The Relentless Business of Treaties: How Indigenous Land Became U.S. Property

The Relentless Business of Treaties is a book that explores the economic and political motivations of those who, on behalf of the United States, negotiated and signed treaties with Indigenous nations. A public panel discussion among Indigenous scholars and the author will offer perspectives on the historical experience of Native American nations to frame the book and raise questions for exploration in this event, and the reading groups that will follow for those who are interested in participating. The topics will include discussions of how treaties were crafted to benefit the signers, and how they replaced a kinship-based and communal relationship to land with new ways of defining the relationship as property, subject to transaction and individual ownership.

With panelists Martin Case, C̣aƞte Máza (Neil McKay), and Becca Gercken. Reception to follow.

Co-sponsored by the Institute on the Environment, the Department of History, and the Law School.