In celebration of Native American Heritage month, Keith Richotte Jr., author of the forthcoming book, The Worst Trickster Story Ever Told: Native America, the Supreme Court, and the U.S. Constitution and Matthew L.M. Fletcher of the University of Michigan discuss Native American history and law through the stories of landmark Supreme Court cases. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates.
Video
Podcast
Participants
Matthew L.M. Fletcher is the Harry Burns Hutchins Collegiate Professor of Law at Michigan Law. He also sits as the chief justice of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, and the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. Feltcher is also an appellate judge for numerous tribes. He has published extensively on federal Indian law and American Indian tribal law, including his book Ghost Road: Anishinaabe Responses to Indian-Hating. He is the primary editor and author of the leading law blog on American Indian law and policy, Turtle Talk.
Keith Richotte Jr., is the director of the Indigenous Peoples and Policy Program and professor of law at the James E. Rogers College of Law at the University of Arizona. He has served his tribal nation, the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, as an Associate Justice on the appellate court since 2009 and also serves as the Chief Justice of the appellate court of the Spirit Lake Nation. He is the author of The Worst Trickster Story Ever Told: Native America, the Supreme Court, and the U.S. Constitution.
Jeffrey Rosen is the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization devoted to educating the public about the U.S. Constitution. Rosen is also professor of law at The George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic.
Additional Resources
- Matthew L.M. Fletcher, The Ghost Road: Anishinaabe Responses to Indian Hating (2020)
- Keith Richotte Jr., The Worst Trickster Story Ever Told: Native America, the Supreme Court, and the U.S. Constitution (forthcoming 2025)
- United States v. Kagama (1886)
- United States v. Lara (2004)
- Matthew L.M. Fletcher, “Muskrat Textualism,” Northwestern Law Review, Jan. 16, 2022.
- McGirt v. Oklahoma (2020)
- Ex Parte Crow Dog (1883)
- Major Crimes Act
- Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe (1978)
- Montana v. United States (1981)
- Indian Civil Rights Act
- Duro v. Reina (1990)
- Haaland v. Brackeen (2023)
- Turtle Talk Blog
- Worcester v. Georgia (1832)
- Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta (2022)
Stay Connected and Learn More
- Questions or comments about the show? Email us at [email protected]
- Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr.
- Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate.
- Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen.
- Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube.
- Support our important work.
