Intended primarily for undergraduate students, American Indian Politics is richly informative. It should not surprise readers of JREP that ignorance about Indian Country by many students remains a problem, even when the students grow up in close proximity to Indigenous communities. Thus the book begins with a chapter (“Tour of Native Peoples and Native Lands”) which outlines the basic features of Indian Country. From “Who are Indigenous peoples?” to the meaning of federal recognition, to the geography of Native lands, this chapter provides essential background and context. The next chapter covers similarities and differences between “minorities” and Indigenous peoples. Wilkins and Stark describe how Indigenous nations governed themselves prior to contact, during the war period, and in the post-war colonial settler project we commonly call the United States. The authors supplement a governing institutions chapter with case studies of contemporary Indigenous nations.
The “Actors in Native Politics” chapter focuses on the contemporary relationship Indigenous nations have with the three branches of the U.S. government. This chapter, in previous editions and in this edition as well, has always been tortured. This is not the fault of the authors, as fitting Indigenous nations (international actors) into any colonial project's domestic institutions is ripe with contradictions. For example, why would anyone expect treaty obligations being met with federal funding to make sense, without utilizing the frame of “foreign aid”? Yet nearly all Indigenous politics scholars have attempted to do so, defaulting instead to an analysis which revolves around congressional appropriations, like any other domestic expenditure. In this case, it is no wonder many seasoned scholars remain elusive in their analysis of a rather esoteric situation. An Indigenous nation, effectively an international actor, is being coerced to behave as a sub-unit of a settler colonial project one day, and an international actor the next day, while expected to remain patriotic and loyal to the colonizing power.
The most important contribution of the book is the chapter on Federal Indian Policy. This chapter traces, briefly, all eras from international interaction to contemporary self-determination. Again, there is a limited analysis of how Indigenous nations went from international actors that served as powerful military allies, to debilitated nations on reservations far from their traditional homelands or on a diminished portion of it. Readers will need to look elsewhere for deeper discussion of how the United States has sought to wrap up Indigenous nations within the domestic polity, eliminating any dangerous vestiges of Indigenous nations’ international actor status, a project which continues today through the liberalization of Indigenous “rights” that eclipse remaining vestiges of international actor capital—as nations. Nonetheless, this chapter offers essential information available in few other texts, about the history of U.S. policy towards Indian nations.
A chapter on tribal political economies reflects on contemporary as well as historical economic activity. But, again, the discussion lacks serious dialogue about the coerced nature of how these tribal endeavors came to exist. It is a missed opportunity to connect federal appropriations funding to the impact these funds have on tribal policy. Is the U.S. buying policy concessions from Indigenous nations? In other words, does the United States expect policy related to Indigenous natural resources to serve U.S. consumers? Does this leave tribal citizens without representation that serves their interests?
In the centuries of assimilation individual Indians, who are citizens of the United States and their states, as well as their tribal nation, have been incorporated into, or devoured by, the American fabric. This makes for a complex set of political, cultural, and economic ideals that, often times, represents a contradiction in loyalties. Wilkins and Stark do their best to describe these complex relationships while working hard not to oversimplify them. This is a laudable and unenviable task. For this chapter alone they deserve the utmost praise.
On the other end of the spectrum are the Native activists of the past, present, and future. Their activities, at times creating contentious debate among Indigenous leaders and citizens alike, are carefully navigated here in a manner that attempts to be objective. This is, again, a difficult task that the authors handle nicely. Although potentially controversial, for future editions it would be a great addition to discuss the role that some activists have played in either harming or furthering the cause of Indigenous rights. History provides abundant cases to illustrate both positive and negative impacts.
A timely chapter on Indigenous depictions in the media discusses the dehumanization of Indigenous peoples, a necessary condition if Indigenous images are to remain caricatures, consistent with stereotypes in the non-Indigenous imagination. A final chapter of recommendations offers thoughts on the future role of Indigenous nations. With crises surrounding climate change, that could be a future in which Indigenous nations play a key role.
Well established in the market, this edition of American Indian Politics may have missed an opportunity to use its stature more assertively, approaching the U.S. settler colonial project more critically, and supporting ongoing advocacy to maintain and expand Indigenous sovereignty. This omission is perhaps understandable given the book's target audience, and an ideal framing may be beyond the scope of an introductory textbook.
Nonetheless, in this fourth edition of the groundbreaking text, Wilkins and Stark offer a rich descriptive source with abundant graphs, data, and explanatory narrative, introducing the seemingly elusive topic of Indigenous nations and the role they play in the United States and globally.
The book is accessible and illuminating for readers who have basic questions about Indigenous nations, and its narrative is as objective as it can be, given ongoing debates surrounding Indian Country.
