ABSTRACT
Prior to European settlement, conquest, and colonization, indigenous peoples lived on the North American continent in self-governing political communities, exercising sovereign authority over their distinct individual and collective identities. In recent years, even the modest gains achieved by Indian nations in the protection of their identities have been threatened by what one scholar has labeled a renewed "antagonism towards the politicization of ethnicity". At stake in debates concerning the legitimacy of Indian government in North America is myriad of laws on both sides of the border that facilitate the exercise of Indian governmental authority. Indian nations in the United States enjoy a measure of sovereignty, which is seen as the authority for indigenous forms of government. Historically, Canada denied the legal existence of First Nations' sovereignty independent of delegated authority. The nature and extent of differential treatment of Indian people in American and Canadian law illustrates the stakes behind normative debates concerning legitimacy of recognizing Indian government in North America.
