The Tribal Moment in American Politics
The Struggle for Native American Sovereignty
By (author) Christine K. Gray
Publication date:
23 May 2013Length of book:
230 pagesPublisher
AltaMira PressISBN-13: 9780759123809
In the “tribal moment in American politics,” which occurred from the 1950s to the mid- to late-1970s, American Indians waged civil disobedience for tribal self-determination and fought from within the U.S. legal and political systems. The U.S. government responded characteristically, overall wielding its authority in incremental, frequently double-edged ways that simultaneously opened and restricted tribal options. The actions of Native Americans and public officials brought about a new era of tribal-American relations in which tribal sovereignty has become a central issue, underpinning self-determination, and involving the tribes, states, and federal government in intergovernmental cooperative activities as well as jurisdictional skirmishes.
American Indian tribes struggle still with the impacts of a capitalist economy on their traditional ways of life. Most rely heavily on federal support. Yet they have also called on tribal sovereignty to protect themselves. Asking how and why the United States is willing to accept tribal sovereignty, this book examines the development of the “order” of Indian affairs. Beginning with the nation’s founding, it brings to light the hidden assumptions in that order. It examines the underlying deep contradictions that have existed in the relationship between the United States and the tribes as the order has evolved, up to and into the “tribal moment.”
American Indian tribes struggle still with the impacts of a capitalist economy on their traditional ways of life. Most rely heavily on federal support. Yet they have also called on tribal sovereignty to protect themselves. Asking how and why the United States is willing to accept tribal sovereignty, this book examines the development of the “order” of Indian affairs. Beginning with the nation’s founding, it brings to light the hidden assumptions in that order. It examines the underlying deep contradictions that have existed in the relationship between the United States and the tribes as the order has evolved, up to and into the “tribal moment.”
The period from the mid-1940s (with the founding of the National Congress of American Indians) through the late 1970s saw a rise in activism on the part of American Indians that revealed the plight of tribes in this country. Although often overlooked by the general public, the new tribalism and actions such as the takeover of Alcatraz Island in 1969 and the standoff at Wounded Knee in 1973 made such ignorance impossible. Gray (Univ. of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law) discusses how this activism emerged and how it was instrumental in helping to change the course of American Indian policies. Beginning just before the outset of the termination period, the movement can be linked to such congressional actions as the Indian Self-Determination and Education Act and numerous land settlement acts, and to the shift toward self-determination and self-governance that is seen today. Many works look at this shift in policy, but few touch on tribal activism as being instrumental in the change. . . .The information is valuable and insightful. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, and research collections.