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12 Stan. L. & Pol'y Rev. 191 (2001)
Rethinking the Tribal Sovereignty Doctrine: Cultural Sovereignty and the Collective Future of Indian Nations

handle is hein.journals/stanlp12 and id is 197 raw text is: Rethinking the Tribal Sovereignty Doctrine: Cultural Sovereignty and the Collective Future of Indian Nations by Wallace Coffey and Rebecca Tsosie It is time to re- conceptualize Native sovereignty from a model that treats sovereignty as a strategy to maintain culture, to a model that . . . . . . - . . . INTRODUCTION anatyzes cut This article is the result of a context and) dialogue between colleagues who live and work within a particular the exerci, universe which Indian people know autonomy a, very well and non-Indians know ofIndia very little: the cultural existence of an Indian nation with its own territory, identity, and history, that has been enveloped by another nation in a contemporary pluralistic and multicultural society. This universe is governed by Federal Indian Law, the most byzantine series of statutes, regulations, treaties, and court opinions that any nation has ever possessed. However, it is not defined by Federal Indian Law, but by the moral vision that has always guided Indian nations in their collective existence Mr. Coffey and Ms. Tsosie both serve on the Board of Directors of the Native American Rights Fund, which provided the impetus for this dialogue on cultural sovereignty. Mr. Coffey is a Cultural Resources Specialist with the Institute of American Indian Arts, and prior to this he served as Chairman of the Comanche Tribe for two consecutive terms. Ms. Tsosie is Professor of Law and Executive Director of the Indian Legal Program at Arizona State University. ure as a lving lundation for se of group zd the survival Ft nations. as distinctive peoples. It is a universe that is beset with jurisdictional, social, and economic problems. But it is also the universe that encompasses our lives as Indian people, and it is what unites us, inspires us, gives us hope that there is a future, and gives us hope that our collective future as Indian nations will define the terms of our existence in the twenty-first century. This article calls for a reappraisal of the tribal sovereignty doctrine, one which looks within-to the cultural sovereignty of Indian Nations-for the core of its meaning rather than to an externally defined notion of tribal political sovereignty. Part I of the article examines the limitations of the political sovereignty doctrine as it has been applied to Indian nations. In Part II, the article attempts to construct a doctrine of cultural sovereignty, premised on the central components of sovereignty as it is exercised and understood within tribal communities. Part III of the article suggests that cultural sovereignty is a process of reclaiming culture and of building nations. Using the metaphor of repatriation, we discuss the key features of that process. Part IV concludes the article by offering a vision of what the future of Indian nations might be under a reconceptualized and integrated notion of political and cultural sovereignty. The alternative vision of tribal sovereignty that we endorse ultimately depends upon the willingness of Indian nations, including their leaders, attorneys, and citizens, to VOLUME 12:2 2001 Cultural sovereignty is the heart and soul that you have, and no one has jurisdiction over that but God. -Wallace Coffey (Comanche)

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