Anton Treuer, a scholar focused on Ojibwe language and culture, said most records on Native American history are in Chicago and Kansas City. He has turned to those records to write history books, and to provide expert testimony in court.
“I have found records in the National Archives that affirmed and validated tribal oral histories about critical events and have made really immeasurable impact on a number of treaty litigation cases,” he said. For instance, he said historic records played a role in a lawsuit that four tribal nations in Wisconsin won over taxes on tribal lands.
“It may be the case that there are some people who do not want tribes to litigate abuses of the treaties that they signed and want to undermine tribal sovereignty,” Treuer said.