Nation to Nation ─ Treaties Between the United States & American Indian Nations

"Approximately 368 treaties were negotiated and signed by U.S. commissioners and tribal leaders (and subsequently approved by the U.S. Senate) from 1777 to 1868. These treaties enshrine promises the U.S. government made to Indian people and recognize tribes as nations--a fact that distinguishes tribal citizens from other Americans, and supports contemporary Native assertions of tribal sovereignty and self-determination. Treaties are legally binding and still in effect. Beginning in the 1960s, Native activists invoked America's growing commitment to social justice to restore broken treaties. Today, the reassertion of treaty rights and tribal self-determination is evident in renewed tribal political, economic, and cultural strength, as well as in reinvigorated nation-to-nation relations with the United States"--

SUZAN SHOWN HARJO (Cheyenne/Hodulgee Muscogee) is an advocate for American Indian rights as well as a poet, writer, lecturer, and curator. She is currently president of the Morning Star Institute, an American Indian rights advocacy group in Washington, DC.