21 Day Indigenous Challenge
Day 2: Sovereignty

Sovereignty: Doctrine of Discovery & Whose Land Are You On?

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Choose one thing to read, watch, listen to, do, or engage with today. Try to mix it up each day between the categories!

READ

A Guide to Indigenous Land Acknowledgement Why is a Native land acknowledgment important? Plus tips for creating an indigenous land acknowledgment statement nativegov.org (2019)

United Nations General Assembly resolution 61/295. United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Created by the UN’s Human Rights Council to be applied to Indigenous people of all countries. un.org (2007)

Understanding Tribal Sovereignty: The Native American Rights Fund One of the most difficult problems that Native Americans face is the lack of public knowledge about Native American legal and political status. This piece seeks to clear some of that up. Expedition Magazine (2013)

Memorandum on Tribal Consultation and Strengthening Nation-to-Nation Relationships Memo from President Joe Biden regarding his administration’s priority to respect Tribal sovereignty and self-governance; to commit to fulfilling Federal trust & treaty responsibilities; to commit to regular, meaningful, and robust consultation with Tribal Nations whitehouse.gov (2021)

Doctrine of Discovery by Upstander Project. Read this excerpt of the Bull Inter Caetera issued by Pope Alexander VI. 

21-Day Questions

  • What is the significance of the fact that the Bull was written in 1493?

  • What did you learn about the relationship between the Church and the Monarchy?

  • How does Pope Alexander justify Spain’s dominion over other peoples’ land?

WATCH

Are Most Land Acknowledgments Performative? Award-winning writer, poet, and actor Cliff Cardinal (Cree and Dine) discusses his latest play, which delves into the relationship between Canada's Indigenous community and the settlers, as well as the state of the reconciliation process in Canada. TVO Today (2013) 14 minutes T

The Loss of Native American Lands Within the US: Every Year Time lapse-style video graphic illustrating the rapid land theft by colonial settlers of Native American land. EmperorTigerstar (2016) 2 minutes

Doctrine of Discovery Professor Robert Miller (Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma) Tells the legal roots of manifest destiny and the pervasive land theft violations that resulted. It lays the foundation for systemic racism. Tonatierra (2012) 30 minutes. Running out of time? Here is the 8 minute version T CC

Native Americans are buying back land that was stolen from them Learn about the growing movement known as “land back.” PBS NewsHour (2021) 8 minutes

The "Indian Problem" When and why did the United States gradually reject the main principle of treaty-making? SmithsonianNMAI (2015) 13 minutes T CC

Why Treaties Matter NPR’s Story Lab project talks with tribal leaders, scholars, and people in the legal field about these foundational, living documents. NPR (2017) 5 minutes T CC

LISTEN

Listen to this song: Who Will Speak by Crystal Woman (Cherokee) (2015) 4 minutes

The Battle for the American West Historians discuss U.S. westward expansion, manifest destiny, and the impact on native peoples and tribes. National Constitution Center (2022) 58 minutes T

NPR: Listen to the TLA controversy here: So you began your event with an Indigenous land acknowledgment. Now what? (2023) 5 minutes T

BRING IT HOME

View two paintings and compare the perspective: 

21-Day Questions

  • What do you see on the left and right hand side of the paintings?

  • What land formations do you see? 

  • What industries do you see?

Alcatraz Island, California, 2023 (photo by Claudia A. Fox Tree)

DO

Check out the Native Land App on your browser [app can also be downloaded on your phone or tablet]

21-Day Questions

  • On whose land were you born?

  • On whose land are you now?

  • On whose land did you [pick one] go to college, get married, or hold a job?

  • Did you know this?

  • How hard was it to find this information?

EXPLORE & REFLECT

What is the Indigenous perspective on major holidays and observances? 

21-Day Questions

  • Consider events such as New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Memorial Day, July 4th, Halloween, Columbus Day, Thanksgiving, and Veteran’s Day.

  • How can you find out what the Indigenous perspective is for each of the above?

  • How is the Indigenous perspective portrayed in news sources, greeting cards, and/ or television shows?

  • Is Indigenous perspective there or missing? 

  • Do you know any Indigenous observances, and whether time off work given for them?

Explore Removing Native Americans from their Land Library of Congress landing page about forced relocation that links to multiple other pages and documents.

T Transcript Available
CC Closed Captions Available