Sociology Indigenous Lecture Series: The Worst Trickster Story Ever Told: Understanding American Law Through an Indigenous Lens 

Join us as guest speaker professor Keith Richotte Jr. examines how the U.S. doctrine of plenary power—granting sweeping authority over Native American nations—came to be understood as constitutional, despite its origins in deeply flawed and outdated assumptions. Through a distinctive blend of legal analysis and Native history, Richotte, Jr. explores when and why this transformation occurred, and what it reveals about constitutional interpretation today. Centring Indigenous perspectives and the tradition of trickster stories, the talk invites audiences to rethink this history and imagine a more just, equitable and constitutional future.