In 2010, after the United States as the final holdout endorsed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), the Bolivian government called for a high level plenary meeting of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to be held in 2014....

When nations declare independence from the domination of other nations it is often within the context of the carnage of bloody confrontations, which tends to get the attention of international media (the old adage in the news business "if it bleeds it leads" really does apply)....

To be in a position of leadership—at least for NCAI’s president Jefferson Keel—is to be in the role of a politician, and that means taking predictably centrist positions (at least publically) to appease as wide an audience as possible....

If ever a concept grabbed hold of hearts and minds in Indian country in the past couple decades surely it would be that of sovereignty. Native people talk about it with reverence, demanding that it be respected by the federal government, and expect their tribal governments to assert it....

Now that we have the obstacles cleared for the federal government to start making payouts under the Cobell settlement, we can expect tribal governments to begin their land consolidation processes....

The Background and Context of Native American Heritage Month...