The Worst Trickster Story Ever Told: Native America, the Supreme Court, and the U.S. Constitution

Item set

• 11th Amendment to the United States Constitution
  The Eleventh Amendment sets judicial jurisdictions, creating a separation between federal and state court systems.
• 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution
  The Fourteenth Amendment gave citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States. The Equal Protection clause drastically amended the Constitution and has been used by the Supreme Court to justify expansion of rights.
• Civil Rights Act of 1964
  The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended segregation in public places and banned discrimination in employment. The act reflected over a century of political and legal activism.
• Duro v. Reina
  This Supreme Court case looked at Native American tribal jurisdictions. The Court ruled that Native tribes did not have criminal jurisdiction over nonmembers.
• Duro-Fix
  This amendment to the Indian Civil Rights Act was designed to overturn the Supreme Court's ruling in Duro v. Reina. It reinstated the power of Native American tribes to exercise criminal misdemeanor jurisdiction over all Indians.
• Elk v. Wilkins
  In Elk v. Wilkins, the Supreme Court denied Native Americans United States citizenship.
• Haaland v. Brackeen
  In Haaland v. Brackeen, the Supreme Court upheld the Indian Child Welfare Act, ruling that states could not circumvent ICWA adoption protocol.
• Indian Citizenship Act
  The Indian Citizenship Act granted automatic United States citizenship to all Native American people while allowing them to maintain their tribal citizenship.
• Indian Civil Rights Act
  The Indian Civil Rights Act ensured that constitutional rights were extended to Native Americans while also ensuring tribal sovereignty.
• Indian Major Crimes Act
  The Indian Major Crimes Act brought certain crimes committed on tribal lands under the jurisdiction of the United States federal government, weakening tribal sovereignty.
• McClanahan v. Arizona State Tax Commission
  In McClanahan v. Arizona State Tax Commission, the Supreme Court ruled that the state did not have the right to tax Native Americans living and earning income on tribal land.
• Mescalero Apache Tribe v. Jones
  In Mescalero Apache Tribe v. Jones, the Supreme Court ruled that the state could tax tribal business that is off-reservation, but not business that took place on the reservation.
• Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida
  In the Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida, the Supreme Court considered whether the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act violated the state of Florida's state sovereignty as guaranteed by the Eleventh Amendment.
• The Worst Trickster Story Ever Told: Native America, the Supreme Court, and the U.S. Constitution
  This teaching module looks the Supreme Court's understanding of Native America from an Indigenous perspective, featuring a webinar with Keith Richotte, Jr., author of the 2025 book, The Worst Trickster Story Ever Told: Native America, the Supreme Court, and the U.S. Constitution.
• United States v. Kagama
  This Supreme Court case asserted the federal government's role in criminal jurisdiction on tribal lands. The Court ruled that the Indian Major Crimes act was constitutional, therefore federal courts had jurisdiction to indict Native defendants for murder.
• Webinar - The Worst Trickster Story Ever Told: Native America, the Supreme Court, and the U.S. Constitution
  In this webinar, Professor Keith Richotte, Jr., of the University of Arizona discusses the Supreme Court's understanding of Native America from an Indigenous perspective with Dr. Katrina Jagodinsky and her Rights & Wrongs in American Legal History class.