The U.S. has ratified more than 370 treaties with American Indian nations. Yet many Americans know little about the these legally binding treaties, that shaped, and continue to impact, the country today.

"They're not rights given to native nations, they're native nations by and large giving rights to the United States," says Jill Doerfler, an associate professor of American Indian studies at the University of Minnesota, Duluth.

NPR’s Story Lab project Inter(Nation)al traveled to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to the National Congress of American Indians to talk with tribal leaders, scholars and people in the legal field about these foundational, living documents.

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