Of Land and Law: The Politics of Indigenous Sovereignty and Wildlife Conservation in the Northern Rocky Mountains

Centered around two cases, Of Land and Law teases at the intersections of State power, indigenous politics, and wildlife management in the hopes of illuminating how the effects of colonialism continue to impact indigenous peoples, the modern American legal system, and contemporary environmental relationships. Using law as an analytic lens through which to study postcolonial relationships, this essay compares two cases in which American Indian tribal nations have been involved in wildlife management projects. The first case is that of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, who have been fighting for the last ten years to gain management of the National Bison Range in Montana. The second case involves gray wolf reintroduction in Idaho, which has been successfully managed by the Nez Perce tribe since the mid 1990s. Comparing the cases in light of postcolonial theory highlights the ways in our legal system inevitably produces ambiguous outcomes for indigenous peoples, and how there is still much room for improvement when it comes to building cooperative tribal-government relationships.

    Item Description
    Name(s)
    Date
    April 15, 2015
    Extent
    95 pages
    Language
    eng
    Genre
    Physical Form
    electronic
    Discipline
    Rights and Use
    In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted
    Restrictions on Use
    Access restricted until June 1, 2035. Please contact wesscholar@wesleyan.edu for more information.
    Digital Collection
    PID
    ir:1879