageous words and actions of Shuar leaders indicate they understand the dynamics of colonial invasion—that they are not dazzled by the company's offer of "jobs" nor willing to accept the government's "ownership" claims. Unfortunately, lawyers for the Shuar have yet to take a stand at the most basic level of the government's legal claims.
The legal challenge needed to support the Shuar leaders involves a rejection of the notion that the Ecuadorian state "owns the subsoil, as well as the rivers, the mountains, etc." The lawyers make a fundamental and dangerous mistake when they concede the principle of basic ownership.
The legal challenge needed to support the Shuar leaders involves a rejection of the notion that the Ecuadorian state "owns the subsoil, as well as the rivers, the mountains, etc." The lawyers make a fundamental and dangerous mistake when they concede the principle of basic ownership.
Research Interests: Native American Studies, Latin American Studies, Law, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, and 25 moreLegal Profession, Legal History, Critical Legal Theory, Indigenous Politics, Legal Theory, Socio-legal studies, Indigeneity, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, Ecuador, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous ecological knowledges and practices, Amazonian Ecuador, Ecuadorian history, Native American (History), Latin America, Legal, South American Indians, Native Americans, Shuar, Peru-Ecuador wars, Shuar, Achuar, Pueblos indígenas, Shuar Culture, Nomadic/Indigenous People, and Shuar amazonian
Steven Salaita's new book, "Inter/Nationalism: Decolonizing Native America and Palestine," explores possibilities for shared academic research about Indigenous Peoples against a background of activism in global decolonization efforts. He... more
Steven Salaita's new book, "Inter/Nationalism: Decolonizing Native America and Palestine," explores possibilities for shared academic research about Indigenous Peoples against a background of activism in global decolonization efforts. He writes in an academic tone, but repeatedly focuses on intersections between academics and actions. Salaita engages multiple layers of history, theory, and politics. The very title of the book raises complex challenges: He posits "inter/nationalism" as a mode of thinking about relations among self-determining peoples, differentiating it from "internationalism" as the name for a unified global order arranged by the dominant (and dominating) states. The Standing Rock water protectors provide a good example of Salaita's concept of "inter/nationalism": "action and dialogue across borders, both natural and geopolitical…[among] heterogeneous communities…attached to particular land bases." Standing Rock did not stand alone, but was joined across natural and geopolitical borders "in…contestation to the Western state." To the extent the "Western state" represents the global "international order," Standing Rock represents Indigenous Peoples worldwide. Salaita's subtitle links Palestine and Native America, implying not only that Israeli Zionism constitutes colonialism, but tying Zionism to American colonialism and positioning Palestinians and Native Americans as subjected to a single (though complex) colonial phenomenon.
Research Interests: Native American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Indigenous Politics, Israel/Palestine, and 26 moreColonialism, Palestine, Indigeneity, Post-Colonialism, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Settler Colonial Studies, Native American (History), Israel-Palestine, History of Palestine and Israel, Colonial Discourse, American Indian Studies, Palestinian Studies, Aboriginal Rights, Native Americans, Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Aboriginal Studies, Colonial Studies, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Post Colonial Theory, Nomadic/Indigenous People, History of Israel Palestine Conflict, Israel and Palestine, and Colonialism and Imperialism
I was startled to read David Treuer (Ojibwe) in the New York Times, writing, "Standing Rock protesters are making a stand on behalf of all Americans." He should know better. Standing Rock people are protecting the water; they are not just... more
I was startled to read David Treuer (Ojibwe) in the New York Times, writing, "Standing Rock protesters are making a stand on behalf of all Americans." He should know better. Standing Rock people are protecting the water; they are not just protesting. To protect something means to keep it safe from harm; to protest means to make an objection. Protection means positive action; protest means reaction. Furthermore, the fact that Americans and other peoples have joined the Standing Rock protectors does not change the fact that the protectors are making a stand on behalf of Creation. Treuer got all mixed up in his New York Times article, glossing over important legal and political distinctions that go to the heart of what Indigenous Peoples' struggles mean. He compared Indian struggles to civil rights struggles: "Like African-Americans, we have fought for and won some of our civil rights." Treuer knows civil rights are different from treaty rights. He wrote, "As Indians we belong to sovereign nations and have treaty rights that have always been our rights." But he mixed it up with the statement, "We have fought for the recognition that we are American and Indian…." If you are a close reader, you see he fell into the very confusion of language against which he argued in the Washington Post article about language and sovereignty. He mixed up civil rights and treaty rights and he failed to see that the notion of being "American and Indian" constitutes a key move in the "cultural eradication" he previously called out.
Research Interests: Native American Studies, American Studies, Law, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, and 23 moreAmerican Indian History, Legal History, Critical Legal Theory, Indigenous Politics, Legal Theory, Socio-legal studies, American Indian Law, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, Treaty Law, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Legal Philosophy, Native American (History), American Indians, American Indian Studies, Legal, Aboriginal Rights, Native Americans, Aboriginal Studies, American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Native American and Indigenous Studies, and Nomadic/Indigenous People
A new book and documentary film, "Mashpee Nine," by Paula Peters, tells a story of "cultural justice" that grew from injustice, followed by outrage, activism, and vindication for a group of Wampanoag drummers and a community practicing... more
A new book and documentary film, "Mashpee Nine," by Paula Peters, tells a story of "cultural justice" that grew from injustice, followed by outrage, activism, and vindication for a group of Wampanoag drummers and a community practicing ancient Wampanoag ways. The story begins with a July 29, 1976, midnight police raid, SWAT style, on a camp for Mashpee children at the site of a recreated 17th century Wampanoag village. The drummers—some in tents for the night, others talking around the fire—were set upon, handcuffed and arrested by police in riot gear with dogs. The police destroyed the camp and damaged village structures and gardens.
"Mashpee Nine" tells the story within the larger context of Wampanoag existence in what today people call "Cape Cod"—from first contact with the English boat people, through the intervening centuries, to the events and aftermath of the police raid. The Mashpee Wampanoag still live in their homelands—nearly four centuries after the boat people arrived and began the Christian colonial assault on the northeast coast of Turtle Island. This fact becomes a central lesson in "Mashpee Nine."
"Mashpee Nine" tells the story within the larger context of Wampanoag existence in what today people call "Cape Cod"—from first contact with the English boat people, through the intervening centuries, to the events and aftermath of the police raid. The Mashpee Wampanoag still live in their homelands—nearly four centuries after the boat people arrived and began the Christian colonial assault on the northeast coast of Turtle Island. This fact becomes a central lesson in "Mashpee Nine."
