Indigenous Rights Movements & the Law

The National Congress of American Indians - Defending Sovereignty since 1944

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At least 15 Indigenous people in Arizona and New Mexico have reported being stopped at their homes and workplaces, questioned or detained by federal law enforcement and asked to produce proof of citizenship during immigration raids since Wednesday, according to Navajo Nation officials.

Group takes steps to protect members after ‘traumatizing’ reports of people being stopped or detained by agents

Statements recognizing indigenous rights to territories seized by colonial powers may be well-meaning. But some indigenous leaders fear these acknowledgements may become routine and performative.

Danny Lopez spent over 30 years teaching the Tohono O'odham Nation's traditional way of life to its people and surrounding community.

Deb Haaland, the country's first indigenous cabinet secretary, used her term at the Interior Department to make what activists say is irreversible impact in recognizing the painful history of the government's treatment Native Americans

A library book she found when she was 10 inspired Melanie McKay-Cody to pursue a career studying Native American sign languages. Now a researcher in the College of Education, she's one of the foremost experts at the intersection of Native and Deaf identity. She shares her story in this article and video.

Gov. Katie Hobbs said Wednesday she wants $7 million to speed up the repatriation of Native American human remains and artifacts.

Nationwide, nearly 17,000 homes on tribal lands still need electricity hook-ups. A majority are spread across the Navajo Nation, where climate change is making it harder for families to keep cool. A mutual aid program, however, has helped to change lives.

"Land Acknowledgements often begin academic conferences, cultural events, government press conferences, and even hockey games. They are supposed to be an act of Reconciliation between Indigenous people in Canada and non-Indigenous Canadians, but they have become so routine and formulaic that they have sometimes lost meaning. Seen more and more as empty words, some events have dropped Land Acknowledgements altogether. Me��tis artist and educator Suzanne Keeptwo wants to change that. She sees the Land Acknowledgement as an opportunity for Indigenous people in Canada to communicate their worldview to non-Indigenous Canadians--a worldview founded upon Age Old Wisdom about how to sustain the Land we all want to call home. For Keeptwo, the Land Acknowledgement is a way to teach and a way to learn: a living, evolving record of First Nation, Me��tis, and Inuit people in Canada and the Land that for millennia they held in pristine condition. As Keeptwo says: "Everything comes back to the Land--as our common denominator and most perfect unifier for Reconciliation." This is an indispensable guide to getting the contemporary Land Acknowledgement right."--

"Relationality is a core principle of Indigenous studies, yet there is relatively little work that assesses what building relations looks like in practice, especially in the messy context of Native nations' governance. Focusing on the unique history and context of Osage nation building efforts, this insightful ethnography provides a deeper vision of the struggles Native nation leaders are currently facing. Exploring the Osage philosophy of moving to a new country as a framework for relational governance, Jean Dennison shows that for the Osage, nation building is an ongoing process of reworking colonial constraints to serve the nation's own ends. As Dennison argues, Osage officials have undertaken deliberate changes to strengthen Osage relations to their language, self-governance, health, and land-core needs for a people to thrive now and into the future. Scholars and future Indigenous leaders can learn from the Osage Nation's past challenges, strategies, and ongoing commitments to better enact the difficult work of Indigenous nation building"--

"In 'They came but could not conquer,' Diane J. Purvis reveals the centuries-long histories of environmental destruction and settler violence against Alaska Natives and their villages by successive European empires and states: Russian, British, French, and American"--;"As the environmental justice movement slowly builds momentum, Diane J. Purvis highlights the work of Indigenous peoples in Alaska's small rural villages, who have faced incredible odds throughout history yet have built political clout fueled by vigorous common cause in defense of their homes and livelihood. Starting with the transition from Russian to American occupation of Alaska, Alaska Natives have battled with oil and gas corporations; fought against U.S. plans to explode thermonuclear bombs on the edge of Native villages; litigated against political plans to flood Native homes; sought recompense for the Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster; and struggled against the federal government's fishing restrictions that altered Native paths for subsistence. In 'They came but could not conquer' Purvis presents twelve environmental crises that occurred when isolated villages were threatened by a governmental monolith or big business. In each, Native peoples rallied together to protect their land, waters, resources, and a way of life against the bulldozer of unwanted, often dangerous alterations labeled as progress. In this gripping narrative Purvis shares the inspiring stories of those who possessed little influence over big business and regulations yet were able to protect their traditional lands and waterways anyway."--

"Indigenous Peoples and Borders considers the problem of state borders, which are frequently legacies of colonialism, and their impact on Indigenous Peoples around the world. Indigenous lands are frequently divided by such borders creating difficulties for their Native inhabitants that were until recently largely disregarded by international law and international relations scholars. The contributors, including many Indigenous rights practitioners, take up issues of sovereignty, power, globalization, economic integration, and self-determination in areas from Bangladesh to the Russian Arctic to Mexico. The collection takes a comparative, multidisciplinary, and global approach showing the ways Indigenous Peoples are challenging and working around borders, even as they are constrained by them"--

Environmental groups are also petitioning Biden to protect Sáttítla, Kw’tsán and Chuckwalla in California

Chuckwalla and Sáttítla monuments in California will be safeguarded against extraction and energy development

After four dams were blasted from the Klamath River, the work to restore the ecosystem is under way

After 170 years of armed attacks, forced relocations, ethnic cleansing, and genocide of Native Americans, the U.S. military wants to celebrate.

"Indigenous Science and Technology: Nahuas and the World Around Them focuses on how Nahuas have explored, understood, and explained the world around them, in pre-invasion, colonial, and contemporary time periods"--

Navajo Nation sued Apache county for a second time over alleged scramble to cure mail-in ballots – on top of other systemic hurdles like long lines and translation issues

WHAT IS A LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT? A Land Acknowledgement is a formal statement that recognizes the unique and enduring relationship that exists between Indigenous Peoples and their traditional territories.

Thanks to Allison Jones and others for putting this together! Please note: this is NOT a perfect resource! It is very likely that if you do not do any further research or verify our results, you will err in your acknowledgements. We recommend contacting the nations you get in your results directly, to learn more about […]

Native American and Alaskan Native students have a number of scholarships and resources available to help them with their college journeys. Find more than 25 sources of college aid for members of these communities.

STEPPING OUT & STEPPING UP: THE LAND-GRANT TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION PROJECT Stepping Out of Our Comfort Zone & Stepping Up to Our Responsibilities

As members of the local legal community, we are committed to recognizing and addressing the systemic injustices that exist for many of those we serve. We are dedicated, as always -- even during the pandemic -- to providing open and equal access to justice for all. Helping remove the structural bar

Some thoughts on Land Acknowledgements. Things to do, and things not to do.

Pima County Public Library has issued a formal statement acknowledging the Native peoples on whose lands the Library operates.

November is National Native American Heritage Month – a time to recognize and celebrate the indigenous populations of America. National Native American Heritage Month was first celebrated in …