In Defense of Sovereignty recounts the history of the Oneida Nation
and its struggles for self-determination. Since the nation's removal
from New York in the 1820s to what would become the state of Wisconsin,
it has been engaged in legal conflicts with US actors to retain its
sovereignty and its lands. Legal scholar and former Oneida Nation senior
staff attorney Rebecca M. Webster traces this history, including the
nation's treaties with the US but focusing especially on its
relationship with the village of Hobart, Wisconsin. Since 2003 there
have been six disputes that have led to litigation between the local
government and the nation. Central to these disputes are the local
government's attempts to regulate the nation and relegate its government
to the position of a common landowner, subject to municipal authority.
As in so many conflicts between Indigenous nations and local
municipalities, the media narrative about the Oneida Nation's battle for
sovereignty has been dominated by the local government's standpoint. In
Defense of Sovereignty offers another perspective, that of a nation
citizen directly involved in the litigation, augmented by contributions
from historians, attorneys, and a retired nation employee. It makes an
important contribution to public debates about the inherent right of
Indigenous nations to continue to exist and exercise self-governance
within their territories without being challenged at every turn.