Research Interests: Native American Religions, American History, Cultural History, Cultural Studies, Native American Studies, and 31 moreAmerican Studies, Law, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Cultural Sociology, Cultural Heritage, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Legal Anthropology, Legal History, Indigenous Politics, Native American Politics, Identity (Culture), Legal Pluralism, Culture, Socio-legal studies, Indigenous Knowledge, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Cultural Anthropology, Native American (History), Indigenous Psychology, Legal, Native American history, Native Americans, Aboriginal Studies, Wampanoag History, Native Studies, Wampanoag History / King Philips War / Nantucket, and Nomadic/Indigenous People
The latest U.S. presidential election holds a major lesson for Indigenous politics. Lets explore what happened and add it up: Stand up for nationhood or lose it. We can apply the lesson of the election as follows: When anti-Indigenous... more
The latest U.S. presidential election holds a major lesson for Indigenous politics. Lets explore what happened and add it up: Stand up for nationhood or lose it. We can apply the lesson of the election as follows: When anti-Indigenous politicians stir up non-Indigenous hate and anger, Indigenous leaders must respond with strong alternative views.
It will not be sufficient for Indigenous leaders to talk about being 'Americans,' or to pretend that 'we are all part of the same country.' It will not be sufficient for Indigenous leaders to rely on federal Indian law principles, either, because those principles deny Indigenous sovereignty. Indigenous leaders must articulate and insist on the fundamental difference between Indigenous self-determination and "domestic, dependent nation." No one else has the interest or the motivation to do that. If they don't do it, the other side will dominate the field.
It will not be sufficient for Indigenous leaders to talk about being 'Americans,' or to pretend that 'we are all part of the same country.' It will not be sufficient for Indigenous leaders to rely on federal Indian law principles, either, because those principles deny Indigenous sovereignty. Indigenous leaders must articulate and insist on the fundamental difference between Indigenous self-determination and "domestic, dependent nation." No one else has the interest or the motivation to do that. If they don't do it, the other side will dominate the field.
Research Interests: American History, Native American Studies, American Studies, Law, American Politics, and 20 moreIndigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Legal History, Political Science, Critical Legal Theory, Indigenous Politics, Legal Theory, Politics, Political communication, Socio-legal studies, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Native American (History), Legal, Aboriginal Rights, Native Americans, Aboriginal Studies, and Nomadic/Indigenous People
The battle at Standing Rock to defend Native lands and waters offers a great opportunity for teachers in a range of disciplines. Fortunately, a number of academic groups have prepared teaching materials about Standing Rock and made them... more
The battle at Standing Rock to defend Native lands and waters offers a great opportunity for teachers in a range of disciplines. Fortunately, a number of academic groups have prepared teaching materials about Standing Rock and made them available on the Internet. The New York City Stands with Standing Rock Collective has produced #StandingRockSyllabus, the most thorough and deeply researched set of materials on the topic. Standing Rock raises the crucial issues of 'modern' civilization's centuries-long war against Indigenous Peoples. The Dakota Access Pipeline project exemplifies everything that characterizes that war: treating Earth as a set of "resources" for extraction and "private profit"; insisting on human "dominance" of Earth and all other creatures; imposing centralized forms of organization on all life. The history of the world can be told on the backs of stories like Standing Rock.
Research Interests: American History, Native American Studies, American Studies, American Politics, Indigenous Studies, and 19 moreIndigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Legal Education, International Law, Indigenous Health, Legal History, Critical Legal Theory, Indigenous Politics, Legal Theory, Socio-legal studies, Aboriginal Health, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous ecological knowledges and practices, Native American (History), Legal, Aboriginal Studies, and Nomadic/Indigenous People
I borrowed the title of this column from a 2015 article in "Archaeologies: Journal of the World Archaeological Congress," by Paulette F. Steeves (Cree-Métis), presenting an overview of her research overthrowing the Bering Strait theory.... more
I borrowed the title of this column from a 2015 article in "Archaeologies: Journal of the World Archaeological Congress," by Paulette F. Steeves (Cree-Métis), presenting an overview of her research overthrowing the Bering Strait theory. Most folks probably don't think about archaeology when they look at U.S. federal Indian law—and vice versa. But the two fields interact as components of the ongoing domination of Indigenous Peoples. As Steeves says, "this academic battle [about the Bering Strait theory] is not just about archaeological sites or material remains. The argument reflects an ongoing colonial practice of erasure and denies Indigenous people of the Western Hemisphere a place in ancient world history." She adds, "To allow that Indigenous people have been present in the Western Hemisphere for a much greater time is to solidify their links to homelands and material remains."
Research Interests: Native American Studies, Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, and 19 moreHistorical Archaeology, American Indian History, Indigenous Politics, Archaeological Method & Theory, Indigenous Knowledge, Native American, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Native American Anthropology, Native American (History), American Indians, American Indian Studies, South American Indians, Native Americans, Native Americans, Paleo-Indians, Archaeology, American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Pueblos indígenas, Native American and Indigenous Studies, and Nomadic/Indigenous People
The Seminole Nation has a high profile in litigation about Indian gaming. In 1991, the Seminole sued the State of Florida under the U.S. Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). The Seminole argued Florida had violated IGRA's requirement of... more
The Seminole Nation has a high profile in litigation about Indian gaming. In 1991, the Seminole sued the State of Florida under the U.S. Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). The Seminole argued Florida had violated IGRA's requirement of "good faith negotiation," by refusing to negotiate inclusion of certain activities in a tribal-state gaming compact. Now the Seminole are back in court, with another Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida lawsuit, again in federal district court—this time about renewing a section of the gaming compact the two parties eventually finalized in 2010. When the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the first Seminole lawsuit against Florida, it stated IGRA "grants the States a power that they would not otherwise have, viz., some measure of authority over gaming on Indian lands." The Seminole lawyers pointed out the same thing: "IGRA empowers the states; it does not encroach upon their rights. Before IGRA, the states had no power to regulate gaming on tribal lands."
But the Seminole did not challenge the IGRA expansion of state power over Indian Territory. They only wanted to enforce the IGRA provision allowing them to sue Florida In fact, the Seminole brief embraced "Congress' complete power over the Tribes (!)" and said "IGRA's grant of power to the states, conditioned … on the duty to negotiate in good faith with Indian tribes, is protective of federalism." What about protective of Native sovereignty?
But the Seminole did not challenge the IGRA expansion of state power over Indian Territory. They only wanted to enforce the IGRA provision allowing them to sue Florida In fact, the Seminole brief embraced "Congress' complete power over the Tribes (!)" and said "IGRA's grant of power to the states, conditioned … on the duty to negotiate in good faith with Indian tribes, is protective of federalism." What about protective of Native sovereignty?
