Alexandra Fay

Alexandra Fay is the inaugural Richard M. Milanovich Fellow at the Native Nations Law & Policy Center of UCLA School of Law. She writes about federal Indian law, tribal sovereignty, and critical race theory.

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Johnson v. M’Intosh was a land dispute, where multiple parties brought competing claims of title. Marshall boiled the case down to one question: can an Indian sell their land to a settler? Of course, this question begot another: can Indians own land at all? To answer these questions, Marshall recounted a story of colonization.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Alexandra Fay, "Johnson v. M’Intosh, Plenary Power, and Our Colonial Constitution," Doctrine of Discovery Project (28 March 2023), https://doctrineofdiscovery.org/blog/canopy-series-colonial-constitution/.

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