Sovereign vs. vassal
The dictionary defines sovereign as “possessing supreme political power;” likewise the word vassal refers to a person or entity which owes loyalty to a “sovereign.”
Among American Indian tribes, the term sovereign has been much misused, especially in more modern times. Words are just words of course, but words often have real consequences for real people.
Before we get knee deep in a discussion of tribal sovereignty and the delusions thereof, we need to know exactly what a sovereign is and what purpose a vassal serves in the service of a conquering sovereign.
From the most ancient of foreign conquerors and war criminals down to the present day, the vassal government and its petty prince have been used to keep indigenous populations pacified and docile. Often, they do this by locking up the concept of identity, by controlling the temple, so to speak.
The corrupt priests to whom Judas betrayed Christ are one example of this. The priests derived their position by serving the interests of Imperial Rome. We see the repetition of this concept over and over again throughout history.
The true indigenous leader or person is one who holds to the identity of his or her ancestors regardless of pressure from sovereign or vassal. There are many examples of this throughout history, including Moses, Sequoyah, Gideon, Nanyehi, Sarika Yehoshua, Dragging Canoe, Boudicca and countless others. The common thread is that the indigenous person who holds to their own culture and identity will always be regarded as an enemy by both the foreign conqueror and the vassal prince, who derives his power and position from the conqueror. The other threats to the indigenous person are the house servant collaborators of the vassal prince, both real and self-appointed.
In era of Manifest Destiny of American history, we see the imposition of programs such as blood quantum and the taking of rolls to facilitate a more efficient control of the Native population. In addition, we find the various attempts at imposing control over the leadership and indeed the very identity of Native communities. The importance of these programs should not be underestimated, as what one cannot measure, one cannot control. The attempt by colonial leaders to control Native identity, as it applies the Cherokee, started very early, with Alexander Cuming’s attempt to appoint Moytoy of Tellico as Cherokee “emperor,” a leader to whom all other Cherokees would be subject.
It did not go well due to the freedomloving nature of Cherokee culture, but that has not stopped subsequent leaders, both colonial and collaborationist, to continue in the attempt.
Today there are a myriad of Native tribes, tribal organizations and community groups, some of greater or lesser legitimacy. The tribes recognized by the federal government have the most to gain from the current system, therefore they are its greatest defenders. They call themselves “sovereign,” and in some cases they even believe it themselves, benefiting as they often do from enormous casino profits.
Occasionally they are disabused of this illusion by some official of the federal government who reminds them of who is the actual sovereign. On other occasions, the tribes themselves show their true status by having to call on the federal government for adult supervision, the crisis involving the government of one Federal Tribe in 1997 is an example of this.
In more recent times, the current governor of Oklahoma is attempting to show who is more sovereign in a dispute with the tribes over the state’s share of casino profits, even though the governor is a member of one of the tribes he is fighting. There are also those who say he has no Native blood. It does not matter of course, membership in a federal tribe makes one a government certified Indian weather one has any Indian blood or not. It’s about status, not blood, as they say.
An amusing dichotomy, someone with no Indian blood has more rights as an Indian than someone with Indian blood based solely on enrollment status. The truth is whatever the government says it is in that case.
The self-appointed protectors of the status quo, sometimes official, sometimes not, spend a great deal of time attacking anyone who does not kneel at the altar of the current system, but the fact is, not even the federal tribes are always certain of what their status is, and that is because that status is derived from a colonial construct.
It is an old Cherokee belief that there are certain immutable laws and that those laws are governed by the Spirits without regard to the vagaries of men. The true descendants of Selu are the heirs to her blessings, this is the traditional law, this is the true sovereignty.