Research Interests: Native American Studies, Law, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, American Indian History, and 20 moreLegal History, Critical Legal Theory, Indigenous Politics, Native American Politics, Legal Theory, Legal Pluralism, Socio-legal studies, Native American Law, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Native American (History), American Indian Studies, Tribal studies, Legal, Native American history, Native Americans, Tribes, and Native American and Indigenous Studies
The late Browning Pipestem (Otoe / Osage) gets credit for coining the phrase "briefcase warriors" to describe Indian lawyers emerging from law schools in the 1970s. As Rennard Strickland (Osage / Cherokee) stated in reviewing the work of... more
The late Browning Pipestem (Otoe / Osage) gets credit for coining the phrase "briefcase warriors" to describe Indian lawyers emerging from law schools in the 1970s. As Rennard Strickland (Osage / Cherokee) stated in reviewing the work of those lawyers 20 years later, "they and their growing number of non-Indian colleagues have used law to help shape an economic and political revolution which has drawn tribes into the courts as well as the congress to address the full range of Native issues." If this connotation of "briefcase warrior" has any validity today—whatever it might have meant in 1970 or 1990—we should see Indian lawyers and their non-Indian colleagues behaving as if they were at war—or at least in a serious struggle for survival. But that seems rarely the case.
Research Interests: Native American Studies, Law, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Legal Profession, and 20 moreAmerican Indian History, Critical Legal Theory, Indigenous Politics, Legal Theory, Politics, Socio-legal studies, Clinical Legal Education, American Indian Law, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Native American (History), American Indians, American Indian Studies, Legal, Native Americans, American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Native American and Indigenous Studies, and Nomadic/Indigenous People
The Standing Rock lawsuit presents an opportunity to critique how Indian Nations represent themselves in legal battles. In this case, the picture looks depressingly familiar. Standing Rock was nowhere near as strong in litigation in the... more
The Standing Rock lawsuit presents an opportunity to critique how Indian Nations represent themselves in legal battles. In this case, the picture looks depressingly familiar. Standing Rock was nowhere near as strong in litigation in the U.S. legal arena as they and the other protectors were on the ground. Whatever view one has about the role of litigation in relation to action, one thing should be clear: litigation that fails to raise all available issues or that acquiesces in the opponent's basic premises and claims provides no real support and no enduring focus. More dangerously, bad litigation may discourage action and undermine long-term prospects.
Research Interests: Native American Studies, Law, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Legal Profession, and 17 morePolitical Science, Critical Legal Theory, Indigenous Politics, Political communication, Socio-legal studies, Social Activism, American Indian Law, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, Indigenous Peoples, Activism, Advocacy and Activism, American Indian Studies, Legal, Litigation, Native Americans, and Native American and Indigenous Studies
Sebastian Junger's new book, "Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging," doesn't break any new ground and actually perpetuates some wrong-headed stereotypes about Indians; but it does present an old perspective in an easy-to-read popular... more
Sebastian Junger's new book, "Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging," doesn't break any new ground and actually perpetuates some wrong-headed stereotypes about Indians; but it does present an old perspective in an easy-to-read popular format. And it points toward a serious critique of American society. These thoughts—significant as they are—demand a deeper exploration than Junger provides of the meaning of "tribal life." For starters, he could have studied Morton Fried's 1975 book, "The Notion of Tribe," an overview of the ambiguity and confusion in the way the concept "tribe" has been used.
Research Interests: Native American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Indigenous Health, American Indian History, and 16 moreIndigenous Religions, Indigenous Politics, Indigenous Knowledge, Native American, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous ecological knowledges and practices, Native American Anthropology, American Indian Studies, Indigenous Psychology, Tribal studies, Native Americans, Tribes, Native American and Indigenous Studies, Socio Economic problems of tribals, Nomadic/Indigenous People, and Sociology of Tribes
Conflating American racism against Black people—the denial of civil rights—with American racism against American Indians—the denial of sovereignty—obscures the different institutional structures through which these two racisms propagate.... more
Conflating American racism against Black people—the denial of civil rights—with American racism against American Indians—the denial of sovereignty—obscures the different institutional structures through which these two racisms propagate. Every time we confuse Indian sovereignty issues with civil rights issues, we not only miss the point of the Indian struggle, we actually advance the US policy of destroying Indian Nations. The voices today that call for "equal rights" for Indians are actually aiming for the termination of separate Indian Nationhood. They target Indian independence and treaty rights as a "violation" of equal rights for all "citizens." "Separate but equal" was legally overturned in 1954, though its effects continue. "Plenary power"—based on "Christian Discovery"—was legally affirmed in 1955, and it remains active to this day as law and policy. The stain of slavery has yet to be cleansed from America despite its legal eradication. The stain of colonial domination over the Indigenous Nations has neither been cleansed… nor legally disavowed.
Research Interests: History, American History, Political Sociology, Black Studies Or African American Studies, Native American Studies, and 24 moreAmerican Studies, Law, Constitutional Law, American Politics, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Political Theory, Legal History, Political Science, Critical Legal Theory, Indigenous Politics, Legal Theory, Political communication, Socio-legal studies, African American Studies, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, Legal interpretation, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Native American (History), Legal, Native Americans, and Nomadic/Indigenous People
Don't look for an understanding of Indian Peoples in Naomi Schaefer Riley's book, "The New Trail of Tears," despite its subtitle, "How Washington is Destroying American Indians." Riley separates Indian people—individuals—from Indian... more
Don't look for an understanding of Indian Peoples in Naomi Schaefer Riley's book, "The New Trail of Tears," despite its subtitle, "How Washington is Destroying American Indians." Riley separates Indian people—individuals—from Indian Peoples. The title of her concluding chapter says it all: "Native Americans as Americans." If you're looking for a recitation of economic and political dysfunction on Indian reservations, you'll find it in this book. If you're looking for stories of individual Native people who have somehow escaped those dysfunctions, you'll find them, too. But if you're looking for a sustained analysis of what it means to be an individual in a communal, non-state, "tribal" society, you'll be disappointed. In fact, as the title to another chapter puts it, Riley's worldview sees "The Tribe vs. the Individual." The political-economic and philosophical underpinning of Riley's book reflects a belief in capitalism and what has been called "possessive individualism." That view explicitly denigrates communal ways of living. It harks back to the missionary effort to "convert the heathens" (and take their lands).
Research Interests: Critical Theory, Native American Religions, American History, Economic History, Native American Studies, and 33 moreAmerican Studies, Economics, Political Economy, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Contract Law, Property Rights, American Indian History, Property Law, Legal Anthropology, Legal History, Critical Legal Theory, Indigenous Politics, Legal Theory, Socio-legal studies, Indigenous Knowledge, Economic Development, American Indian Law, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Rule of Law, Native American, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Legal Philosophy, Native American Anthropology, Native American (History), American Indians, American Indian Studies, Indigenous Psychology, Native Americans, Native American and Indigenous Studies, American Indian intellectual history, and Nomadic/Indigenous People
White supremacists have long associated themselves with Christianity, despite the fact that Jesus was not a white man. U.S. Representative Steve King provided a high profile example of such white supremacy on July 18, 2014, in a televised... more
White supremacists have long associated themselves with Christianity, despite the fact that Jesus was not a white man. U.S. Representative Steve King provided a high profile example of such white supremacy on July 18, 2014, in a televised panel discussion about the current Republican Convention. King's views align closely with the dominant paradigm of Christian European colonialism. An 1837 British House of Commons Select Committee on Aborigines stated, "True civilization and Christianity are inseparable: the former has never been found, but as a fruit of the latter." Whether one celebrates this "civilization" or not depends on whether one profits from the destruction inherent in the system.
