The desire to see a successful Native North America has long been espoused by federal governments on all sides of the North American border. By Mexico, Canada, and the United States alike.

Pride follows success, so the motivational lecture goes....

Sovereignty is not what it used to be, and I am not speaking of Indian sovereignty in particular. Sometimes I think about the rise of the nation-state with bemusement at the customs of historians....

Native American people and the distinctive nations they belong to exist in a paradoxical world. They are the original nations of North America, a fact that is enshrined in the U.S....

The Bureau of Indian Affairs website declares, “The United States has a unique legal and political relationship with Indian tribes and Alaska Native entities as provided by the Constitution of the United States, treaties, court decisions and Federal statutes.” It goes on to detail the type of rel...