Description: Now in its fifth edition, The Navajo Nation Political Experience, explores the political developments of the Diné people, with a focus on governance structures, leaders, and the dynamics of political participation in the Navajo Nation.
Brief description: Lloyd L. Lee (Diné) is professor and faculty graduate director in the department of Native American studies at The University of New Mexico, where he is also director of the Center for Regional Studies and editor of the journal, Wicazo Sa Review. He earned his PhD in American Studies from The University of New Mexico and his research focuses on Native American identity, masculinities, leadership, and Native Nation building. He is the author of Diné Identity in a 21st Century World and Diné Masculinities: Conceptualizations and Reflections; co-author of Native Americans and the University of New Mexico; and edited Navajo Sovereignty: Understandings and Visions of the Diné People and Diné Perspectives: Reclaiming and Revitalizing Navajo Thought. He currently sits on the Council for the American Indian Studies Association (AISA). Lee earned the Presidential Teaching Fellow Award 2017-2019 at the University of New Mexico.
Review Quotes:
"Wilkins's The Navajo Political Experience is a comprehensive treatment of the contemporary Navajo Nation's governing structure and politics. The author overviews the historical and pre-colonial foundations of the Navajo people, the impact of colonization and the history of federal Indian policy to provide context to and historical understanding of the evolution of the Navajo nation's tribal sovereignty and internal self-governance. Part I situates the Navajo political experience within the broader story of the U.S. legal framework, while keeping the emphasis on this "nation within a nation." In Part II, the author turns to the governing structure of the Navajo nation with a review of its institutions and local governance before turning, in Part III to its internal political dynamics. The book is a dedicated treatise on the Navajo government and political experience that treats the nation on its own terms while still situating it within the broader story of U.S.-tribal relations. Throughout, the author emphasizes contemporary issues of governance and self-determination that is often missing in discussions of the First Nations. It is a must read for scholars interested in tribal sovereignty." --Lisa Parshall, Daemen College
""This textbook is the most in-depth and comprehensive look at a single Native nation that is unlike existing material in the field." --Thaddieus Conner, New Mexico State University ""This book is a great fit if you want to offer your students an example of how tribal governments work but don't feel you can teach it on your own, or want to have readings to accompany it. And there'll be no "stump the chump" moments in class or other types of Q&A that throw you off balance: if a student has a highly specific question that's relevant to their particular area of interest, you have a reference guide."" --Laura E. Evans, University of Washington