This Land

We’ve all been told the American Revolution was fought over taxation and representation. But that's not what the Declaration of Independence says. According to our founders, in their own words, what they were most upset about was Native Americans. How did we all miss that? Rebecca sits down with historian Ned Blackhawk (Western Shoshone) to talk about how hunger for Indigenous land drove the Revolution. Welcome to First America, the true story of how the United States came to be, and how our current political moment was 250 years in the making. Resources: - Dig into more of Ned Blackhawk's scholarship hereSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The This Land team is back with a new show! Stay tuned for First America, the true story of how the United States came to be, and how our current political moment is 250 years in the making. Dropping June 22nd, with early episode releases for Pushkin+ subscribers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BY THE FIRE WE CARRY, the new book by Rebecca Nagle, is a powerful work of reportage and American history that braids the story of the forced removal of Native Americans onto treaty lands in the nation’s earliest days, and a small-town murder in the 1990s that led to a Supreme Court ruling reaffirming Native rights to that land more than a century later Before 2020, American Indian reservations made up roughly 55 million acres of land in the United States. Nearly 200 million acres are reserved for National Forests—in the emergence of this great nation, our government set aside more land for trees than for Indigenous peoples. In the 1830s Muscogee people were rounded up by the US military at gunpoint and forced into exile halfway across the continent. At the time, they were promised this new land would be theirs for as long as the grass grew and the waters ran. But that promise was not kept. When Oklahoma was created on top of Muscogee land, the new state claimed their reservation no longer existed. Over a century later, a Muscogee citizen was sentenced to death for murdering another Muscogee citizen on tribal land. His defense attorneys argued the murder occurred on the reservation of his tribe, and therefore Oklahoma didn’t have the jurisdiction to execute him. Oklahoma asserted that the reservation no longer existed. In the summer of 2020, the Supreme Court settled the dispute. Its ruling that would ultimately underpin multiple reservations covering almost half the land in Oklahoma, including Nagle’s own Cherokee Nation. Here Rebecca Nagle recounts the generations-long fight for tribal land and sovereignty in eastern Oklahoma. By chronicling both the contemporary legal battle and historic acts of Indigenous resistance, By the Fire We Carry stands as a landmark work of American history. The story it tells exposes both the wrongs that our nation has committed and the Native-led battle for justice that has shaped our country. Learn more: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/by-the-fire-we-carry-rebecca-nagle

Last week the Supreme Court made an historic ruling upholding the Indian Child Welfare Act. Rebecca Nagle takes us inside the courtroom to break down the decision, how we got here, and what it all means.

As the case heads to the Fifth Circuit - the last stop before the Supreme Court - we go inside the courtroom to hear the arguments and the decision. Show Notes This Land website https://crooked.com/podcast-series/this-land/ Resources For Survivors https://crooked.com/resources-for-survivors/ Resources For Journalists & Investigators https://crooked.com/resources-for-journalists-investigators/ Have a tip? Share it with our reporting team via SecureDrop https://criticalfrequency.org/securedrop/ Jennifer Brackeen’s Personal Blog https://web.archive.org/web/20201221201802/https://thebrackeens.blogspot.com/ For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/thisland.

The fight against the Indian Child Welfare Act is much bigger than a few custody cases, or even the entire adoption industry. We follow the money, and our investigation leads us to a powerful group of corporate lawyers and one of the biggest law firms in the country. Show Notes This Land website https://crooked.com/podcast-series/this-land/ Resources For Survivors https://crooked.com/resources-for-survivors/ Resources For Journalists & Investigators https://crooked.com/resources-for-journalists-investigators/ Have a tip? Share it with our reporting team via SecureDrop https://criticalfrequency.org/securedrop/ Mashpee Wampanoag face double crisis: COVID-19 and feds https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/mashpee-wampanoag-face-double-crisis-covid-19-and-feds Interior takes reservation away from Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/interior-takes-reservation-away-from-mashpee-wampanoag-tribe Mashpee Wampanoag ruling a 'win for all of Indian Country' https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/mashpee-wampanoag-ruling-a-win-for-all-of-indian-country The Fight for Baby Veronica, Part 1 https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/the-fight-for-baby-veronica-part-1 The Fight for Baby Veronica, Part 2 https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/the-fight-for-baby-veronica-part-2 The Fight for Baby Veronica, Part 3 https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/the-fight-for-baby-veronica-part-3 The Fight for Baby Veronica, Part 4 https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/the-fight-for-baby-veronica-part-4 The Fight for Baby Veronica, Part 5 https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/the-fight-for-baby-veronica-part-5 Supreme Court Takes on Indian Child Welfare Act in Baby Veronica Case https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/supreme-court-takes-on-indian-child-welfare-act-in-baby-veronica-case For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/thisland.

The Brackeens aren’t the only ones suing to strike down the Indian Child Welfare Act. So are Danielle and Jason Clifford, a foster couple from Minnesota. Show Notes This Land website https://crooked.com/podcast-series/this-land/ Resources For Survivors https://crooked.com/resources-for-survivors/ Resources For Journalists & Investigators https://crooked.com/resources-for-journalists-investigators/ Have a tip? Share it with our reporting team via SecureDrop https://criticalfrequency.org/securedrop/ For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/thisland.

ALM – as referred to in court documents – is a Navajo and Cherokee toddler. When he was a baby, a white couple from the suburbs of Dallas wanted to adopt him, but a federal law said they couldn’t. So they sued. Show Notes: This Land website https://crooked.com/podcast-series/this-land/ Resources For Survivors https://crooked.com/resources-for-survivors/ Resources For Journalists & Investigators https://crooked.com/resources-for-journalists-investigators/ Have a tip? Share it with our reporting team via SecureDrop https://criticalfrequency.org/securedrop/ Jennifer Brackeen’s Personal Blog https://web.archive.org/web/20201221201802/https://thebrackeens.blogspot.com/ "An Untold Number Of Indigenous Children Disappeared At U.S. Boarding Schools. Tribal Nations Are Raising The Stakes In Search Of Answers." https://theintercept.com/2018/09/25/carlisle-indian-industrial-school-indigenous-children-disappeared/ "My Relatives Went To A Catholic School For Native Children. It Was A Place Of Horrors" https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jun/30/my-relatives-went-to-a-catholic-school-for-native-children-it-was-a-place-of-horrors "Indigenous Children Finally Headed Home" https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/indigenous-children-officially-headed-home "Indian Boarding School Investigation Faces Hurdles In Missing Records, Legal Questions" https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/indian-boarding-school-investigation-faces-hurdles-missing-records-legal-questions-n1273996 "U.S. Boarding Schools To Be Investigated" https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/us-boarding-schools-to-be-investigated For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/thisland.

The Supreme Court has ruled, delivering a historic decision on the reservation status of Eastern Oklahoma. Rebecca Nagle talks to the lawyer who argued the case at the High Court, Native law professors, scholars, and journalists to break down the significance of this decision and share what it means to the future of Muscogee (Creek) Nation and all Five Tribes. For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/thisland.

A murder case sparked an investigation into the treaty rights of five tribes. But another case -- a simple case about an adoption -- could actually dismantle America's tribes as we know them. For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/thisland.

The Supreme Court punted a decision on Carpenter v. Murphy to the next term. What does this mean for the tribes? For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/thisland.

In a surprise twist, the Supreme Court announced that Carpenter v. Murphy will not be decided this term.

There are some very powerful groups set against Muscogee (Creek) Nation. Who are they? What's their motivation? And what arguments are they using to win their case in Court? Learn more: thislandpodcast.com For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/thisland.