Democracy and Indigenous rights

I'm working on an article for a new Zine called "Salty" out of UC Riverside, I'm trying to piece together the place for indigenous rights in a so-called democracy. Where is the place for people who self-identify or are identified as indigenous within a supposedly "liberal" democratic collective? Their claim in that community is probably not based on residence or socialization only, but instead on a history which complicates the histories or fictions of the national community, why can there be no place for these people? Why is it that their claims get swallowed up by this ideal of everyone being equal or equally treated which can probably never even come close to being true?

I welcome any suggestions or comments about this issue. mlbasquiat@hotmail.com

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