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Of Native Americans and Tribal Members: The Impact of Law on Indian Group Life

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2024

Carole Goldberg-Ambrose
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Extract

Law has influenced the shape of Indian group life by providing economic or political incentives for groups to organize along particular lines, by forcing groups into closer proximity with one another or separating them, and by creating an official vocabulary for the discussion of group life. The most striking effect of law has been to focus the expression of Indian political identity at the level of the “tribe.” Although largely a construct of non-Indian legal forces, the tribe has become a powerful vehicle for assertions of Indian autonomy, even when it has not always been the traditional locus of political legitimacy. Modern Indian identity and community thus reflect conflicts over and distinctive ways of appropriating the institution of the tribe. A second effect of law has been the developing support among tribal members for a supratribal Native American political community. Significantly, however, most tribal members view their support for such a community as a means of strengthening tribal units.

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Law & Society Review , Volume 28 , Issue 5: Symposium: Community and Identity in Sociolegal Studies , 1994 , pp. 1123 - 1148
Copyright
Copyright © 1994 by The Law and Society Association.

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Footnotes

Research for this article was supported by the UCLA School of Law Dean's Fund and the UCLA Institute of American Cultures.

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