In June 2023, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in the case Haaland v. Brackeen, defending the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). While this case may have seemed primarily concerned with protecting Indigenous children, it also raised questions about tribal sovereignty, potentially impacting the sovereignty of tribal nations. Cook County Higher Education is hosting a series of three sessions that explore the origins of U.S. federal Indian policy in settler colonialism, with a particular focus on Ojibwe relations in the Great Lakes. These sessions will delve into the social, political, and institutional structures that resulted from this historical context.

In this session, Dr. Jacob Jurss provided an engaging introduction to fundamental concepts and pivotal legislative acts that have significantly shaped federal Indian law. This session introduced key concepts, including Indigenous borderlands, the Doctrine of Discovery, and the Marshall Trilogy. These early foundations of federal Indian law continue to exert influence and shape relations between Indigenous Nations and the United States today.

Resources:

• Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) https://glifwc.org/
• Local Treaty Rights https://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/02/01/minn-indian-treaty-tensions-run-deep
• We Shall Remain Series https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/weshallremain/
• Ned Blackhawk https://history.yale.edu/people/ned-blackhawk
• The Rediscovery of America – Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300244052/the-rediscovery-of-america/
• The murder of Joe White: Ojibwe leadership and colonialism in Wisconsin https://conservancy.umn.edu/handle/11299/144052
• A Guide to Understanding Ojibwe Treaty Rights https://great-lakes-indian-fish-wildlife-commission.constantcontactsites.com/store/product/p_2278830
• 1854 Teaty Authority https://www.1854treatyauthority.org/
• An Infinity of Nations – How the Native New World Shaped Early North America https://www.pennpress.org/9780812222869/an-infinity-of-nations/
• Seeing Red – Indigenous Land, American Expansion, and the Political Economy of Plunder in North America https://uncpress.org/book/9781469677774/seeing-red/
• Ogimaag Anishinaabeg Leadership, 1760-1845 https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/9780803234048/
• As We Have Always Done – Indigenous Freedom through Radical Resistance https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/as-we-have-always-done
• Mni Sota Makoce: The Land of the Dakota https://birchbarkbooks.com/products/mni-sota-makoce-the-land-of-the-dakota
  What Does Justice Look Like? The Struggle for Liberation in Dakota Homeland https://livingjusticepress.org/product/what-does-justice-look-like/
• History Revealed: Land Acknowledgments, Land Back, & 10,000 Lakes: Indigenous History in Minnesota https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBpZ-_E-qVs
• Teach In Tuesday: American Indian Boarding Schools, the Catholic Church, and St. Thomas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76gIrd_WV4w
• Powerpoint