Sovereignty for Survival: American Energy Development and Indian Self-Determination

by James Robert Allison III

Overview

In the years following World War II many multi-national energy firms, bolstered by outdated U.S. federal laws, turned their attention to the abundant resources buried beneath Native American reservations. By the 1970s, however, a coalition of Native Americans in the Northern Plains had successfully blocked the efforts of powerful energy corporations to develop coal reserves on sovereign Indian land. This challenge to corporate and federal authorities, initiated by the Crow and Northern Cheyenne nations, changed the laws of the land to expand Native American sovereignty while simultaneously reshaping Native identities and Indian Country itself.
 
James Allison makes an important contribution to ethnic, environmental, and energy studies with this unique exploration of the influence of America’s indigenous peoples on energy policy and development. Allison’s fascinating history documents how certain federally supported, often environmentally damaging, energy projects were perceived by American Indians as potentially disruptive to indigenous lifeways. These perceived threats sparked a pan-tribal resistance movement that ultimately increased Native American autonomy over reservation lands and enabled an unprecedented boom in tribal entrepreneurship. At the same time, the author demonstrates how this movement generated great controversy within Native American communities, inspiring intense debates over culturally authentic forms of indigenous governance and the proper management of tribal lands.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300216219
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	10/20/2015
Series:	Lamar Series in Western History
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

James Robert Allison III is assistant professor in the department of history at Christopher Newport University. He lives in Richmond, VA.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction 1

Part 1 Constructing Bad Deals

Prologue 17

1 The Tribal Leasing Regime 21

2 Postwar Energy Demands and the Southwestern Experience 37

3 "The Best Situation in Their History" 61

Part 2 Local Resistance

4 "The Most Important Tribe in America" 73

5 Determining the Self 98

Part 3 The National Campaign

6 Taking the Fight National 127

7 Recognizing Tribal Sovereignty 152

Epilogue: New Era, Similar Results 173

Notes 185

Index 243