American Indian Culture and Research Journal

This article examines how federal courts and agencies employ “rich Indian” discourses to force tribal economic development to fit normative notions of market capitalism in the United States. In particular, we evaluate the ways in which tribal government revenues are falsely portrayed as individual tribal wealth. Probing rulings on tribal labor relations as well as federal policy that regulates issuances of tax-exempt bonds, our analysis finds that federal courts and agencies use the financial success of tribal governmental industries such as gaming as an excuse to limit tribal government access to federal programs or exemptions. By limiting tribal access to these institutions and programs, federal agents undermine tribes’ ability to produce revenues that are critical for tribal nation (re)building. Thus, employing a rich Indian rhetoric in federal courts and agencies results not only in stifling tribal economic development, but more importantly, undermining tribal sovereignty and self-determination.

The inclusive nature of recent northern economic development plans in Canada is seen by many as a positive transformation of the way settler state and society relate to indigenous peoples. Several scholars have inferred that indigenous peoples-settler relations are increasingly guided by a logic of hybridization and interculturalism, whereby settler state and society are now more willing to empower indigenous peoples and relinquish the historical dominion they have exercised over them. The public controversy sparked by the provisional comprehensive land claim agreement the Quebec and Canadian governments struck with four Innu communities in 2002 does not support such an optimistic outlook. Rather, this episode shows this notion that northern economic development plans will facilitate the mingling of cultures and a more egalitarian relationship between settlers and indigenous peoples is founded on an improper assessment of the prevailing social dynamics of power.

In investigating the case of Niillas Somby, a Sámi activist who sought asylum with North American indigenous groups in the 1980s, this article finds it to be a grassroots exception to the how “indigenous internationalism” is usually understood: that is, formal bodies that support indigenous rights through legal means in international forums. In an effort to stop the Norwegian government’s construction of the Alta-Kautokeino Hydroelectric Project, Somby’s radical protest at the dam went terribly wrong. Evading the Norwegian police and ultimately fleeing the continent to avoid long-term imprisonment, Somby received a great deal of assistance, both official and unofficial, from the World Council of Indigenous Peoples and its network of allies. Somby’s story highlights the ways indigenous internationalism can operate at both grassroots and highly personal levels. Significantly, his interactions with indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest helped reinspire Somby’s sense of indigenous identity and spirituality, while his ceremonial adoption by several indigenous nations also supported their cultural and political resurgence as sovereign peoples.

Importantly for Alaska history, in the early twentieth century Peter Simpson and other residents of “the Cottages” in Sitka established the Alaska Native Brotherhood, a crucial organization in advocating for Alaska Native citizenship and political activism. Alaskan Native political participation continues to play an important role, as shown by United States Senator Lisa Murkowski’s 2010 speech crediting Alaskan Native voters for the success of her write-in bid for office. This article examines oral histories of residents of the Cottages community, where some Alaskan Natives such as Simpson resided after graduating from the Sheldon Jackson School, with the resulting finding that the Cottages environment was significant for both its change and its continuity. New cultural activities such as basketball were integrated into Alaska Native society at the Cottages, while the Cottages society also had long term impacts on sustaining Alaska Native culture and advancing Alaska Native rights. Despite the acculturation goals of missionaries, residents of the Cottages maintained strong ties to their Alaska Native communities, continued subsistence activities, respected the mentoring roles of elders, continued living with extended families, and participated in ceremonial community gatherings where oration was prized. Therefore, leadership styles that could be employed in a quickly changing world flourished at the Cottages.

The 2000 Honoring the Navajo Code Talkers Act (Public Law 106-554) provided Congressional gold and silver medals to the Navajo Code Talkers. The 2008 Code Talker Recognition Act that followed (Public Law 110-420) gave Congressional recognition to all Native Americans who served as Native language communicators, or code talkers, in the United States Armed Forces during World Wars I and II. This article documents and discusses the 2013 Congressional Gold and Silver Medal ceremonies on November 20, 2013, in which Congressional Silver medals were presented to 212 individuals and Gold medals presented to thirty-three tribes. Native American veterans have received many notable individual military awards and have been awarded by states, tribal organizations, and other countries. Nonetheless, these Congressional Medals represent landmark events in the Native American community as concrete steps in recent federal efforts to recognize Native contributions in the United States that have been long overlooked due to issues of race. Although most of these men are now deceased, the event holds great importance for their families and tribal communities.

This essay discusses the policy development and passage in the state of Maine of LD 2416, an act to eradicate offensive state place names containing the word “squaw.” As with the use of similar dehumanizing words, I align the use of this “s-word” to historical racism and, in addition, to the epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous women. An investigation of the law’s legislative development is framed by the author’s role as an active organizer and Native women’s personal experiences with the s-word. For Maine Waponahki women who organized LD 2416, to dismantle the racialized epithet celebrated in place- names throughout the land indigenous to their people meant no less than reclaiming their identity.