ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the discourse of treaty rights as it is employed by Mexican Americans and American Indians, focusing on the political status of both groups under their respective treaties, and comparing the political context of contemporary treaty claims. It discusses concepts of place as they relate to the cultural identity of Native peoples and the role of place as it defines Chicano identity. The chapter evaluates how the discourse of treaty rights is employed by each group in its quest to achieve justice within the dominant American society. It explores how notions of group "reconciliation" are adjudicated within the discourse of treaty rights. The discourse of treaty rights that is being employed by Native American and Mexican American people speaks of each treaty as a "sacred text" that represents the moral obligations of the United States to racially and culturally distinct groups that have been treated unjustly by the dominant society.
