These days I see more trash off the reservation than on it.

As for your advice, Monte. I understand where you’re coming from, but, one could just as easily say “go back to Europe” for all the harm Americans (and Canadians) have done to this land. How many nuclear bombs has the US Gov detonated here? And How many thousands of tonnes of hazardous waste have they poured over this land? In our front yards? Down our throats?

And all the through, they’ve held on to this barbaric right to dictate how we should live, claiming they have moral authority even though it has never been earned.

Why can’t the Havasupai just live as they want to live? All paper aside, why on earth should they give in to this molestation?

Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided. The concept has been discussed, debated and questioned throughout history, from the time of the Romans through to the present day, although it has changed in its definition, concept, and application throughout, especially during the Age of Enlightenment. The current notion of state sovereignty was laid down in the Treaty of Westphalia (1648), which, in relation to states, codified the basic principles of territorial integrity, border inviolability, and supremacy of the state (rather than the Church). A sovereign is a supreme lawmaking authority.

Tribes fall under the control of the US Government and live on the scraps from its table. Give it up and become part of the United States and be given the same rights and liberties that every us citizen shares that doesn’t live on the reservation. Once you have done that then you will have the right and ability to stand up and be counted. Despite your misguided belief that you have civil rights you don’t because the constitution and the bill of rights does not apply on Indian land. Basic 101 when it comes to reservation law.