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Dennis Worden
Geography

Alexander Murphy, Mentor

Applying the Murphy-Mikesell Framework to Indian and Tribal Peoples in the United States

The political aspirations of sub-national groups are influenced by their spatial organization. Murphy and Mikesell have addressed this issue from a political-geographic perspective to create a general framework that explains how spatial organization will influence the political aspirations of groups. Murphy and Mikesell developed a diagnostic formula, represented by rap/SAI, which explains group aspirations based on their particular territorial situations. The framework is designed to be applicable generally to many groups. To what extent, however, is the Murphy-Mikesell framework useful to explain the political-territorial aspirations of Indians and tribes in the United States? This paper suggests limitations to the usefulness of the framework when applied to the situations of tribes and Indian peoples in the United States and explores federal Indian policy, geography, theories of nationalism, and indigenous sovereignty to demonstrate these limitations.