“We’re not going to sit idly by:” 45 Years of Asserting Native Sovereignty Along the Missouri River in Nebraska

The Missouri River and its tributaries have been a source of sustenance, a method of transport, and a vital part of many Indigenous societies long before the arrival of colonizers. This river continues to play a vital role in the contemporary lives of many Native American people. In this essay, I consider the impacts of colonizing philosophies regarding land ownership and cases in the last half century where Native American communities challenged the settler state to maintain treaty rights and advocate for the health of the Missouri River. I focus on the work of water protectors challenging the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines in the 21st century, United States v. Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, and the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska’s defense of Blackbird Bend to expand on the historical legacy of Native people advocating to maintain treaty rights along the Missouri River. These cases illustrate how Native American communities push back against the settler state in courtrooms and through grassroots activism to defend their sovereignty, and the difficulties of maintaining legal rights in a settler state.