Steven Newcomb: Indian nationhood a well-settled concept

Friday, March 23, 2012  

"After reading Steve Russell’s column “Citizenship and Nations,” published March 20, I have to wonder why he would publicly challenge one of the strongest words we have in the English language to express the political existence of Indian nations and peoples. I am referring specifically to the word “nation.”

As Mr. Russell stated in his column: “‘Nation’ or ‘tribe’ is another semantic issue that conceals as much politics as citizenship. I dislike ‘nation’ because we don’t have all the attributes of a nation and most of us are ill-equipped to take on nationhood…The problem is we are not states.”

Well, what are the attributes of nationhood? There are five: A population, a territory, a culture, and language, and a decision-making body or government. So which of these do American Indian nations not have? Vine Deloria, Jr. made this very point in his 1974 book, Behind the Trail of Broken Treaties: An Indian Declaration of Independence."

Get the Story:
On Indian Nationhood: Steven Newcomb Responds to Steve Russell’s March 20 Column (Indian Country Today 3/22)

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