Sleeping Sovereignty: Indigenous Sovereignty and International Development

• In Event: Native American and Indigenous Sovereingty

Abstract

Since recorded history tribal nations have engaged in trade and commerce. After the foundation of colonies in the Americas tribes even engaged in trade with foreign powers, including the French, the Spanish, and the English. This relationship of trade existed well into the eighteenth century. Trade with indigenous tribes was maintained after the ratification of the United States Constitution. Over time the inherent sovereign rights of tribes were slowly eroded by the U.S. Congress while the sovereignty of tribal nations has at the same time been preserved by the Supreme Court. A key hallmark of sovereignty is the ability to enter into relations with foreign powers; trade, diplomacy, international investment etc. As tribes continue to exist as sovereign nations within the United States it stands to question to what extent tribes are entitled to make foreign trade and build international economic development. This paper aims to understand how the unique sovereign rights of tribes in the United States can be used to seek such trade and development. To what extent can tribal nations facilitate international trade and economic development? I begin with a broad discussion on the historical foundations of tribal sovereignty in the western hemisphere through various colonial powers that settled in North and South America such as the English, the Spanish, and the French. The colonial approaches of these European powers differed in key ways which today inform the modern context of Indigenous sovereignty and the relationship of Indigenous nations with the international community.

Author

• Jair NT Peltier, The Catholic University of America