For centuries, racist policies dictated by a settler colonial U.S. government systematically removed and erased Indigenous peoples from their lands. Policies like Manifest Destiny, boarding schools, the Code of Indian Offenses, termination, and more dramatically shaped the landscape of Native American rights and the preservation of their cultures and peoples across generations. As such, the effects of these policies are still felt today. The symbol and system of the National Park Service (NPS) is one such portal into an exploration of these long-lasting effects, particularly the federal agency’s methods of land management and response to Native American tribes asking for access to, protection of, or control over land managed by the NPS. 

 

In this essay, I argue that “principal” land management policies rooted in tribal sovereignty are the most apt systems of National Park land governance for preserving both the sacred identity of tribes and the well-being of the surrounding ecological landscape, as opposed to NPS management or joint management plans.