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Reclaiming the Reservation: Histories of Indian Sovereignty Suppressed and Renewed - Paperback | Diverse Reads

Reclaiming the Reservation: Histories of Indian Sovereignty Suppressed and Renewed

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In the 1970s the Quinault and Suquamish, like dozens of Indigenous nations across the United States, asserted their sovereignty by applying their laws to everyone on their reservations. This included arresting non-Indians for minor offenses, and two of those arrests triggered federal litigation that had big implications for Indian tribes’ place in the American political system. Tribal governments had long sought to manage affairs in their territories, and their bid for all-inclusive reservation jurisdiction was an important, bold move, driven by deeply rooted local histories as well as pan-Indian activism. They believed federal law supported their case.

In a 1978 decision that reverberated across Indian country and beyond, the Supreme Court struck a blow to their efforts by ruling in Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe that non-Indians were not subject to tribal prosecution for criminal offenses. The court cited two centuries of US legal history to justify their decision but relied solely on the interpretations of non-Indians.

In Reclaiming the Reservation, Alexandra Harmon delves into Quinault, Suquamish, and pan-tribal histories to illuminate the roots of Indians’ claim of regulatory power in their reserved homelands. She considers the promises and perils of relying on the US legal system to address the damage caused by colonial dispossession. She also shows how tribes have responded since 1978, seeking and often finding new ways to protect their interests and assert their sovereignty.

Reclaiming the Reservation is the 2020 winner of the Robert G. Athearn Prize for a published book on the twentieth-century American West, presented by the Western History Association.

ISBN-13: 9780295745855

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: University of Washington Press

Publication Date: 07-26-2019

Pages: 424

Product Dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

Age Range: 18 Years

Series: Emil and Kathleen Sick Book Western History and Biography

Alexandra Harmon is professor of American Indian studies at the University of Washington. She is the author of Rich Indians: Native People and the Problem of Wealth in American History and editor of The Power of Promises: Perspectives on Pacific Northwest Indian Treaties.

What People are Saying About This

Andrew H. Fisher

"Harmon examines the landmark Supreme Court case Oliphant v. Suquamish from the Native perspective and situates that infamous ruling within the broader context of American Indian history, emphasizing tribal agency in the quest for meaningful self-rule.Alexandra Harmon"

Charles Wilkinson

"Reclaiming the Reservations is a masterpiece, and nothing short of it. Alexandra Harmon’s fair, deeply insightful, and brightly written book addresses the central objectives of modern Indian nations in a fashion never done before."

Jean O'Brien

"This book illuminates the problem of Indian jurisdiction over non-Indians within reservation boundaries, demonstrating with piercing clarity the ever-changing terrain of tribal governance vis a vis states and the federal government."

Tsianina Lomawaima

"Why do US citizens – from drunk street brawlers to Supreme Court Justices – object to Indian tribes’ maintaining law and order on reservations when that means police powers over non-Indians? Learn the facts the Supreme Court ignored."

Daniel M. Cobb

"Harmon brilliantly explains how tribal nations have sought to assert sovereignty through the extension of civil and criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians living within the boundaries of their nations. Reclaiming the Reservation is precisely the kind of history that the field desperately needs."

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction 3

1 Facts Are Tough 22

2 Promises of Power 35

3 Colonial Controls in Quinault Territory 68

4 "Arising" in the Sixties 109

5 Lawyers on the Scene 146

6 Colonial Controls in Suquamish Territory 179

7 Encouraging Signs 218

8 Telling Stories in Court 261

9 Obstacles, Options, and Opportunities 295

Notes 325

Selected Archival Collections 387

Index 389