“These people deserve our commiseration. They only wanted to be left alone. They didn’t invite Columbus or Henry Hudson or any of the Europeans to come and discover America.”
Tune in to your local public radio or join the 1776 Club to hear this episode of What Would Thomas Jefferson Do?
The concept of tribal sovereignty is central to this week's broadcast of What Would Jefferson Do? in which our guest host, Prairie Public's Bill Thomas, asks Thomas Jefferson about the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Click to expand. Source: Internet Archive
Chief Justice John Marshall, who served on the Supreme Court from 1801 to 1835, described Native American tribes as "domestic dependent nations" in the 1831 case of the Cherokee Nation v. Georgia. This case, along with two others, are the Marshall Trilogy which created "the basic framework of federal Indian law in the United States".
Below, find Chief Justice Marshall's quote, in context. (Emphasis ours.)
"The Indians are acknowledged to have an unquestionable, and heretofore unquestioned, right to the lands they occupy, until that right shall be extinguished by a voluntary cession to our government; yet it may well be doubted, whether those tribes which reside within the acknowledged boundaries of the United States can, with accuracy, be denominated foreign nations. They may, more correctly, perhaps, be denominated domestic dependent nations. They occupy a territory to which we assert a title independent of their will, which must take effect in point of possession, when their right of possession ceases. Meanwhile, they are in a state of pupilage; their relation to the United States resembles that of a ward to his guardian."
“The Northwest Ordinance is, in a way, an addendum to the constitution of the United States.”
President Jefferson, as depicted by humanities scholar Clay S. Jenkinson, cites the Northwest Ordinance and highlights this passage:
Click to expand. Source: Our Documents
The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent; and, in their property, rights, and liberty, they shall never be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorized by Congress; but laws founded in justice and humanity, shall from time to time be made for preventing wrongs being done to them, and for preserving peace and friendship with them.
Jefferson, responding to Bill Thomas, goes on to emphasize that sovereignty is the ultimate factor in this situation: "The fact that the Lakota are a domestic dependent sovereign means that the United States and North Dakota have a responsibility to treat with them in a bilateral way. There can't be a dominant culture and a subordinate culture in these relations."
This week on the Thomas Jefferson Hour, we look back at the conversations we had with President Jefferson and the many subjects we discussed during 2017.
"These people deserve our commiseration. They only wanted to be left alone. They didn't invite Columbus or Henry Hudson or any of the Europeans to come and discover America."
— Thomas Jefferson, as portrayed by Clay S. Jenkinson
Hear more conversation between Clay & David about the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Sacred Stone Camp in Standing Rock, North Dakota.
Events of historic importance are slowly unfolding south of Mandan, North Dakota, near the boundary of another nation state, the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. The Dakota Access Pipeline protest has grown into something much larger and more important for the future of white-Indian relations. As we in the non-Indian community look on, it is essential that we try to shut up and just listen for a change.