E Pluribus Unum: power, problem definition and ownership between the United States and Indigenous populations

ABSTRACT In this manuscript, we seek to understand how linguistic devices can be used to critique the moral and political frameworks surrounding the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Specifically, we focus on two documents that reflect policy responses to the UNDRIP: (1) a press release from 13 September 2007 outlining the United States Government’s position in voting against the adoption of the UNDRIP, and (2) President Obama’s speech from 16 December 2010 about the reversal of said position. Through the use of TribalCrit to interpret our results, implications of our analyses point to the extent to which power is exercised within an announced position endorsing UNDRIP as an implicit pronouncement of state-centered goals.