Indigenous Sovereignty

Abstract

Sovereignty is a highly contested term. In postcolonial studies and other fields concerned with decolonization, the term is regarded as a European concept that has served as a crucial tool of colonization and the dispossession of Indigenous peoples and that still shapes the unequal geo-political world order we encounter today. Scholars and activists working in the fields of Indigenous, Native Pacific, and Native American studies have exposed the colonial history of the concept of sovereignty and have made multiple claims about its current usefulness. Despite its history, some critics advocate using the concept of sovereignty as a powerful tool in the struggle for decolonization and the return of stolen land to Indigenous populations. Others reject the term because it limits decolonization to a European conceptual tradition and drowns out alternative ways of envisioning community and governance. A third position argues against having to decide between the consistent use or rejection of the concept, advocating a “third space of sovereignty” that negotiates Indigenous and non-Indigenous conceptions. While there are various positions that fall in between or combine aspects of these three stances, all emphasize that Indigenous claims to land and governance pre-date, and exist independently of, European colonization.