Native American Sovereignty Issues Essay

Of the many issues facing Native Americans today, sovereignty is, perhaps one of the most important ones. This issue is one almost exclusively encountered by Natives, as every other ethnic group is free to exist as they please. In regards to the current Native population, however, the lack of sovereignty has crippled their culture and greatly reduced their possibilities in life. The problem now being addressed by many Native scholars is, naturally, what can be done to fix this problem and the damage it has caused? Sovereignty is described by Scott Lyons as “the right of a people to conduct its own affairs, in its own place, in its own way.” (450) This is a concept which the dominant culture takes for granted, having never been without it. In contrast, Native Americans have been forced to live without it for a very long time. Since initial contact with Europeans the autonomous rights of Natives have been chipped away by laws such as the Indian Appropriations Act of 1871 and the Dawes Act of 1887. Though these acts are in some cases over a hundred years old, they have served as a deeply flawed foundation for present society among Native Americans. …show more content…
As Resa Bizzaro describes, “for the most part, membership requirements are determined by the specific groups themselves with no outside interference, often imposing strict limitations on who may officially assert their identities as Indians.” (65) In many cases, the tribes decide that a certain degree of Indian blood (or blood quantum) must be proven in order to be officially enrolled; oftentimes this blood quantum is very high, such as ½ Indian blood. These strict rules of membership exclude the vast majority of mixed bloods from having much of a voice in their culture, being especially important due to their relatively small population when compared to the dominant