Research Interests: Religion, Christianity, Comparative Religion, American History, Sociology of Religion, and 40 moreNative American Studies, American Studies, Philosophy Of Religion, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, History of Religion, History of Christianity, Religion and Politics, American Indian History, Psychology of Religion, Indigenous Politics, History of Capitalism, Capitalism, History of Religions, Whiteness Studies, American Indian Law, British Empire, Christian Ethics, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, Critical Race Theory and Whiteness theory, Indigenous Peoples, Christian Philosophy, Christian Apologetics, Aboriginal History in Australia, Critical Whiteness Studies, White Privilege, Native American (History), Civilization, Religious Studies, American Indians, American Indian Studies, Aboriginal Rights, Native Americans, Whiteness, Aboriginal Studies, Western Civilization, Christian Studies, Inter-civilization contact and conflict, and American civilization
Luci Tapahonso (Navajo) wrote the text for a photo essay in the July 2016 issue of Smithsonian Magazine: "For More Than 100 Years, the U.S. Forced Navajo Students Into Western Schools. The Damage Is Still Felt Today." Tapahonso, now poet... more
Luci Tapahonso (Navajo) wrote the text for a photo essay in the July 2016 issue of Smithsonian Magazine: "For More Than 100 Years, the U.S. Forced Navajo Students Into Western Schools. The Damage Is Still Felt Today." Tapahonso, now poet laureate of the Navajo Nation, writes from her roots. She was born and raised in Shiprock, the town where I first encountered Native culture, as a lawyer for Dinébe’iiná Náhiiłna be Agha’diit’ahii —the Navajo legal services program. Tapahonso doesn't wade into the "reconciliation process." With her usual incisive writing, she chooses instead to focus on the survival of Native Peoples from the boarding school experience; albeit, survival that carries deep scars, passed from the children who were kidnapped to their children. "Today those [boarding school] students are parents and grandparents. Many hold onto a lingering homesickness and sense of alienation. Others are beset by nightmares, paranoia and a deep distrust of authority."
Research Interests: American History, Native American Studies, American Studies, American Politics, Indigenous Studies, and 20 moreIndigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Indigenous education, Indigenous Health, American Indian History, Indigenous Politics, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, Indigenous Peoples, Native American Anthropology, Native American (History), American Indian Studies, Indigenous Psychology, Indigneous Communities, Boarding Schools, Native Americans, Smithsonian Institute, Native American and Indigenous Studies, Smithsonian, Nomadic/Indigenous People, and American Indian Boarding Schools
"All the Real Indians Died Off," a new book by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Dina Gilio-Whitaker, takes aim at what the authors call "myths about Native Americans." The Authors' Note makes clear they are using the word in its negative sense.... more
"All the Real Indians Died Off," a new book by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Dina Gilio-Whitaker, takes aim at what the authors call "myths about Native Americans." The Authors' Note makes clear they are using the word in its negative sense. They refer to "myths and stereotypes," saying the "narratives behind those myths" are "lies" and "misperceptions." On the other hand, the antidote they offer to the false narratives involves "reclaiming stolen pasts through scholarship, storytelling, relationship building, and acknowledging our ancestry." "All the Real Indians Died Off" thus posits countering stories with other stories, with one set of stories said to be "a more accurate history." This leaves us with a second definitional question: What do we mean by "history"? "All the Real Indians Died Off" will hit the market in time for this year's debates about celebrating or mourning the arrival of Columbus and his boat people from their ocean-crossing journey to this continent.
Research Interests: American History, Native American Studies, American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, and 15 moreAmerican Indian History, Indigenous Politics, Myths and Symbols as carriers of unconscious content, American Indian Law, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, Indigenous Peoples, Native American Anthropology, Native American (History), American Indians, American Indian Studies, Native Americans, American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Native American and Indigenous Studies, and American Indian intellectual history
Once again, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has authored a compelling critique of fundamental doctrines in federal Indian law. Thomas' concurring opinion in United States v. Bryant, 13 June 2016, attacks the contradictions... more
Once again, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has authored a compelling critique of fundamental doctrines in federal Indian law. Thomas' concurring opinion in United States v. Bryant, 13 June 2016, attacks the contradictions inherent in federal Indian law views of "tribal sovereignty." Thomas issued a previous major salvo against federal Indian law in 2004, in United States v. Lara, where he stated, "federal Indian law is at odds with itself. … The Federal Government cannot simultaneously claim power to regulate virtually every aspect of the tribes through ordinary domestic legislation and also maintain that the tribes possess anything resembling 'sovereignty.'"
In Bryant, Thomas wrote that the contradiction between "tribal sovereignty" and "plenary power" doctrines "exemplify a central tension within our Indian-law jurisprudence." On one hand, federal Indian law doctrine states "tribes [hold a] status as 'separate sovereigns pre-existing the Constitution.'" On the other hand, a contrary doctrine states "Congress [holds] 'plenary power' over Indian tribes."
Indian Country lawyers have steered clear of responding to Thomas or even acknowledging his critique, despite the fact that cases stretching back to the beginning of federal Indian law in the "Marshall trilogy" bear him out.
It seems to be in bad form to admit that chaos reigns in federal Indian law, although no less an authority than Vine Deloria, Jr., pointed this out long ago in "Of Utmost Good Faith" (1971): The Supreme Court, he wrote, as it creates federal Indian law, "skips along spinning off inconsistencies like a new sun exploding comets as it tips its way out of the dawn of creation."
In Bryant, Thomas wrote that the contradiction between "tribal sovereignty" and "plenary power" doctrines "exemplify a central tension within our Indian-law jurisprudence." On one hand, federal Indian law doctrine states "tribes [hold a] status as 'separate sovereigns pre-existing the Constitution.'" On the other hand, a contrary doctrine states "Congress [holds] 'plenary power' over Indian tribes."
Indian Country lawyers have steered clear of responding to Thomas or even acknowledging his critique, despite the fact that cases stretching back to the beginning of federal Indian law in the "Marshall trilogy" bear him out.
It seems to be in bad form to admit that chaos reigns in federal Indian law, although no less an authority than Vine Deloria, Jr., pointed this out long ago in "Of Utmost Good Faith" (1971): The Supreme Court, he wrote, as it creates federal Indian law, "skips along spinning off inconsistencies like a new sun exploding comets as it tips its way out of the dawn of creation."
