Reclaiming Futures: Mobilizing Heritage, Education, and Law
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Category
Social Sciences/Humanities
Abstract/Artist Statement
Reclaiming Futures: Mobilizing Heritage, Education, and Law
Abstract:
American Indian Tribes and Nations in what are now known as the United States experience a plethora of formal and informal barriers in the pursuit of asserting sovereignty, or self-governance. The purpose of this project contributes to wider conversations that bring awareness to the topic of self-governance and ways American Indian Tribes have politically adapted to the 20th & 21st centuries. Reclaiming Futures is a project that identifies how American Indian Tribes operationalize cultural heritage, education, and law in their pursuit of exercising different degrees of sovereignty. A complex formulation of barriers exists around assertions of sovereignty, yet many groups persist through various dimensions of cultural expression. In ‘the land of freedom’ where treaty law supersedes constitutional law, groups in the position to do so must actively exercise their rights to self-determination. How such an exercise manifests can follow multifarious avenues. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) is an instrument of human rights carrying moral force that outlines a framework of effectual international legal norms regarding the rights of indigenous peoples around the world. Informed from or in connection to this framework, indigenous groups can reference these articles in their pursuit of asserting different levels of sovereignty. Through archival study, I highlight three examples of sovereign exercises in connection to cultural heritage, education, and law that provide innovative and contemporary procedures that support self-determination. The contribution of this project provides a cohesive road map for the ways that American Indian Tribes and Nations can engage in the process of self-determination serving to maintain cultural integrity, support community initiatives, and provide paths for economic mobility.
Mentor Name
Dr. Neyooxet Greymorning
Reclaiming Futures: Mobilizing Heritage, Education, and Law
UC 330
Reclaiming Futures: Mobilizing Heritage, Education, and Law
Abstract:
American Indian Tribes and Nations in what are now known as the United States experience a plethora of formal and informal barriers in the pursuit of asserting sovereignty, or self-governance. The purpose of this project contributes to wider conversations that bring awareness to the topic of self-governance and ways American Indian Tribes have politically adapted to the 20th & 21st centuries. Reclaiming Futures is a project that identifies how American Indian Tribes operationalize cultural heritage, education, and law in their pursuit of exercising different degrees of sovereignty. A complex formulation of barriers exists around assertions of sovereignty, yet many groups persist through various dimensions of cultural expression. In ‘the land of freedom’ where treaty law supersedes constitutional law, groups in the position to do so must actively exercise their rights to self-determination. How such an exercise manifests can follow multifarious avenues. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) is an instrument of human rights carrying moral force that outlines a framework of effectual international legal norms regarding the rights of indigenous peoples around the world. Informed from or in connection to this framework, indigenous groups can reference these articles in their pursuit of asserting different levels of sovereignty. Through archival study, I highlight three examples of sovereign exercises in connection to cultural heritage, education, and law that provide innovative and contemporary procedures that support self-determination. The contribution of this project provides a cohesive road map for the ways that American Indian Tribes and Nations can engage in the process of self-determination serving to maintain cultural integrity, support community initiatives, and provide paths for economic mobility.