Knowledge Basket · Toolbox
Toolbox
Toolkits, policy documents, and a digital library for building Indigenous economic futures.
Sovereignty & Legal
McGirt v. Oklahoma, 591 U.S. ___ (2020) — Supreme Court Opinion
Landmark 2020 Supreme Court ruling holding that the eastern half of Oklahoma remains Indian Country under the Major Crimes Act because Congress never explicitly disestablished the Muscogee (Creek) Nation's reservation. McGirt is one of the most significant federal Indian law decisions in decades, with broad implications for tribal jurisdiction, criminal law, and reservation boundaries nationally.
Web
Sovereignty & Legal
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (P.L. 93-638)
The landmark 1975 federal law that transformed the federal-tribal relationship by authorizing tribal nations to contract with the federal government to administer programs previously run by the BIA and IHS. P.L. 638 is the legal foundation for tribal self-governance, self-determination contracting, and compacting across virtually every federal Indian program.
Sovereignty & Legal
Tribal Nations and the United States: An Introduction (NCAI)
Comprehensive introductory primer from the National Congress of American Indians on the history, legal status, and governance of tribal nations in the United States. Covers the federal trust responsibility, treaty rights, tribal sovereignty, and the government-to-government relationship. Essential orientation for anyone beginning work with tribal communities.
Sovereignty & Legal
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)
The foundational international human rights instrument for Indigenous peoples, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2007. Establishes individual and collective rights to culture, identity, language, health, education, and self-determination. Endorsed by the United States in 2010. The legal and moral baseline for all indigenous rights advocacy and policy work.
Sovereignty & Legal
Contract Waivers for Tribal Sovereign Immunity: What Every Attorney Needs to Know
Legal analysis from The Advocate (Idaho State Bar) examining how federal courts treat tribal sovereign immunity waivers in contract disputes. Covers scope of immunity, express and implied waivers, and practical guidance for contracting with tribal nations.
Food Sovereignty
Native Grown + Gathered: Strengthening Indigenous Food Sovereignty
Guide examining the landscape of native-grown and wild-gathered foods, and how Indigenous food sovereignty initiatives build community health, cultural continuity, and economic self-determination through traditional food systems.
Food Sovereignty
Indigenous Food Systems: Transformative Strategies to Perpetuate Nationhood
Strategic framework examining how Indigenous food systems are inseparable from sovereignty and nationhood. Provides analysis and recommendations for communities, advocates, and policymakers on revitalizing indigenous food systems as an act of self-determination.
Podcast
Cultural Regeneration
Indigenous Earth Community Podcast
Podcast series centering indigenous voices on ecology, community resilience, and relationship with the earth. Features indigenous leaders, scientists, and activists discussing sovereignty, environmental justice, and land stewardship from inside indigenous communities.
Video
Cultural Regeneration
Tending Nature (PBS / KCET Series)
Multi-episode documentary series exploring how Indigenous peoples of California have been tending and shaping local landscapes for millennia through traditional ecological knowledge, controlled burning, and reciprocal land stewardship. Recommended by Nisenan leader Brian Wallace.
Web
Cultural Regeneration
Cultural Survival: Capacity Building for Indigenous Communities
Programs and tools from Cultural Survival offering capacity-building resources for Indigenous communities, including advocacy training, community radio development, digital media support, and Indigenous rights education materials.
Cultural Regeneration
Cultivating Resilience: Bio-Region Framework
Framework document from an Indigenous Consensus Process examining the determinants of planetary health from Indigenous perspectives. Proposes a bio-regional approach to ecological and cultural resilience grounded in indigenous sovereignty and intergenerational responsibility.
Cultural Regeneration
NAGPRA 2024: Revamped Rule Strengthens Process for Museums and Universities
Legal bulletin analyzing the 2024 revisions to NAGPRA regulations, which significantly strengthen tribal authority over the repatriation of ancestral remains, sacred objects, and items of cultural patrimony held by federally funded museums and universities.
Cultural Regeneration
Declaration on the Cultural and Biological Rights of Nisena'n Homelands (Bear River Declaration, 2022)
Historic declaration issued April 19, 2022 asserting the cultural and biological rights of the Nisena'n People over K'umim Sew' (Bear River) in Nevada County, California. Includes bilingual Nisena'n/English text and territorial map.
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Reconciliation & Equity
Colonialism and Decolonization: What It Is
Accessible explainer from Bioneers on colonialism and decolonization as they apply to Indigenous peoples, land, culture, and governance. Essential grounding for non-indigenous practitioners, allies, and organizations beginning decolonization work.
Podcast
Reconciliation & Equity
Buried Secrets: America's Indian Boarding Schools, Part 2
Continuation of Reveal's investigative documentary on Indian boarding schools, exploring intergenerational trauma, the movement for federal accountability, and Indigenous-led efforts toward truth-telling and healing.
Podcast
Reconciliation & Equity
Buried Secrets: America's Indian Boarding Schools, Part 1
Investigative podcast documentary from Reveal examining the history and continuing harms of American Indian boarding schools, including survivor testimonies, unmarked graves, and the federal policy of forced cultural assimilation.
Web
Reconciliation & Equity
Fortress Conservation and the Makings of Yosemite National Park
Essay examining how Yosemite National Park was created through the forced removal of Ahwahneechee and other indigenous peoples, and how the "fortress conservation" model perpetuates dispossession of indigenous land stewards globally under the guise of environmentalism.
Reconciliation & Equity
California Indian Treaty F (Unratified, 1851)
Primary source document: one of 18 treaties negotiated between the U.S. government and California Indian tribes in 1851–1852 that were suppressed by the Senate and kept secret for 50 years, denying tribes recognition, land, and treaty protections. Courtesy of California State Library.