Research Interests: Native American Studies, Constitutional Law, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, International Law, and 13 moreAmerican Indian History, Legal History, Critical Legal Theory, Indigenous Politics, Legal Theory, Socio-legal studies, American Indian Law, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, Indigenous Peoples, Native American (History), American Indian Studies, and Native Americans
Indian Country has long debated whether to participate in the ritual of voting in U.S. elections. For those rooted in their Indigenous life-ways, voting in another nation's elections appears a non-starter. And when the discussion goes... more
Indian Country has long debated whether to participate in the ritual of voting in U.S. elections. For those rooted in their Indigenous life-ways, voting in another nation's elections appears a non-starter. And when the discussion goes deeper, as Muscogee (Creek) spiritual leader Phillip Deere pointed out, voting only declares a majority and the majority can be wrong. The question to vote or not goes far beyond particular campaign slogans and issues. The Indian Country debate sheds light—as Indigenous debates generally do—on issues of broad human significance: the history and significance of voting as a political process.
Research Interests: Critical Theory, Native American Studies, American Studies, Law, Indigenous Studies, and 27 moreIndigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Voting Behavior, American Indian History, Legal Anthropology, Legal History, Critical Legal Theory, Indigenous Politics, Colonialism, Legal Pluralism, Socio-legal studies, American Indian Law, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, Citizenship and Identity, Citizenship Theory, Citizenship And Governance, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Elections and Voting Behavior, Native American (History), Citizenship, American Indians, American Indian Studies, Citizen participation, Native Americans, Citizenship identities, and Belonging and Citizenship
The Washington Post poll about Native American attitudes toward 'redskins' as a sports name results showed lack of knowledge of the issue (56%); confusion about who is Indian ('enrolled' or not); and worry about the dangers of being... more
The Washington Post poll about Native American attitudes toward 'redskins' as a sports name results showed lack of knowledge of the issue (56%); confusion about who is Indian ('enrolled' or not); and worry about the dangers of being Indian ("fitting in"), with a consequent desire to keep your head down in the crossfire of American media while simultaneously trying to gain social approval by participating in American sports culture. When the dust settles around the Washington Post poll and the social media uproar about 'redskin,' there will still be talk about—and some living—what it means to be Indigenous in the face of a corporate-state world.
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The historical context of social and personal devastation provides a way—perhaps the only way—of understanding the "suicide clusters" plaguing so many Native communities. The descendants of the generations who experienced colonial... more
The historical context of social and personal devastation provides a way—perhaps the only way—of understanding the "suicide clusters" plaguing so many Native communities. The descendants of the generations who experienced colonial invasions first-hand carry the effects of that into their own lives. The widespread taboo against talking about colonial devastation—and the continuity of neo-colonial domination of Native communities—prevents deep understanding of the causes of today's despair and suicide. The present generation carries in their souls the ache of the original trauma. Since it remains unspoken, they do not understand why they feel as they do, and blame themselves for a historical legacy.
Research Interests: History, Cultural History, Native American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, and 27 moreIndigenous Health, Action Research (Indigenous Health), Traumatic Stress, American Indian History, Indigenous Politics, Trauma Studies, Indigenous Knowledge, Suicide, Suicide (Psychology), Suicide (History), Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, Social History, Suicide prevention, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Anthropology of Suicide, History of Suicide, Trauma, Native American Anthropology, Native American (History), American Indians, American Indian Studies, Indigenous Psychology, Native Americans, Nomadic/Indigenous People, and Teen Suicide
The U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) seems complicit in the burying of its most profound action to date: the critique of the Doctrine of Christian Discovery issued at its 13th Session in May 2014: "Study on the impacts... more
The U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) seems complicit in the burying of its most profound action to date: the critique of the Doctrine of Christian Discovery issued at its 13th Session in May 2014: "Study on the impacts of the Doctrine of Discovery on indigenous peoples, including mechanisms, processes and instruments of redress." In a few weeks, we will know whether the U.N. Permanent Forum has forgotten about the Doctrine of Christian Discovery altogether, or whether it will insist that the question of Indigenous Peoples land rights must include a revocation of the Doctrine and the papal bulls out of which the dominating patterns of the Doctrine emerged. The urgency of Indigenous land title has been increased by the awareness that, as the UNPFII 14th Session reported, suicide among Native Peoples "is linked to the loss by indigenous peoples of their rights to their lands and territories, natural resources, traditional ways of life and traditional uses of natural resources."
Research Interests: Native American Studies, Law, International Relations, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, and 25 moreInternational Studies, Human Rights Law, International Law, American Indian History, Legal History, Critical Legal Theory, Indigenous Politics, Native American Politics, Legal Theory, International Human Rights Law, United Nations, Socio-legal studies, American Indian Law, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, Alaska Native Studies, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Native American (History), American Indians, American Indian Studies, Critical Legal Studies, Native Americans, Native American and Indigenous Studies, and Nomadic/Indigenous People
Borrows wants to deploy Indigenous law Teachings to replace the political violence of state law with a network of trustworthy, consensual, reciprocal relations. He has assembled a remark-ably wide set of... more
Borrows wants to deploy Indigenous law Teachings to replace the political violence of state law with a network of trustworthy, consensual, reciprocal relations. He has assembled a remark-ably wide set of materials to point the way.
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Cassell's book is a powerful, lucid exposition of relations among Indigenous peoples and states. She elucidates "euro-centric" concepts (e.g.: 'wardship,' 'trust,' 'fiduciary,' 'public interest') and legal processes that manipulate these... more
Cassell's book is a powerful, lucid exposition of relations among Indigenous peoples and states. She elucidates "euro-centric" concepts (e.g.: 'wardship,' 'trust,' 'fiduciary,' 'public interest') and legal processes that manipulate these concepts to undermine Indigenous existence.
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Armitage's study encompasses a period shorter than the millennium during which Christian nationalism has preoccupied Western powers. His focus is 150 years of program and policy in three member states of the British Commonwealth:... more
Armitage's study encompasses a period shorter than the millennium during which Christian nationalism has preoccupied Western powers. His focus is 150 years of program and policy in three member states of the British Commonwealth: Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. But his understanding of the larger picture is clear: The bias of colonial practice generally is the notion that nation-state civilization is the pinnacle of human social organization, and that this form of society is the product of Christianity. Armitage quotes from the 1837 House of Commons Select Committee on Aborigines: "True civilization and Christianity are insep- arable: the former has never been found, but as a fruit of the latter" (p. 76).
One might think that the clear failure of colonial social policy would be cause for relief among indigenous peoples who were its targets. But the time for celebration of victory is not yet come.
These books, especially Armitage and the Hazlehurst volume on Legal Pluralism and the Colonial Legacy, provide a supply of fresh thinking in the midst of confusion.
