Chapter 13: Critical Race Theory in Indigenous Contexts

In this chapter, I will examine Critical Race Theory (CRT) in regard to indigenous peoples and their concerns. I will begin by examining the most important elucidation or addition to CRT by indigenous scholars (Tribal Critical Race Theory); I will then discuss some areas within indigenous studies where I see greater need for CRT’s application and analyses; and, I end with some thoughts regarding how CRT could aid communication and ultimately praxis among Indigenous and other oppressed groups dedicated to social justice and equality.

In their text Critical Race Theory: An Introduction, Delgado and Stefanic (2001) provide a concise overview of the elemental tenets of CRT. A precis of those basic tenets here will help set up the comparison and contrast with Tribal Critical Race Theory. Delgado and Stefanic note the six basic CRT tenets are: 1) Racism is commonplace—not an aberration—in society; 2) white supremacy serves important purposes of maintaining power. “Because racism advances the interests of both white elites (materially) and working-class people (psychically), large segments of society have little incentive to eradicate it” (p. 7); 3) Race is a social construction; 4) Dominant society racializes different groups in different ways due to shifting needs of that dominant group (labor, land, etc.); 5) Intersectionality and antiessentialism: “No person has a single, easily stated, unitary identity…Everyone has potentially conflicting, overlapping identities, loyalties, and allegiances” (p.9); and, lastly, 6) people of color have counternarratives that speak to and against majoritarian or master narratives. According to Delgado and Stefanic, “Minority status, in other words, brings with it a presumed competence to speak about race and racism” (p. 9). Zamudio et al. (2010) define term master narrative, against which counternarratives battle, thusly: