My research analyzes how various works by Native American writers—including Mourning Dove, D’arcy McNickle, Louise Erdrich, Leslie Marmon Silko and Sherman Alexie—engage the ways in which federal laws attempt to limit Native American tribal sovereignty. These writers portray Native American characters who use their unique socio-political position to contest legal marginalization and actualize new modes of identity. My work pinpoints a moment at which Native Americans draw upon distinctive cultures and histories—family clan structures, oral tradition, communal land—in order to formulate resistance.
My research analyzes how various works by Native American writers—including Mourning Dove, D’arcy McNickle, Louise Erdrich, Leslie Marmon Silko and Sherman Alexie—engage the ways in which federal laws attempt to limit Native American tribal sovereignty. These writers portray Native American characters who use their unique socio-political position to contest legal marginalization and actualize new modes of identity. My work pinpoints a moment at which Native Americans draw upon distinctive cultures and histories—family clan structures, oral tradition, communal land—in order to formulate resistance.