This article shows another side to the story, how a tribe might abuse their privileges if given recognition. I realize this is a very isolated case, but it does bring up some controversy.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
One Step Forward, Two Steps Backward
In recent news, a Kaweah chief was arrested for fraud, telling people they would be U.S. citizens if the became members. The unrecognized tribe was trying to sell memberships, scamming 12,000 people. The chief faces between 1 and 17 years in prison.
"another book review" or "graverobbing pilgrims?"
The book Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James Loewen follows the premise that minorities have relatively little interest in American History classes in part because the heroes usually don't resemble "them."
American History is pretty Eurocentric: the Americans fought the British, the French, the Spanish, the Mexicans, and even each other for a bit. Oh, and back in the day they booted the Natives off their land without too much fuss. A few bullets here, a smallpox blanket there, and a trail of tears. That’s pretty much it, right?
Waiiit a minute. They actually did fight. In fact, they were a big, fat thorn in the settlers' side for decades at a time! And they won battles, too! And it wasn't just Little Big Horn, either! This book records many skirmishes the settlers had against the various Native-American tribes.
It removes the hero’s veil from our patriotic legends and exposes George Washington and others as fallible HUMANS. The oral history lesson about Christopher Columbus' atrocities was especially interesting.
If you'd like to read about American history that encompasses ALL Americans I recommend this book. For best results, read it along with a regular history textbook. Loewen likes it like that.
here's a link to the book on Amazon.
American History is pretty Eurocentric: the Americans fought the British, the French, the Spanish, the Mexicans, and even each other for a bit. Oh, and back in the day they booted the Natives off their land without too much fuss. A few bullets here, a smallpox blanket there, and a trail of tears. That’s pretty much it, right?
Waiiit a minute. They actually did fight. In fact, they were a big, fat thorn in the settlers' side for decades at a time! And they won battles, too! And it wasn't just Little Big Horn, either! This book records many skirmishes the settlers had against the various Native-American tribes.
It removes the hero’s veil from our patriotic legends and exposes George Washington and others as fallible HUMANS. The oral history lesson about Christopher Columbus' atrocities was especially interesting.
If you'd like to read about American history that encompasses ALL Americans I recommend this book. For best results, read it along with a regular history textbook. Loewen likes it like that.
here's a link to the book on Amazon.
Better Recognize! : a deeper understanding
I posted some articles specific to the Duwamish, however, I did not explain what being recognized means.
"Federally recognized tribal communities often are non-supportive of the recognition efforts of tribal communities in part because they see the recognition of additional tribal communities as taking a share of currently inadequate and probably dwindling federal financial support from the federal government" (unfortunately, the author who wrote this is anonymous )
I believe this article found on proquest is very informative about federal recognitions. This article provides a greater more detailed aspect of the struggles that unrecognized tribes go through. The unknown author of this article provides a goal for unrecognized tribes.
"Ensuring that deserving federally non-recognized tribal communities gain recognition should be a primary goal for Indian country" (unknown). This is a great quote!
Click HERE for the full article.
One final note:
Why is it that the author wishes to remain unknown?
"Federally recognized tribal communities often are non-supportive of the recognition efforts of tribal communities in part because they see the recognition of additional tribal communities as taking a share of currently inadequate and probably dwindling federal financial support from the federal government" (unfortunately, the author who wrote this is anonymous )
I believe this article found on proquest is very informative about federal recognitions. This article provides a greater more detailed aspect of the struggles that unrecognized tribes go through. The unknown author of this article provides a goal for unrecognized tribes.
"Ensuring that deserving federally non-recognized tribal communities gain recognition should be a primary goal for Indian country" (unknown). This is a great quote!
Click HERE for the full article.
One final note:
Why is it that the author wishes to remain unknown?
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Seeking recognition: a Chinook Mini-Saga 1997-2002
Tribes can and do try to dispute the recognition of other tribes. This is because recognized tribes get land, access to fishing and water rights in the PNW. But since federal funding and such rights are limited, each tribe gets a smaller share.
The Duwamish vs. Muckleshoot tribe example was posted in Michael’s entry. Part of this saga involved the Quinault Nation attempting to block the Chinook’s recognition.
Chinook applies for tribal status, “tentatively denied”
Chinook approved so far, Quinault tribal appeals against it, block fails.
Clinton Administration approves Chinook status; Bush Administration revokes status TWO DAYS after White House ceremony
Chinook STILL unrecognized, despite being “one of the best-documented tribes in the history of the Pacific Northwest”
*shakes head in disgust* UGH!!!
The Duwamish vs. Muckleshoot tribe example was posted in Michael’s entry. Part of this saga involved the Quinault Nation attempting to block the Chinook’s recognition.
Chinook applies for tribal status, “tentatively denied”
Chinook approved so far, Quinault tribal appeals against it, block fails.
