What shapes Indigenous American politics? Despite the central role Indigenous peoples have played in U.S. history, research on Indigenous politics remains limited. Much of the existing scholarship focuses on Indigenous participation in federal elections or on intergovernmental relations, often overlooking political life within Indigenous Nations.

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My research examines Indigenous political behavior across multiple, overlapping political arenas. Indigenous Americans participate in U.S. politics, but they also engage in autonomous political systems within their own Nations. These institutions of self-governance are central to Indigenous political identity, representation, and collective life.

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My current research agenda builds from my dissertation, which maps the political geography of Diné Bikéyah to better understand the Indigenous American political experience as one shaped by citizenship in both the United States and sovereign Indigenous Nations. This work asks:

• How does the institutional environment of Indigenous Nations shape political debate and political behavior?

• How do social cleavages unique to Indigenous Nations, including heritage, cultural identity, lifeways, and urban-reservation divides, interact with broader pressures of colonization, assimilation, and self-determination?

• Is Indigenous politics organized by national party debates, localized policy concerns, sovereignty debates, or other forms of political conflict specific to each Nation?

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Like other sovereign political communities, Indigenous Nations contain internal divisions, competing priorities, and distinct political traditions. Yet these divisions are also shaped by the cultural, institutional, and historical legacies of colonization and assimilation. Understanding the ideological and institutional landscapes within Indigenous Nations is crucial for explaining how Indigenous citizens navigate political choices across sovereign and settler-state political systems.