One might think that the clear failure of colonial social policy would be cause for relief among indigenous peoples who were its targets. But the time for celebration of victory is not yet come.
These books, especially Armitage and the Hazlehurst volume on Legal Pluralism and the Colonial Legacy, provide a supply of fresh thinking in the midst of confusion.
Research Interests: Native American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, History of Christianity, Legal History, and 15 moreColonialism, Legal Pluralism, Socio-legal studies, Post-Colonialism, Aboriginal history in Canada, Indigenous Peoples, Aboriginal History in Australia, Socio-Legal Studies (Law), Pluralism, Native American (History), American Indian Studies, Critical Legal Studies, Cultural Assimilation, Aboriginal Studies, and Assimilation
A panel presentation on Christian Discovery and White Supremacy at Syracuse University – 45 minutes — Panelists discuss Christian Discovery and White Supremacy in Federal Anti-Indian Law at a Conference at Syracuse University on December... more
A panel presentation on Christian Discovery and White Supremacy at Syracuse University – 45 minutes — Panelists discuss Christian Discovery and White Supremacy in Federal Anti-Indian Law at a Conference at Syracuse University on December 10, 2023, organized by the Department of Religion Doctrine of DiscoveryProject.
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Amherst Media community television interviews Peter d'Errico in 2019. Part 2.
Research Interests: History, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Human Rights Law, Indigenous Politics, and 7 moreInternational Human Rights Law, Philosophy Of Law, Indigenous Knowledge, Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Indigenous Peoples, and 'Decolonization' and the politics of settler state/Indigenous relations
Amherst Media community television interviews Peter d'Errico in 2019. The substantive interview begins at 8:32 minutes.
Research Interests:
This three-part event focuses on the July 2020 US Supreme Court decision, McGirt v. Oklahoma. The presentation uses the McGirt case as a window into US federal Indian law, to understand how the US built a system of domination over Native... more
This three-part event focuses on the July 2020 US Supreme Court decision, McGirt v. Oklahoma. The presentation uses the McGirt case as a window into US federal Indian law, to understand how the US built a system of domination over Native Nations on the basis of the 15th century doctrine of "Christian discovery." The context and framework for the entire three-part presentation is the original free and independent existence of Native Nations. It includes a face-value overview of the McGirt case and a detailed look at historical, political, and legal materials necessary to understand how the decision fits within federal Indian law. McGirt was seen as a Native Nation "victory" because it said the Creek Nation still exists. The dissenting opinion said the US Congress had eliminated the Creek Nation. The key to understanding the case is that both the majority and the dissent agreed that the US Congress has "plenary power" to abolish a Native Nation. This event raises the crucial question: How and on what basis does the US Congress claim power over Native Nations? The answer, presented with detailed analysis of the language of the McGirt decision itself, shows that the claimed basis of US power over Native Nations is the doctrine of "Christian discovery," adopted by the US Supreme Court in 1823. The McGirt decision embodies the doctrine today and perpetuates US domination of Native Nations behind a veil of a Native "victory."
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A 41 minute interview of Phillip Deere, influential and respected Native American Indian (Muskogee-Creek) elder and Medicine Man, offering insightful and provocative views of American history and culture. Recorded in 1979 at the Mashpee... more
A 41 minute interview of Phillip Deere, influential and respected Native American Indian (Muskogee-Creek) elder and Medicine Man, offering insightful and provocative views of American history and culture. Recorded in 1979 at the Mashpee Wampanoag Sovereignty Conference, by students of Peter d'Errico. Digitally salvaged in 2005 by Adrian d'Errico.
Research Interests: Native American Religions, American History, Native American Studies, American Studies, Indigenous Studies, and 20 moreIndigenous or Aboriginal Studies, American Indian History, Indigenous Politics, Indigenous Knowledge, Indigeneity, American Indian Law, Native American, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous ecological knowledges and practices, Native American Anthropology, Native American (History), American Indians, American Indian Studies, Indigenous Psychology, Native Americans, American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Native American and Indigenous Studies, American Indian intellectual history, and Nomadic/Indigenous People
Dakota filmmaker Sheldon Wolfchild's compelling documentary is premised on "Pagans in the Promised Land: Decoding the Doctrine of Christian Discovery," a book by Shawnee, Lenape scholar Steven T.Newcomb. The film tells the story of how... more
Dakota filmmaker Sheldon Wolfchild's compelling documentary is premised on "Pagans in the Promised Land: Decoding the Doctrine of Christian Discovery," a book by Shawnee, Lenape scholar Steven T.Newcomb. The film tells the story of how Vatican documents of the fifteenth century resulted in a tragic global momentum of domination and dehumanization. This led to law systems in the United States and Canada and elsewhere in the world that are being used against Original Nations and Peoples to this day.
My introduction occurs in the first 10 minutes of this video, which also includes a snippet from the film and an extensive group discussion following the presentation.
My introduction occurs in the first 10 minutes of this video, which also includes a snippet from the film and an extensive group discussion following the presentation.
Research Interests: American History, Native American Studies, American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, and 20 moreAmerican Indian History, Legal History, Critical Legal Theory, Indigenous Politics, Legal Theory, Socio-legal studies, American Indian Law, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Native American (History), American Indians, American Indian Studies, Aboriginal Rights, Native Americans, Aboriginal Studies, American Indian and Indigenous Studies, Native American and Indigenous Studies, and Nomadic/Indigenous People
Video of presentation by Peter d'Errico, Thursday, 25 June 2015, "Replacing the Doctrine of Christian Discovery and Implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples." Part of a workshop, "From Doctrine to... more
Video of presentation by Peter d'Errico, Thursday, 25 June 2015, "Replacing the Doctrine of Christian Discovery and Implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples." Part of a workshop, "From Doctrine to Declaration," organized by Ali Watson (University of St. Andrews, Scotland) and Bennett Collins (College of William and Mary) and held at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington, DC. Full workshop video: Centre for Global Constitutionalism - University of St Andrews: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgOjZBGT7FAPqG3QJG17DYA
Research Interests: Native American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, International Studies, International Law, and 26 moreIndigenous education, American Indian History, Legal History, Critical Legal Theory, Indigenous Politics, Native American Politics, Legal Theory, International Human Rights Law, United Nations, Socio-legal studies, American Indian Law, Native American Law, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, American Indian & Alaska Native, Indigenous Peoples, Legal Philosophy, Socio-Legal Studies (Law), Native American (History), American Indian Studies, Critical Legal Studies, Legal, Native American history, United Nations politics, Native Americans, and Native American and Indigenous Studies
UMass History 2012 Feinberg Lecture Series: "Truth and Reconciliation, History and Justice"
Symposium on Indigenous Peoples, Truth and Reconciliation Pt. 2, 10-2-2012
Symposium on Indigenous Peoples, Truth and Reconciliation Pt. 2, 10-2-2012
Research Interests: American History, Native American Studies, American Studies, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, and 12 moreAmerican Indian History, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, Indigenous Peoples, Reconciliation, Native American (History), American Indians, American Indian Studies, Forgiveness and Reconciliation, Native Americans, Native American and Indigenous Studies, and Truth and Reconciliation Commissions
Randall Trapp, et al. v. Commissioner DuBois, et al. was filed in 1995 on behalf of a group of inmates who were part of a Native American Spiritual Awareness Council in a Massachusetts prison. The Council maintained a weekly Circle and... more
Randall Trapp, et al. v. Commissioner DuBois, et al. was filed in 1995 on behalf of a group of inmates who were part of a Native American Spiritual Awareness Council in a Massachusetts prison. The Council maintained a weekly Circle and other practices associated with American Indian spirituality. At the time of filing, the Circle had already been in existence at the prison for more than five years.
