October 15, 2003

BIRMINGHAM, AL — During the California recall election, Republican Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger pledged that he would demand a cut of the Native American tribes’ gambling earnings to help overcome the state’s budget deficit. University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) political scientist Jeffrey Dudas, Ph.D., is available to discuss issues involving Native American treaty rights, tribal-run casinos and the increasing effort by conservative groups to roll back some of the gains that Native Americans have made over the years.

Jeffrey Dudas, Ph.D., is a political scientist in the UAB Department of Government. His publications include: “Of Savages & Sovereigns: Tribal Self-Administration and the Legal Construction of Dependence,” in Studies in Law, Politics and Society; and “Domination, Resistance, and Backlash: Colonialism and the Politics of North American Rights Practice” in Law and Social Inquiry.

There is a growing backlash against Native American treaty rights, says UAB political scientist Jeffrey Dudas, Ph.D. Grassroots efforts are under way nationwide to limit the scope of treaties, which allow tribes to be treated as sovereign nations. Conservative groups argue that treaties negatively impact non-Native Americans by allowing for the construction of gambling casinos and the restriction of hunting and fishing on tribal lands. Figures show that by fiscal year 2002, there were 330 tribal-run casinos in the United States. “Conservative groups have been petitioning legislators, filing lawsuits to keep tribes from exercising their treaty rights and proposing laws to roll back some of the gains tribes have made over the last 30 years. We’ll see more debates over treaty rights in the future.” — UAB Newswatch, 08/01/03