KU to host pair of speakers to discuss Native American issues, tribal sovereignty

An aerial photo of the University of Kansas campus in August 2015.

The University of Kansas will host a pair of lectures this month to highlight tribal sovereignty as part of Native American Heritage Month.

Joseph “Zeke” Rupnick, tribal council chairman for the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, will speak at 3 p.m. Wednesday at the Kansas Union’s Alderson Auditorium. Rupnick, who is the top elected official for the Kansas-based tribe, will discuss tribal governance and the idea of “Indian self-rule.”

Elizabeth Kronk, a dean and professor at the University of Utah and an expert on legal matters related to tribes, will speak at 10 a.m. on Nov. 17 at Alderson Auditorium. Kronk is a former law professor and associate dean at KU.

Native American tribes across the U.S. have a certain tribal sovereignty, which generally means they are not subordinate to state governments, and they have a special status with the federal government related to a multitude of activities.

The KU Office of Diversity, Equity Inclusion & Belonging is hosting the speakers, which the office is billing as its Tribal Sovereignty Speaker Series.

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