The case proceeded to trial in 1999. In 2002, the Massachusetts Appeals Court ordered the Defendants to settle the controversy by negotiations with the Plaintiffs. In 2003, the first Purification Lodges were held inside three Massachusetts prisons, where named Plaintiffs were incarcerated (several having been transferred from the original prison). By 2003, Native Circles were meeting regularly in many prisons in the state.
http://people.umass.edu/derrico/trapp/
The case proceeded to trial in 1999. In 2002, the Massachusetts Appeals Court ordered the Defendants to settle the controversy by negotiations with the Plaintiffs. In 2003, the first Purification Lodges were held inside three Massachusetts prisons, where named Plaintiffs were incarcerated (several having been transferred from the original prison). By 2003, Native Circles were meeting regularly in many prisons in the state.
http://people.umass.edu/derrico/trapp/
Research Interests:
On July 5, 1995, Michael Maxim and David Greene, Wampanoag Indians and natural descendants of the original American Indian inhabitants of the region known as Cape Cod, Massachusetts, were gathering clams by hand and rake in the area known... more
On July 5, 1995, Michael Maxim and David Greene, Wampanoag Indians and natural descendants of the original American Indian inhabitants of the region known as Cape Cod, Massachusetts, were gathering clams by hand and rake in the area known as Little Buttermilk Bay in the Town of Bourne. Their activities were for the purpose of subsistence for themselves and their families and were carried out in accordance with customary Wampanoag cultural practices and beliefs. Michael and David believed their shell-fishing was consistent with prior understandings and agreements reached between tribal members and legal authorities. On the day in question, however, Maxim and Greene were cited for violation of a Town of Bourne shellfishing by-law styled "Recreational Permit Regulations: Authorized Harvest Season/Days/Limits."
This website provides a history of the litigation that followed, up to and including the April 7, 1999, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court unanimous decision upholding Wampanoag shellfishing rights, with links to court filings and opinions.
http://people.umass.edu/derrico/wampanoag/
This website provides a history of the litigation that followed, up to and including the April 7, 1999, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court unanimous decision upholding Wampanoag shellfishing rights, with links to court filings and opinions.
http://people.umass.edu/derrico/wampanoag/
Research Interests:
Maelezo ya kozi "Sheria ya Shirikisho la India," kama inavyoitwa katika kesi na kanuni, ni mfumo uliowekwa na serikali ya Merika kwa madhumuni yake mwenyewe juu ya watu ambao walikuwepo kabla ya Merika na ambao bado wapo. Katika muktadha... more
Maelezo ya kozi "Sheria ya Shirikisho la India," kama inavyoitwa katika kesi na kanuni, ni mfumo uliowekwa na serikali ya Merika kwa madhumuni yake mwenyewe juu ya watu ambao walikuwepo kabla ya Merika na ambao bado wapo. Katika muktadha huu, tofauti kati ya "American Indian" na "Native-American" haipo. Wote ni majina yaliyopewa na watu wa nje. Hakuna Wahindi Wamarekani au Wamarekani Wamarekani. Kuna watu wengi tofauti, mamia, wenye majina yao wenyewe. "Uhalali" ni jina la mchakato wa kuingiza katika mfumo wa kisheria ambao upo nje na huru ya mfumo. "Kuhalalisha Waamerika Wamarekani" inamaanisha mchakato ambao sheria ya Merika ilifikia maisha ya watu ambao walikuwepo kabla ya sheria hiyo. Mfumo wa Magharibi wa serikali kwa sheria ni bidhaa ya mapigano marefu na ya umwagaji damu kati ya watu waliokuja kutawala ardhi hii na baadaye kuweka "sheria ya shirikisho la India" kwa watu wa kiasili. Wengine wanasema mfumo huo umeandaliwa kwa njia yake ya sasa kwa kuingiza habari asilia zinazotolewa kwa wakoloni. Kwa vyovyote vile, mfumo wa kisheria ambao uliunda "sheria ya shirikisho la India" haikuja ulimwenguni. Inayo historia na hiyo historia inaendelea kutokea. Utafiti wa "kuhalalishwa kwa Wahindi wa Amerika" unafafanua historia hiyo kwani inalingana na historia inayoendelea ya watu asilia ambao umeelekezwa kwao.
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Peter d’Errico and John Kane delve into a range of topics about Indigenous peoples, including the Osage murders (“Killers of the Flower Moon”), Native gaming laws, and US domination as analyzed in Federal Anti-Indian Law: The Legal... more
Peter d’Errico and John Kane delve into a range of topics about Indigenous peoples, including the Osage murders (“Killers of the Flower Moon”), Native gaming laws, and US domination as analyzed in Federal Anti-Indian Law: The Legal Entrapment of Indigenous Peoples (Praeger, 2022)
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Attorney Buz Eisenberg interviews Peter d’Errico to discuss his new book, Federal Anti-Indian Law: The Legal Entrapment of Indigenous Peoples, and American Indian Heritage Month. WHMP Radio: 101.5fm / 1240am / 1400am / WRSI-HD2 —... more
Attorney Buz Eisenberg interviews Peter d’Errico to discuss his new book, Federal Anti-Indian Law: The Legal Entrapment of Indigenous Peoples, and American Indian Heritage Month.
