A legal history of mixed-race Indigenous people in the nineteenth century Midwest, this talk analyzes racial formation, kinship, and Indian-white relations in the U.S. Through various laws, policies, and practices, the U.S. racially and legally differentiated mixed-ancestry Indians from other Indigenous people, eventually leading to modern racial understandings of American Indians and the use of blood quantum as an exclusionary tool.Jimmy Sweet (Lakota and Dakota) is an Assistant Professor in American Studies at Rutgers University. His book, "Mixed-Blood Histories: Race, Law and Dakota Indians in the Nineteenth-Century Midwest" is in production at the University of Minnesota Press and scheduled for release in Fall, 2025.
 

Jimmy Sweet (Lakota and Dakota) is an Assistant Professor in American Studies at Rutgers University. His book, "Mixed-Blood Histories: Race, Law and Dakota Indians in the Nineteenth-Century Midwest" is in production at the University of Minnesota Press and scheduled for release in Fall, 2025.