User:Kholterman/Tribal sovereignty in the United States

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Tribal sovereignty over land, food, and natural resources
Following industrialization, the 1800s brought many challenges to tribal sovereignty over tribal members’ occupied lands in the United States. In 1831, Cherokee Nation v. Georgia established a trust relationship between the United States and tribal territories. This gave the U.S. federal government primary jurisdictional authority over tribal land use, while maintaining tribal members’ rights to reside on their land and access its resources. Similarly, in 1841, a treaty between the U.S. federal government and the Mole Lake Band of Sokaogon Chippewa resulted in the Chippewa ceding extensive lands to the U.S., but maintaining usufructuary rights to fishing, hunting, and gathering in perpetuity on all ceded land.

Tribal land and natural resources
'''Wartime industry of the early 1900s introduced uranium mining and the need for weapons testing sites, for which the U.S. federal government often selected former and current tribal territories in the southwestern deserts. Uranium mines were constructed upstream of Navajo and Hopi reservations in Arizona and Nevada, measurably contaminating Native American water supply through the 1940s and 1950s with lasting impacts to this day. The Nevada desert was also a common nuclear testing site for the U.S. military through World War II and the Cold War, the closest residents being Navajo Nation members. '''

'''In 1970, President Richard Nixon established the federal government’s Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.). In 1974, the E.P.A. became the first U.S. federal agency to release an Indian Policy, which established the model of environmental federalism operational today. Under this model, the federal E.P.A. sets water, air, and waste disposal standards, but delegates enforcement authority and the opportunity to design stricter environmental regulations to each state. Enforcement authority over Native American territory, however, remains under federal E.P.A. jurisdiction, unless a given tribe applies for and is granted Treatment as State (T.A.S.) status. '''

'''With the emergence of environmental justice movements in the United States through the 1990s, President Bill Clinton released executive orders 12898 (1994) and 13007 (1996). E.O. 12898 affirmed disparate impacts of climate change as stratified by socioeconomic status; E.O. 13007 ordered the protection of Native American cultural sites. Since the passage of E.O. 12898 and E.O. 13007, tribal prosecutors have litigated extensively against the federal government and industry polluters over land use and jurisdiction with varying degrees of success.'''

'''In 2007, the U.N. adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People ("The Declaration"), despite the United States abstaining from the vote along with Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. In 2010, President Barack Obama revisited The Declaration and adopted it on behalf of the U.S. However, as recently as 2015, the Gold King Mine contaminated three million gallons of water in the Colorado River which serves as drinking water for the Navajo and Hopi downstream. The federal E.P.A. appropriated $156,000 in reparations for Gold King Mine, while the Flint, Michigan water crisis in 2014 received $80 million in federal funds. '''

'''As of 2021, 100 federally recognized tribal nations have been granted Treatment as State status by the U.S. E.P.A., and thus have jurisdictional authority over environmental regulation and enforcement equivalent to that of the states under environmental federalism. There are 474 federally recognized tribes which have yet to either apply for or be granted T.A.S. status, and thus remain under the federal jurisdiction of the United States government in trust.'''

'''A recent challenge faced by Native Americans regarding land and natural resource sovereignty has been posed by the modern real estate market. While Native Nations have made substantial progress in land and resource sovereignty, such authority is limited to land classified as 'Native American owned.' In the private real estate market, however, big industry polluters and hopeful miners have made a practice of buying out individual land owners in Native American residential areas, subsequently using that land to build mines or factories which increase local pollution. There is not regulation or legislation in place to sufficiently curb this practice at the rate necessary to preserve Native American land and natural resources. '''

Tribal food sovereignty
'''Prior to the colonization of the Americas, Native Americans had a diverse diet and food culture, procuring food in various ways across tribes. Depending on the region, Indigenous people sourced their food by hunting, fishing, gathering, and farming. Native food pathways revolved around the “three sisters,” or corn, beans, and squash, as staples in their diet. Hunting, gathering, and fishing were the primary means of collecting food.'''

'''These balanced ecosystems were disrupted by European settler colonialism following Christopher Columbus’ “discovery” of America in 1492. Upon European arrival, the Indigenous peoples of America were stripped of their supplies and even starved out as a tactic for colonial control over Native lands. Domesticated animals were introduced into America by European settlers, bringing with them new diseases. Colonizers targeted food stores specifically and drastically changed Native American diets, their ability to acquire resources, and produce food. '''

'''New food systems put in place by American settlers, have over time forced a dependency upon processed and mass-produced food on Indian reservations and indigenous communities at large. Native tribes have been forced into a position of food insecurity and put in a place in society where there is no ability to afford other sources of healthy or food that is organically farmed. With a loss of food sovereignty, there was also a loss of land, as Indians were relocated and forcibly assimilated. Following Congress' passing of the Indian Appropriations Act in 1851, all Indigenous people were forced onto Indian reservations, losing the ability to cultivate the earth and rely on traditional means of living.'''

Food sovereignty research and projects
'''In 2021, a comprehensive literature review of IFS (Indigenous Food Sovereignty) and the effectiveness of food sovereignty principles concluded that Indigenous people in the United States and Canada have higher rates of obesity, food insecurity, and Type 2 diabetes than the general population. '''

'''Government projects supporting indigenous food systems are new attempts to uplift indigenous communities and are in amateur stages of development. Other countries adopted Indigenous food programs years before the U.S., including Canada. The Canadian Food Guide (CFG) was created in January 2019 as a means to include multicultural diets, instead of basing food standards on one or few cultures — the guide includes Indigenous diets and involved Indigenous populations in consultation. In 2021, the United States' Department of Agriculture launched the Indigenous Food Sovereignty Initiative. This initiative is designed to "promote traditional food ways" as, similar to Canada, USDA programs have not historically encompassed Indigenous food pathways and diets. The USDA has partnered with organizations already serving Indigenous tribes: The Indigenous Seed Keepers Network, Linda Black Elk & Lisa Iron Cloud, Intertribal Buffalo Council, North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems, Intertribal Agriculture Council, and the University of Arkansas - Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative.'''

'''Non-governmental projects, such as the “Good Life” project in Ecuador, are spearheaded by independent organizations and Indigenous community members. The "Good Life" suggests that there are alternative methods of action through Indigenous community development that do not involve governmental funding or state provisioning. In Ecuador, the Indigenous community has developed the “Good Life” project which drifts away from capitalist and western understandings of what a community needs, and rather focuses on cultivating community success through harmony with the people, nature, and defending their land — essentially working directly within an Indigenous community to reclaim food sovereignty. '''

'''Organizations in the United States have adopted similar models to Ecuador's "Good Life" project. In California, the UC Berkeley organization, CARES (the Community Assessment of Renewable Energy and Sustainability) works with the PPN (Pinoleville Pomo Nation) in Ukiah, California, to support their tribal sovereignty. This Indigenous community has been working with CARES over the years to design sustainable housing and energy that reflect its culture. '''