WHMP Radio: 101.5fm / 1240am / 1400am / WRSI-HD2 — Amherst, Northampton, and Greenfield, Massachusetts
https://whmp.com/podcasts/the-afternoon-buzz-11-18-22-professor-peter-derrico-fair-play-with-duke-goldman-with-sports-author-and-financial-professional-bill-ryczek/
WHMP Radio: 101.5fm / 1240am / 1400am / WRSI-HD2 — Amherst, Northampton, and Greenfield, Massachusetts
https://whmp.com/podcasts/the-afternoon-buzz-11-18-22-professor-peter-derrico-fair-play-with-duke-goldman-with-sports-author-and-financial-professional-bill-ryczek/
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A podcast of "Indigenous Perspectives" exploring the puzzling and troubling history of relations between Native American Indian tribal nations and the United States and Canada. Participants: Peter d'Errico, Steven Schwartzberg, Randy... more
A podcast of "Indigenous Perspectives" exploring the puzzling and troubling history of relations between Native American Indian tribal nations and the United States and Canada. Participants: Peter d'Errico, Steven Schwartzberg, Randy Kritkausky, Carolyn Schmidt. For audio podcast: http://www.ecologia.org/news/15.IndianLawPt2Jan2022.mp3
Research Interests:
A podcast of "Indigenous Perspectives" exploring the puzzling and troubling history of relations between Native American Indian tribal nations and the United States and Canada. Participants: Peter d'Errico, Steven Schwartzberg, Randy... more
A podcast of "Indigenous Perspectives" exploring the puzzling and troubling history of relations between Native American Indian tribal nations and the United States and Canada. Participants: Peter d'Errico, Steven Schwartzberg, Randy Kritkausky, Carolyn Schmidt.
For audio podcast: http://www.ecologia.org/news/14.IndianLawDec2021.mp3
For transcript and supplemental materials: https://www.ecologia.org/news/indigpers.html
For audio podcast: http://www.ecologia.org/news/14.IndianLawDec2021.mp3
For transcript and supplemental materials: https://www.ecologia.org/news/indigpers.html
Research Interests:
We are pleased to announce our next event, "200 Years Since the Origin of Federal Indian Law". It will be an online event taking place on February 28th, 2023 @ 9:00am-1:00pm (Pacific Time). February 28th, marks 200 years to the day of the... more
We are pleased to announce our next event, "200 Years Since the Origin of Federal Indian Law". It will be an online event taking place on February 28th, 2023 @ 9:00am-1:00pm (Pacific Time). February 28th, marks 200 years to the day of the 1823 decision in the case Johnson & Graham's Lessee v. McIntosh. This Supreme Court case is noted as the origin of not only Federal Indian Law, but the beginning of U.S. Property Law. What is of significance was the adoption of the Doctrine of Christian Discovery into the ruling. Join us for a presentation providing detailed analysis of this case and its historical and modern-day impacts. This is a Redthought event, yet it is not exclusive to Redthought members and the registration is a simple webinar registration through Zoom. We encourage you to not only register but to forward this information to your networks if you wish as everyone will be welcome to register & to take part in this event.
Research Interests: Native American Studies, Constitutional Law, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Human Rights Law, and 10 moreIndigenous Politics, Philosophy Of Law, Indigenous Knowledge, Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Peoples Rights, Native American, Indigenous Peoples, 'Decolonization' and the politics of settler state/Indigenous relations, Native American (History), and Nomadic/Indigenous People
View the event in its entirety: https://vimeo.com/786042114 "The legislative history of ICWA suggests that Congress operated as a benign force creating cultural understanding that respected and empowered difference. … But this version... more
View the event in its entirety: https://vimeo.com/786042114
"The legislative history of ICWA suggests that Congress operated as a benign force creating cultural understanding that respected and empowered difference. … But this version of the story does not accord with the Act itself, which hedges tribal sovereignty about with state and federal constraints."
Join us for a close look at the history and politics behind ICWA and the current litigation challenging it.
"The legislative history of ICWA suggests that Congress operated as a benign force creating cultural understanding that respected and empowered difference. … But this version of the story does not accord with the Act itself, which hedges tribal sovereignty about with state and federal constraints."
Join us for a close look at the history and politics behind ICWA and the current litigation challenging it.
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Join us for an in-depth look into the visit of Pope Francis to the First Nations Territories. What does it mean? What doesn't it mean. What are the potential outcomes for First Nations Peoples?
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View the presentation in its entirety: https://vimeo.com/785838605 What does the doctrine of Christian discovery have to do with the struggle for water quality? For increasing water temperature? For the potential extinction of Salmon?... more
View the presentation in its entirety: https://vimeo.com/785838605
What does the doctrine of Christian discovery have to do with the struggle for water quality? For increasing water temperature? For the potential extinction of Salmon? For the genocide of Native Nations and their Peoples' Ways of Life? More than you can imagine ... Join us for an indepth look into the history and current conditions that are contributing to the future of Water & Salmon.
What does the doctrine of Christian discovery have to do with the struggle for water quality? For increasing water temperature? For the potential extinction of Salmon? For the genocide of Native Nations and their Peoples' Ways of Life? More than you can imagine ... Join us for an indepth look into the history and current conditions that are contributing to the future of Water & Salmon.
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View the event in its entirety: https://vimeo.com/663723482 This Redthought event addresses the history of the "civilization" program designed to destroy Native nations and peoples by kidnapping their children and forcing them to undergo... more
View the event in its entirety: https://vimeo.com/663723482 This Redthought event addresses the history of the "civilization" program designed to destroy Native nations and peoples by kidnapping their children and forcing them to undergo a brutal reeducation program in boarding schools far from their families. The goal was to destroy Native languages, cultures, ceremonial, and spiritual traditions by breaking generational bonds between children and their communities. Untold numbers of Native children suffered permanent damage to their psyches from physical and psychological abuse. Many died. There are, for example 70 unmarked graves at the Sherman Indian School Cemetery in Riverside, California. The total death toll from the more than 350 schools is unknown, but the recent discovery of hundreds of graves at similar schools run by the Canadian government indicates the number was high. The boarding schools prevented Native children from learning the knowledge and wisdom of their peoples and substituted a curriculum of domination and indoctrination, an attempt at genocide from which Native peoples are still attempting to heal today.
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Many people are under the impression that the international arena and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) provide a path of decolonization, a leverage Indigenous nations and peoples can use to their... more
Many people are under the impression that the international arena and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) provide a path of decolonization, a leverage Indigenous nations and peoples can use to their advantage. Few people appreciate that "international law" originated in the fifteenth century as the "Law of Nations," also known as the "Law of Christendom," an idea-system of nation-state domination over non-Christian peoples. This Redthought focuses on understanding the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the broad history of the claim of a right of domination by "States" over Indigenous nations and peoples. We will explore the practical implications of the UN Declaration's assertion of "human rights" and "fundamental reform." We will ask, What has happened to the claim of a right of domination by "States"?
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Redthought.org offered a special two-part presentation on a legal challenge to defend Oceti Sakowin (“Seven Council Fires”) lands against the invasion of an oil pipeline: Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe v. U.S.... more
Redthought.org offered a special two-part presentation on a legal challenge to defend Oceti Sakowin (“Seven Council Fires”) lands against the invasion of an oil pipeline: Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Dakota Access, LLC. The case went through 16 hearings between September 2016 and May 2021 and at the time of the presentation was the subject of an appeal to the US Supreme Court filed by Dakota Access on September 20, 2021.