Summary of Richard Scott Lyons "Rhetorical Sovereignty"

In "Rhetorical Sovereignty," Richard Scott Lyons discusses how Indian populations have been reconstructed by the dominant power, controlling Indian identity and political power in public discourse. He calls for several reforms—ideological, political, educational, cultural—while focusing on American Indian rhetorical sovereignty, that is, the right of indigenous people to represent themselves how they want to be represented. Controlled by institutional powers intending to assimilate American Indians into White American culture, writing for and about American Indians is largely problematic, given its association with a long history of violence and colonization. However, combined with American Indian Rhetoric and the principle of Rhetorical Sovereignty, writing can be used to revise history and show an accurate depiction of American Indian culture as well as voice localized concerns related directly to the community.

Lyons traces the development of the term sovereignty throughout history to reveal how its meaning can change and be reappropriated. In medieval Europe, the sovereign was only answerable to himself and to God. Lyons indicates that sovereign power is locatable within peoples, an important concept that leads to his discussion of American Indian treaties with the Europeans and, after the Revolution, Americans. In short, Lyons describes how American Indian sovereignty is revised to fit the expansionist agenda of American government. He accuses Americans of committing rhetorical imperialism by controlling the terms of the debate that has left Indians out.

Next, Lyons reviews some contemporary work on American Indians. His main concern is that many of these scholars turn to the past rather than the present, focusing on what is lost or reinforcing the “Indian” way of thinking, mainly through oral communication. Lyons endeavors to relocate American Indian scholarship in the present cultivation of immediately locatable peoples and cultures. The “New Ghost Dance,” he describes, focuses on returning American Indian power to American Indians with the mutual support of non-Indians.

He ends by looking at institutions to begin teaching American Indian Rhetoric and a revised

history of minority struggles in which Native American are put with African Americans, Women, and others. He urges for higher education to take on American Indian Rhetoric and Indian Studies. He also briefly describes a Native American type of education that focuses on the values of the community.