Hemp for Sovereignty: Scale, Territory and the Struggle for Native American sovereignty

Abstract

This paper considers the question of sovereignty in the context of Native American struggles within the US. In this case, residents of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation sought political and economic autonomy by growing industrial hemp on the reservation. Their efforts illustrate the importance of geographical scale, territoriality and legal geographies in defining both the question of sovereignty and political struggle in the context of Native American political life, as their activities constitute a larger social movement.