The White Earth Nation: Ratification of a Native Democratic Constitution

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© 2012 by Gerald Vizenor. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America Chapter 4, “The Constitution of the White Earth Nation: A Vision of Survivance” by Jill Doerfler, is based upon a series of newspaper articles written between August 4, 2010, and March 4, 2011, for Anishinaabeg Today: A Chronicle of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, the official newspaper of the White Earth Nation. The royalties earned from the sale of this book will be contributed directly to the White Earth Nation Book Fund to support students at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Vizenor, Gerald Robert, 1934– The White Earth nation: ratification of a native democratic constitution / Gerald Vizenor and Jill Doerfler; introduction by David E. Wilkins. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. isbn 978-0-8032-4079-7 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. White Earth Band of Chippewa Indians. 2. Ojibwa Indians—Legal status, laws, etc. 3. Ojibwa Indians—Politics and government. 4. Ojibwa Indians—Government relations. I. Doerfler, Jill. II. Title. e99.c8v59 2012 323.1197'333—dc23 2012023624 Designed and set in itc New Baskerville by Nathan Putens. In memory of Vine Deloria Jr. My son, never forget my dying words. This country holds your father’s body. Never sell the bones of your father and your mother. joseph the elder, chief of the Nez Perce To starve a child of the spell of the story, of the canter of the poem, oral or written, is a kind of living burial. It is to immure him in emptiness. george steiner, Real Presences The book is an institution of memory for consecration and permanence , and for that reason should be studied as a key element in society’s cultural patrimony. In itself, patrimony has the ability to stir a transmissible feeling of affirmation and belonging. It can reinforce or stimulate a people’s awareness of identity in their territory . A library, an archive, or a museum are cultural patrimonies and all nations regard them as temples of memory. fernando báez, A Universal History of the Destruction of Books ...