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Show Goshute T H E G O S H U T E S 6 3 W E S H A L L R E M A I N : U TA H I N D I A N C U R R I C U L U M G U I D E connotation because they are dealing between different nations. And Indian nations are na-tions within the U.S. nation. So that's what kind of makes them kind of distinct in that respect, but they are nations nevertheless. And so tribes are very protective of that sovereignty. And it's important for people to understand that because most people only see sovereignty as applying to city, county, and state governments. And they don't see how it applies to an Indian tribe unless they get a history lesson about the military con-frontations that took place not only in this state but throughout this country. And only then do they seem to understand how sovereignty applies to Indian tribes. We're not like other groups. We have a political relationship with the U.S. govern-ment not a racial one. It's a political one based on solemn agreements. Okay. Our people are referenced in the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution as being-having sovereign quali-ties. So we are different. We're not like other ethnic groups. And the Indian people are very protective of that because we don't want to be swallowed up in the mire and in the context of the great American melting pot. Indian people want to retain their identity and their culture. They don't want to be mixed in with other mi-norities either. Because they would lose their identities just as sure under the minority context as they would under the dominant culture con-text. Indian people are very protective of their identity. Even though we are very oppressed and would seem to suffer low self-esteem-which we do-our heritage we hold high. DE: So you mentioned that if people don't get this history, that they may not know about this sover-eign relationships. I know that you were a teach-er, and of course have gone though the school system. Do you think that's taught enough? FC: No. That's why there's so much ignorance. That's why people going all the way to the U.S.- not to the U.S.-but our own state legislature lack that history-that information. If they had that information then they-there would be-they would have more understanding of our plight, our situation. DE: And then returning to the Skull Valley controversy, do you think that that lack of information or the sovereignty issue came up in that controversy or did it not? FC: What I meant to say also, and this touches on that, is…almost-I think all of the Utah tribes, I'm pretty certain, all the Utah tribes opposed the idea of storing nuclear spent rods on Skull Valley Reservation. They opposed the project, but they stood solidly behind the Skull Valley Tribe's right to make that decision. So, although they didn't like the idea, they stood behind the sovereign rights of the Skull Valley Tribe to do so. And that's very important to be pointed out. Is that the tribes, once again, they value sover-eignty. And they stood by Skull Valley all the way through this. They stood by the right to Skull Valley to exercise their authority. Forrest S. Cuch, interview with Danielle Endres, Dec. 17, 2008, Nuclear Technology in the American West Oral History Project, Everett L. Cooley Collection, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, t.s., 6-12. |