The Tribal Moment in American Politics

This book makes the case that two moments of social and political action in pursuit of self-determination for Indian tribes—the call for self-determination by the colonists in 1776 and the related call by the indigenous peoples of the continent almost two centuries later—serve, in a special sense, as sister moments in the political development of the United States. The role of the tribes is emphasized as Gray argues that more than just activism was needed to make the U.S. government accept tribal self-determination.