Centering Anishinaabeg Studies: Understanding the World through Stories

Transforming the Trickster: Federal Indian Law Encounters Anishinaabe Diplomacy

259 Transforming the Trickster Federal Indian Law Encounters Anishinaabe Diplomacy Heidi KiiweTinepinesiiK sTarK Stories are wondrous things. And they are dangerous. —THOMas KinG, ThE TrUTh ABOUT STOrIES King reminds us that stories have power. They are both wondrous and dangerous. Federal indian law contains many of the creation stories of the nation-state. These stories have proven dangerous, having the power to (re)imagine the legal universe, (re)create the nation-state, and (re)structure indigenous-state relations. The creation stories of the state have transformed the legal landscape and left indigenous peoples in a constant state of flux as they seek to challenge and reconfigure the law to make space for themselves. But what happens when creation stories of the state, codified in federal indian law, encounter stories of anishinaabe diplomacy? stories are transformative and have the power to either heal or injure, to create or destroy. This power is perhaps most clearly elucidated in federal indian law, where the trickster has been diligently at work reconfiguring the legal landscape. This is evident in the recent supreme Court rendering of the trust doctrine in U.S. v. Jicarilla Apache Nation (2011).1 Justice alito continues a long tradition of legal magic that began with the original creation stories of the state espoused in the Marshall trilogy. after an analysis of the courts, i turn my attention to the critical question raised above: what would the trust relationship look like, what kinds of alternative relationships 260| Heidi Kiiwetinepinesiik Stark would be unearthed if the creation stories of the state were met with stories of Anishinaabe diplomacy? david Wilkins and K. tsianina Lomawaima find that “common to many, but not all, definitions of ‘trust’ is the notion of federal responsibility to protect or enhance tribal assets (including fiscal, natural, human, and cultural resources) through policy decisions and management actions” (emphasis original).2 this trust relationship was initially born out of treaty pledges to live in peace and act in good faith, memorialized explicitly in treaty articles of protection.3 thus, i look to the 1846 treaty negotiations between the united nation of Pottawatomie, Odaawa, and Ojibwe with the united states to illustrate the myriad ways in which the trust relationship was expressed by Anishinaabe leaders. this story of Anishinaabe diplomacy demonstrates that the real power of stories is in their ability to transform relationships. stories lie in wait, ready to not only serve as the center for the field of Anishinaabeg studies but also to guide us in our interactions with one another. the trAnsFOrmAtiVe POWer OF stOries stories shape how we see and interact with the world. they lend insight into the ways in which we see our communities, as well as how we see ourselves within these communities. the power of stories is found in their ability to outline and clarify the connections people have to their place, their people, and their history. indigenous stories outline relationships—the relationships we have to one another, and the relationship we have to self. n. bruce duthu has said: Our oral tradition encompasses diverse stories, but within them are recurrent themes, chief among them the idea of relationships. stories carry us through time and reveal our relationships to our historical selves, to others around us, and to the natural and supernatural world. the meanings attached to these stories, like the relationships they explore, are dynamic, increasingly complex, and often surprising.4 stories are how we make sense of the world. it is chiefly for this reason that stories can so aptly serve as the center for the field of Anishinaabeg studies. they function as road maps, guiding us towards exploration, discovery, and meaning. As Anishinaabe scholar gerald Vizenor reminds us, “You can’t understand the world without telling a story.”5 Federal Law Encounters Anishinaabe Diplomacy| 261 there are a multitude of stories among the Anishinaabeg, contained in various forms, that all work toward to same end: to provide meaning to the world we live in, teach us how to relate to one another, and help us understand our place in creation. Lessard et al. remind us that “We come into existence . . . as embodied beings, processing the partial fragments of sensory experience (sounds, images, smells, touches), sorting them into patterns of consequence, patterns of meaning. narrative—or ‘story’—is one of the primary vehicles through which we sort, arrange, and produce those patterns.”6 it is through lived experiences, through...