Sovereignty is political power. It is the power to make and enforce rules
and laws.
In the United States we are dedicated to
preserving the principles of liberty and equality for every American citizen. To
do this we provide every person with equal access to the government and the law,
as well as the economic, social and physical landscape. This is political
sovereignty. We also protect the liberty of every individual to think and act
according to the dictates of his conscience, religion or culture. This is
cultural/religious sovereignty.
Democracy as we know it cannot exist
without a delicate balance between the principles of cultural/religious and
political
sovereignty. Cultural/religious sovereignty protects our right to live without undue
interference from the government or from groups of people who do not agree with
our lifestyle. When people practice religion they can believe whatever they
chose. We can worship one god, many gods, no god, or the devil. Culturally, we
can make the woman the head of the household, the man, or have the man and woman
share domestic power equally. Cultural/religious sovereignty protects our right to be as
different as we choose without undue interference from anyone else.
Cultural/religious
sovereignty is discriminatory, groups practicing cultural/religious sovereignty can decide
who is or is not a member. Without cultural/religious sovereignty there would be no
cultural diversity because people could be forced to think, behave and associate
in a manner proscribed by the ruling group.
Political sovereignty cannot be given
exclusively to any particular group in our culturally diverse nation. To do so
would create a ruling group that could interfere with the civil rights of anyone
who was not a member. All general governmental functions are equally accessible
to people regardless of their cultural, religious, ethnic, sexual or other
status. Anyone can vote, hold office, practice law, or speak out against
injustice. General government (political sovereignty) must be accessible to
people of any group but must not dictate the beliefs or prejudices (religious,
cultural etc.) of any particular group of people. Government by the people means
the human race, not any particular race or culture. Political sovereignty is
nondiscriminatory; everyone who is an American citizen has the right to
participate in the government.
Cultural/religious sovereignty allows people to form
groups and to practice limited governmental power within that group. A religious
or cultural group can form a constitution or by-laws and require the members of
the group to abide by those laws or rules. The Amish, for instance, could have a
ruling council of elders that decides group mores such as the length of women's
skirts or what mode of transportation is allowable when going to town (foot or
horse) or the hospital emergency room (any method). The Amish cannot impose
their rules or laws upon people who are not part of their sect and they cannot
be the general governmental power in a geographical area. The Amish cannot form
a government for Wright County, Minnesota.
Cultural/religious sovereignty allows groups to live
as they please (liberty) even if their culture, religion or belief system is
sexist, racist, or in any other way intolerant of others. But this sovereignty
is applicable only to the internal relationships of the group members. General
governments (political sovereigns) cannot exclude people based on their group
status and also cannot discriminate against anyone based on group status.
Political sovereignty also requires that the economic, educational, geographic
and natural resources of the United States are equally accessible to everyone
regardless of their group status. Thus housing, land, natural resources, jobs
and public education cannot be denied to anyone based on cultural, religious,
philosophical or other group status.
Indian policy and law defies the
democratic principles of liberty and equality by giving Indians as a group
political sovereignty. Indians say that they must have political sovereignty in
order to protect their unique culture and religion. This argument was valid for
much of the history of the United States when the dominant White Christian
society tried to force Indians to assimilate into society. A primary example of
assimilation was sending Indian children to missionary schools where they were
forced to adopt Christianity and the dress and culture of White European
society.
It is essential to note that slavery,
Black segregation, the forced assimilation of Indians into White Christian
society and the subjugation of women are all examples of giving political
sovereignty to White males in America. In the 19th and 20th centuries the courts
and legislature of the United States gradually came to realize that political
sovereignty cannot be given to any one group (i.e. White males) without
violating the most basic principles of the U.S. Constitution.
Since the landmark Supreme Court case of
Brown vs. the Board of Education in 1954 (347 U.S. 483) and the Civil Rights Act
of 1964 it has been recognized that discrimination, segregation and forced
assimilation are unconstitutional. The hallmark of this new attitude is the
concept of integration, which mandates that no matter how different you are
(Indian, female, Amish, etc.) you must have equal access to the law and the
social and economic landscape. Integration is the legal concept that allows
cultural diversity to exist within a nation. Contrarily, assimilation allowed
Indians access to the benefits of American society only if they adopted the
culture and religion of the predominant White Christians.
Integration is the law of the land.
Indians and Indian tribes are protected by cultural/religious sovereignty in the same way
every other culture or religion is protected in the U.S. The Constitution sees
all cultures and religions as equally unique under the law. To allow Indians as
a group to practice political sovereignty as a general government ruling
non-Indians or a geographical territory is wrong. It is as wrong as every other
form of 18th and 19th century discrimination.
Indian Tribes counter this argument by
saying that the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution puts treaties on equal
footing with the Constitution. In other words, one cannot overrule the other.
The Supremacy Clause (Article VI) reads:
This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof-, and all Treaties made ... shall be the supreme Law of the land....
The Supreme Court has ruled that in cases of conflict between
constitutional rights and treaties the Constitution overrules. In the case of
Reid v. Covert in 1957 (354 U.S. 1) the Supreme Court stated that "the
United States is entirely a creature of the Constitution. Its power and
authority have no other source. ...Accordingly, a President may not negotiate
away the civil liberties of American citizens through treaty power."
It is wrong to assume that defining Indian
Sovereignty under the guidelines of the U.S. Constitution is an attempt to
extinguish Indian tribal sovereignty. The Constitution protects Indian tribal
sovereignty on equal footing with the sovereignty of every other group. For all
Americans cultural/religious sovereignty is inherent and predates the Constitution - we
all have an inherent right to be unique. Being an integrated American does not
detract from anyone's ability to live the lifestyle of a unique culture or
religion. In a government of the people everyone must have equal access to
sovereignty, both cultural/religious and political. This means no single group can claim
the right to political sovereignty to the exclusion of any other group. For
example, Catholics can't deny Protestants the right to vote in city elections.
Finally, no group can deny the right of cultural/religious sovereignty to any other group;
thus Protestants can't prevent Catholics from practicing Catholicism. Without
this balance, democracy ceases to exist.
This article was revised with permission from the author on Oct. 29, 2000 by substituting the words "cultural/religious" for the original word "internal" and the word "political" for the original word "external."