Researcher ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9122-0241
Graduation Year
2021
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Sociology
Second Department
International/Intercultural Studies
Reader 1
Erich Steinman
Reader 2
Lako Tongun
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2021 Leah W Kelly
Abstract
Indigenous peoples living on Turtle Island, or what is now known as North America, are under constant threat of both erasure and domination. This study explores the intersecting concepts of Indigenous identity and sovereignty through the perspectives of Indigenous interviewees in the Northeast region of the continent as they navigate settler-colonial society and practice anticolonial resistance. It reveals the ways in which colonizing forces reappropriate and redefine the meanings of indigeneity and sovereignty in order to control Indigenous peoples and inhibit their ability to live self-sustainably. Incorporating qualitative sociological research methods, decolonizing methodologies, a settler-colonial framework, previous scholarly literature, and interviews with 12 participants, this study seeks to answer two main questions: 1) How has settler-colonial society reconstructed notions of Indigenous identity and sovereignty in a way that harms Indigenous peoples? 2) How can Indigenous peoples reclaim the meanings and practices of indigeneity and sovereignty to achieve justice in a colonized world?
On a broader level, this thesis seeks to amplify Indigenous voices and contribute in some way to their fight for justice. It also attempts to provide non-Indigenous people with a better understanding of the challenges facing their Indigenous neighbors on this continent. Finally, it highlights a path forward for Indigenous peoples’ resistance, illustrating how by reclaiming indigeneity and sovereignty, Indigenous peoples can more effectively assert their rights, escape settler-colonial control, and achieve justice for their communities.
Recommended Citation
Kelly, Leah W., "Reclaiming Indigeneity and Sovereignty: Anticolonial Resistance among Indigenous Peoples in Northeastern Turtle Island" (2021). Pitzer Senior Theses. 134.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/pitzer_theses/134
Included in
Demography, Population, and Ecology Commons, Inequality and Stratification Commons, Other International and Area Studies Commons, Other Sociology Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, Social Justice Commons
