Samantha Bee looks at tribal sovereignty and its strange array of powerful enemies

Samantha Bee looks at Indian sovereignty

(Image credit: Full Frontal)

published 21 June 2016

Donald Trump got plenty of flak for suggesting that a U.S. federal judge was biased against him because of the judge's "Mexican heritage," but he's not alone, said Samantha Bee on Monday's Full Frontal. "The 'brown judges aren't being fair to me' argument is being made right now, in the Supreme Court, which will decide as early as tomorrow whether tribe members can sue Dollar General for an alleged sexual assault against a 13-year-old boy." For decades, the Supreme Court has been "snatching away the tribal courts' powers, the same way we snatched away most of their land and most of their turquoise," she added. "But what are tribal courts actually like?" Bee went to North Carolina to take a look.

The upshot is that they are very similar to other U.S. courts, except that thanks to Supreme Court precedent, they can't try non-Native Americans who commit crimes on tribal lands, Bee said. Now, Dollar General wants to take away their right to sue for damages, too. That's fine with some people, Bee said, and she interviewed one of them: "Elaine Willman is an activist and leader of the Citizens' Equal Rights Alliance, a group that opposes tribal sovereignty, works to take back native lands, and rallies with local lawmakers and senators to undo contracts tribes have with the federal government."

"It's amazing who fills the vacuum on Native American issues simply because not enough people care to show up," Bee said wryly, after letting Willman say some very quotable things. But she also sat down with the chief justice of the Cherokee Supreme Court, and talked about what his court can and can't do — and this brought her back to Trump: "So what you're saying is that Americans are coming over tribal borders, they're bringing crime, they're rapists, some you assume are good people — where have I heard that before?" Watch below — but note, there is some fleeting NSFW language. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.