ABSTRACT
Native Americans were the first human occupants of this land. Before the European invasion of America, the land belonged to them. In the course of that invasion and its aftermath, the land was illicitly taken from them. The rightful owners of the land were dispossessed. The owners lack a well-founded right to the land, which lies illicitly in their hands. This chapter argues that Robert Nozick’s theory incorporates another exaggeration—the notion that property rights, once legitimately acquired, are virtually unaffected by circumstances. John Locke is one of the few writers to discuss the subject, so it seems reasonable to begin with his view of it. Locke says that one acquires property, originally, by “mixing one’s labor’’ with an unowned thing, or something that belongs to all humanity in common. Native Americans have systematically been discriminated against in society. They have a valid claim to a fair share of its resources as well as to social and economic opportunities.
