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Danielle Delaney, Ph.D. Candidate

dadelaney2@wisc.edu

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Country: United States (Wisconsin)

Research Interests

Race, Ethnicity and Politics

Political Theory

Human Rights

Indigenous Politics

Countries of Interest

United States

Russia

Canada

My Research:

Research: Wearing Raven’s Cloak: Law, Recognition, and IdentityThis dissertation is a comparative legal analysis of how indigenous activists in the United States and Russia use legal institutions and discourses to contest state constructions of indigenous identity.  Research & Teaching Interests: indigenous politics, federal Indian Law, international law, Russian law, Russian politics, diffusion of legal norms, strategic lawyering, social movements

Publications:

Journal Articles:

(2017) The Master's Tools: Tribal Sovereignty and Tribal Self-Governance Contracting/Compacting, American Indian Law Journal

Confronted with the political reality that tribal sovereignty has historically been ignored and systematically dismantled—a fact unlikely to change—tribal advocates sought a legal solution within the system of US federal law that would give them control over their lands and governments, even as they continued to advocate for full recognition of their sovereignty. Government contracting provide an innovative solution which evolved into the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975. Tribal governments have aggressively sought the expansion of ISDEAA through legislative advocacy and litigation. However, advocacy for tribal self-governance contracting/compacting has not supplanted, but rather supplemented, demands for recognition of tribal sovereignty. Tribal self-governance contract is a mechanism of tribal control that operates within the system of US federal law even as activists continue to demand respect for tribal nations as entities outside US federal law. This paper explores the tension between tribal sovereignty and tribal self-governance contracting and argues that they are not dichotomous legal theories, but rather are complimentary legal strategies to preserve and expand the control of tribal governments over their own lands and resources.