Mike Myers: Settlers are still trying to take over indigenous lands

Wednesday, April 6, 2016  

The seal of the Ute Tribe of Utah is seen on a gymnasium on the reservation. Photo from Ute Tribe Recreation / Facebook

Is the U.S. Supreme Court finally listening to Indian Country or will the settlers continue to get their way? Mike Myers (Seneca Nation) of the Network for Native Futures looks at two recent developments from the high court:

You just gotta love the so-called Chinese curse of, "May you live in interesting times. Because it seems that Indigenous nations and peoples have just entered into some “interesting times” in our relations with the U.S. Supreme Court. On March 22, 2016 SCOTUS made two pro-Indigenous rulings. The first being a unanimous ruling in favor of the Omaha Tribe in Nebraska v. Parker and the other was their refusal to hear the case of Ute Tribe v. Utah.

Both are jurisdiction cases in which the settlers have been trying to diminish Indigenous inherent rights of jurisdiction over matters within their territories. The Omaha case was an interesting threat because the settlers were arguing that their presence in the territory had diminished the territory and the presence of their demographics had erased the territory from being considered Indian Country. This argument is a 21st Century variation on the Doctrine of Discovery.

Perhaps the American Chief Justice John Marshall described the Doctrine of Discovery best in Worchester versus the state of Georgia: "This principle, suggested by the actual state of things, was 'that discovery gave title to the government by whose subjects, or by whose authority, it was made, against all other European governments, which title might be consummated by possession…”

The Justices rejected this position in their decision noting, “And, while compelling, the justifiable expectations of the non-Indians living on the land cannot alone diminish reservation boundaries…” Not a totally reassuring statement but enough for the moment to reject the settler argument.

Get the Story:
Mike Myers: The Rednecks of Nebraska and Utah (Indian Country Today 4/6)

Supreme Court backs Omaha Tribe in reservation boundary case (3/22)
Supreme Court won't hear case challenging Ute Tribe's sovereignty (3/21)