Clinton Administration approves Chinook status; Bush Administration revokes status TWO DAYS after White House ceremony
Chinook STILL unrecognized, despite being “one of the best-documented tribes in the history of the Pacific Northwest”
*shakes head in disgust* UGH!!!
Book Review
This book is called Black Indians: A Hidden Heritage by William Katz. It discusses the relationships between Native American tribes and African Americans from the colonial era through slavery times and beyond.
Many tribes intermarried with Blacks and their blood mixed. These mixed-race people were still considered fellow Natives and lived on sovereign land.
Unfortunately, the interracial mixing threatened white settlers, so they lobbied the federal government to revoke the tribes' sovereign status. This happened to dozens of tribes over the years.
It's a shame because in order to become recognized, tribes must provide documentation of continuous existence along with ongoing cultural traditions. This is difficult when tribes are robbed of their homes and place-based traditions.
I hope that they gain the recognition they deserve along with the acknowledgment that they truly believed that *all* men were created equal.
I recommend this book if you're interested in learning of NA/AA interaction in colonial America or the politics of Native sovereignty.
Amazon link
Many tribes intermarried with Blacks and their blood mixed. These mixed-race people were still considered fellow Natives and lived on sovereign land.
Unfortunately, the interracial mixing threatened white settlers, so they lobbied the federal government to revoke the tribes' sovereign status. This happened to dozens of tribes over the years.
It's a shame because in order to become recognized, tribes must provide documentation of continuous existence along with ongoing cultural traditions. This is difficult when tribes are robbed of their homes and place-based traditions.
I hope that they gain the recognition they deserve along with the acknowledgment that they truly believed that *all* men were created equal.
I recommend this book if you're interested in learning of NA/AA interaction in colonial America or the politics of Native sovereignty.
Amazon link
Sunday, December 7, 2008
People of the Inside : Duwamish Culture
I discovered this site while I searching for a map image of the Duwamish area for the blog. The following ties into the article i posted :
"Duwamish Tribal Services has struggled to provide numerous social, educational, health, and cultural programs during the past 25 years."
The article I posted discussed if recognized, the tribe would be able to have a better education through the recognition process by the federal government.
This site is about keeping the Duwamish culture alive even though it is not recognized. Programs and communities are working together to make sure their knowledge and history lives on throughout time.
contribute and explore:
http://www.duwamishtribe.org/index.html
The word 'Duwamish' means 'People of the Inside'. I learned this from the website provided.
"Duwamish Tribal Services has struggled to provide numerous social, educational, health, and cultural programs during the past 25 years."
The article I posted discussed if recognized, the tribe would be able to have a better education through the recognition process by the federal government.
This site is about keeping the Duwamish culture alive even though it is not recognized. Programs and communities are working together to make sure their knowledge and history lives on throughout time.
contribute and explore:
http://www.duwamishtribe.org/index.html
The word 'Duwamish' means 'People of the Inside'. I learned this from the website provided.
I Dig My Roots
In this article, The Duwamish Natives are not recognized by the state. In short, this article is about the 27-year struggle between the federal government and Duwamish. The following quote from the article spells trouble for the Duwamish:
“The Muckleshoot motion points out that federal recognition of the Duwamish Tribe could ultimately result in the Muckleshoot’s losing treaty fishing areas to the newly recognized tribe.” (Halpert)
This shows that the consequence for recognizing the Duwamish people will represent a loss to Muckleshoot. That's really unfair for the Duwamish in many ways. Being recognized by the federal government means freedom of religion (meaning anyone can practice their rituals or traditions without any trouble from the law) , the right to rebury their ancestors properly, and better education.
President Clinton in 2001 granted them recognition only to have it taken back the next morning the Bush administration.
Click the link below to read the full article:
http://www.diversityworking.com/communityChannels/nativeAmerican/newsPublish/story.php?sid=969
I posted this article because there's a small section about native pride in the article. After I read it, I was reminded of the spirit of various TA's in Anthropolgy 210 class.
posted by Michael Nguyen
“The Muckleshoot motion points out that federal recognition of the Duwamish Tribe could ultimately result in the Muckleshoot’s losing treaty fishing areas to the newly recognized tribe.” (Halpert)
This shows that the consequence for recognizing the Duwamish people will represent a loss to Muckleshoot. That's really unfair for the Duwamish in many ways. Being recognized by the federal government means freedom of religion (meaning anyone can practice their rituals or traditions without any trouble from the law) , the right to rebury their ancestors properly, and better education.
President Clinton in 2001 granted them recognition only to have it taken back the next morning the Bush administration.
Click the link below to read the full article:
http://www.diversityworking.com/communityChannels/nativeAmerican/newsPublish/story.php?sid=969
I posted this article because there's a small section about native pride in the article. After I read it, I was reminded of the spirit of various TA's in Anthropolgy 210 class.
posted by Michael Nguyen
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