The article systematically assesses U.S.-Native relations today and their historical foundations in light of a narrow, empirical definition of colonial empire. Examining three core elements of colonial empire—the formal impairment of sovereignty, the intensive practical impairment of sovereignty through practices of governance and administration, and the continuing otherness of the dominated and dominant groups—we compare contemporary U.S.-Native political relations to canonical instances of formal colonial indirect rule empires. Based on this analysis, we argue that the United States today is a paradigmatic case of formal colonial empire in the narrow, traditional sense, one that should be better integrated into the comparative, historical, and sociological study of such formal empires. Furthermore, this prominent contemporary case stands against the idea that the era of formal colonial empire is over.

中文翻译：

---

今日美国殖民地：美国帝国与美洲原住民国家的政治地位

本文根据对殖民帝国的狭隘、经验性定义，系统地评估了当今美国与原住民的关系及其历史基础。考察殖民帝国的三个核心要素——形式上的主权损害、通过治理和行政实践对主权的严重实际损害，以及被支配和支配群体的持续差异性——我们将当代美国与本土的政治关系与典型的美国本土政治关系进行比较正式的殖民间接统治帝国。基于这一分析，我们认为今天的美国是狭义传统意义上的正式殖民帝国的典型案例，应该更好地融入对此类正式帝国的比较、历史和社会学研究中。此外，