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31 Ariz. L. Rev. 237 (1989)
Documents of Barbarism: The Contemporary Legacy of European Racism and Colonialism in the Narrative Traditions of Federal Indian Law

handle is hein.journals/arz31 and id is 249 raw text is: Articles DOCUMENTS OF BARBARISM: THE CONTEMPORARY LEGACY OF EUROPEAN RACISM AND COLONIALISM IN THE NARRATIVE TRADITIONS OF FEDERAL INDIAN LAW Robert A. Williams, Jr.* I. INTRODUCTION As an eastern Indian moved West, I have become more appreciative of the importance of a central theme of all American Indian thought and dis- course, the circle. To come West, and listen to so many Indian people speak and apply a vital and meaningful discourse of tribal sovereignty, has been a redemptive experience. It has enabled me to envision what must have been for all Indian peoples before Europeans established their hegemony in America. As an eastern Indian moved West, I continually reflect on the cycles of confrontation between white society and American Indian tribalism.1 I am most alarmed by the structural similarities which can be constructed be- tween the early nineteenth century Removal era and the modern West to- day. In the early nineteenth century, white society confronted the unassimilability of an intransigent tribalism in the East, and responded with an uncompromising and racist legal discourse of opposition to tribal sover- eignty.2 The full-scale deployment of this discourse resulted in tribalism's virtual elimination from the eastern United States. Particularly in the mod- em West today, white society again finds itself confronting a resurgent dis- course of tribal sovereignty as its intercourse with once remote Indian Nations increases. The revival of an uncompromising and racist legal dis- course of opposition to tribal sovereignty, articulated by many segments of * Professor of Law, University of Arizona College of Law. Member, Lumbee Indian Tribe. 1. A classic study on the cycles of contact, confrontation and conquest between white society and American Indian tribalism in the southwestern United States is Professor Edward Spicer's CY- CLES OF CONQUEST (1962). 2. For a discussion of the concepts of discourse and discursive formations and their role as tools of analysis in a general history, see M. FOUCAULT, THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF KNOWLEDGE 3-39 (A. Smith trans. 1972).

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