Compositional Stasis and Flexibility in American Indian Tribes
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-1-2021
Publication Title
Ethnohistory
Abstract
American Indian tribal power has typically expanded since the 1960s. During this period, often referred to as the Self-Determination Era, tribes have regained much of their earlier political centrality. One rarely addressed limitation during this period is the inability of tribal polities to break into smaller units while maintaining recognition as legitimate. This essay identifies the inability of tribes to exercise what the authors call compositional flexibility and fracture to form new polities discrete of the previous tribe. The authors argue the absence of compositional flexibility shapes tribal politics and is at odds with many forms of traditional governance systems.
Keywords
American Indians, Anthropological theory, Law, Native North America, Recognition, Settler colonialism
Volume
68
Issue
2
First Page
191
Last Page
213
DOI
10.1215/00141801-8801822
ISSN
00141801
Recommended Citation
Orr, Raymond I. and Orr, Yancey A., "Compositional Stasis and Flexibility in American Indian Tribes" (2021). Environmental Science and Policy: Faculty Publications, Smith College, Northampton, MA.
https://scholarworks.smith.edu/env_facpubs/27