Discussions and Debates
Sovereignty matters tremendously to American Indian peoples
and to everyone who wants Native nations to thrive. Its wise
exercise has helped some contemporary American Indian nations
improve the lives of tribal members in history-defying ways,
creating a wider horizon of opportunity and hope. Even though
the U.S. Constitution and countless treaties recognize the validity
of tribal sovereignty and even though social science research
validates its uniquely positive value for tribal well-being,
tribal sovereignty has always been contested in the United States.
Thus, it’s entirely appropriate that some of the most
lively ‘Discussions and Debates’ raging today concern
American Indian sovereignty and its opponents.
 Discussion
and Debate: Should Andrew Jackson
be Removed from the $20 bill? Carrie McLachlan, a UCR
graduate student studying Cherokee history, suggests it’s
high time to debate the wisdom of continuing to symbolically
celebrate the most famous opponent of American Indian sovereignty,
Andrew Jackson, whose image appears on U.S. currency. Read
her report and then vote to register your opinion!
Discussion and Debate: Indian Gaming: Why is the Backlash Growing? And as the current media storm about Indian casinos demonstrates, much of the opposition to Indian gaming shows little awareness of the value or validity of tribal sovereignty. We provide an archive of some of the perspectives appearing in the media during 2002-2003.
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