Presented by Dr. Tim Alan Garrison, "To be an Indian: The Ridge-Boudinot Family, Indigenous Identity, and the Marshall Court" tells the story of John Ridge and Elias Boudinot and the development of the US Supreme Court's perception of indigenous identity. Through the late 1820s, John Ridge and his cousin Elias Boudinot engaged in numerous speeches and public epistolary addresses which were heard and read throughout the nation. These literary performances described the progress of Indian/Cherokee civilization and sought to define indigenous identity in the white Jacksonian American mind. Among those who were likely influenced by Ridge and Boudinot was Chief Justice of United States Supreme Court John Marshall, who would play a pivotal role in the judicial drama of Cherokee Removal. Evidence suggests that the writing and speeches of the Ridge-Boudinot family had a role in shaping John Marshall and the US Supreme Court's understanding of indigenous identity, thus helping to lay the foundations of American Indian judicial policy. 

Dr. Tim Alan Garrison received a JD from the University of Georgia and PhD from the University of Kentucky, where he focused on the history of the American Indians of the South, United States Indian policy, and American legal history. For over twenty years, he served as professor of history at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Garrison held university positions as Director of Native American Studies (2005-2009) and Chair of the Department of History (2014-2019). He received the rank of professor emeritus at Portland State and has served as the Pre-Law Advisor at Clemson University since 2020.  Garrison has authored and edited numerous articles, volumes, and monographs on the history of American indigenous life and legal policy in the American South. He is currently working on a history of the United State Supreme Court’s “Cherokee cases” which will be published by the University Press of Kansas.