Recognizing Natives

One Step Forward, Two Steps Backward

2008-12-10T12:35:00.000-08:00

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.

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.

www.cherokeepheonix.org/3217/Article.aspx

Submitted by: James Applegate

"another book review" or "graverobbing pilgrims?"

2008-12-10T12:07:00.000-08:00

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.

Better Recognize! : a deeper understanding

2008-12-10T11:42:00.000-08:00

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?

Seeking recognition: a Chinook Mini-Saga 1997-2002

2008-12-09T22:26:00.000-08:00

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!!!

Book Review

2008-12-09T21:19:00.000-08:00

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

People of the Inside : Duwamish Culture

2008-12-07T21:03:00.000-08:00

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.

I Dig My Roots

2008-12-07T19:11:00.000-08:00

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

Bill H.R. 1104

2008-12-07T14:30:00.000-08:00

I was researching whether or not a tribal recognition had been reversed when I came upon the case of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation in Connecticut. I found Bill H.R. 1104 which, " repeal[s] the Federal acknowledgment of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation."

The bill contains research and information that was created by the Bureau of Indian Affairs which, disputes the decisions to recognize the tribe that they themselves made; it also contains the subsequent research that led to the Bill's reversal because as representative Nancy Johnson stated, "its [an] erroneous and unlawful decision to acknowledge the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation of Kent. Simply put, it was made by ignoring evidence, manipulating federal regulations and overturning precedent."

The document from where I took Nancy Johnson's quote is an appeal to the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs to revise the recognition process in order to make it "fair". An example she uses is the Schaghticoke case where she further states that, "a strategy was outlined for BIA officials to overturn existing agency precedent and ignore federal regulations in order to find in the Schaghticoke’s favor."

She also writes, "the BIA used an unprecedented methodology and made material mathematical errors is calculating tribal marriage rates. Without these mistakes, the Schaghticoke petition would not have satisfied key criteria and would not have been recognized."

Bill H.R. 1104
http://indian.senate.gov/2005hrgs/051105hrg/Johnson.pdf

Nancy Johnson before the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
http://indian.senate.gov/2005hrgs/051105hrg/Johnson.pdf

U.N. Human Rights Committee Denounces U.S. Indigenous Policies

2008-12-04T22:55:00.000-08:00

The United Nation Human Rights Committee attacks the United States for failing to recognize Native Americans' tribal property rights, which should have been rightfully owned by them, and should give them the freedom to use it in ways that stable their sustainability. This article also quotes and shows the contradictions between what the U.S. promotes of equality for all, versus the decisions and actions they make.

http://www.culturalsurvival.org/ourpublications/news/article/un-human-rights-committee-denounces-us-indigenous-policies

Congress Passes Native American Language Bill

2008-12-04T22:36:00.000-08:00

A language bill has been passed to help preserve Native American languages, it provides grants to language survival schools to create new programs and support existing ones. I think this bill is important in terms of helping Native Americans preserve a major part of their authenticity. It also recognizes their indigenous origins to the American land.

http://www.culturalsurvival.org/ourpublications/news/article/congress-passes-native-american-language-bill

Inuit Whalers Lose Right to Traditional Food Source

2008-12-04T22:11:00.000-08:00

This news article from Cultural Survival.org is about an attempt to stripe the Inuit people of their rights to whaling, which makes up half of their food source. Japan, who has a part in the International Whaling Commision (IWC) suggested that movement at an annual meeting, after they were denied the request to lift their ban to whaling. This movement can be considered as a political game, and an inconsiderate request because they failed to recognize that ingidenous people such as the Inuits, actually depend on whales for subsistence rather than for commercial sales. It is also unfair because the Inuit people are not recognized in the IWC, therefore, they cannot be part of voting process.

http://www.culturalsurvival.org/ourpublications/news/article/inuit-whalers-lose-right-traditional-food-source

Procedures for Establishing the Existance of an indian tribe

2008-12-02T18:45:00.000-08:00

I found an interesting site which has the actual process and requirements of how a tribe becomes recognized. it is under the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior. The first link is to the actual criteria, which is part 83.7. I Also added as the second link, the broader category which is the, "Procedures for Establishing that an American Indian group Exists as and Indian Tribe" where I got the criteria from.

http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2005/aprqtr/pdf/25cfr83.7.pdf

http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_05/25cfr83_05.html

Native American Nation

2008-12-02T17:26:00.000-08:00

I found these two websites which have a list of links of different Native American tribes that are and are not recognized in the United States. Most of the sites are managed by their respective tribes where they discuss their history and their people.

They are;

http://www.nativeculturelinks.com/nations.html

http://www.aaanativearts.com/us_tribes_AtoZ.htm

Tribes in the Pacific Northwest Lacking Recognition

2008-12-01T16:52:00.000-08:00

Washington:
Chinook Indian Tribe of Oregon & Washington, Inc.
Duwamish Indian Tribe.
Kikiallus Indian Nation
Marietta Band of Nooksacks
Mitchell Bay Band
Noo-Wha-Ha Band
Snohomish Tribe of Indians.
Snoqualmoo Tribe of Whidbey Island
Steilacoom Tribe

Oregon:
Celilio-Wyam Indian Community
Chetco Tribe
Chinook Indian Tribe of Oregon & Washington, Inc.
Clatsop-Nehalem Confederated Tribes
Confederated Tribes: Rogue, Table Rock & Associated Tribes.
Northwest Cherokee Wolf Band, Southeastern Cherokee Confederacy, Inc.
Tchinouk Indians.
Tolowa-Tututni Tribe.

Idaho:
Delawares of Idaho, Inc.
Lemhi-Shoshone Tribes was stripped of recognition in 1907
Northwestern Band of Shoshone Nation

Submitted by James Applegate

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unrecognized_tribes#Washington

Forgotten Tribes

2008-11-12T13:50:00.000-08:00

I found a really comprehensive book on unrecognized tribes by Mark Edwin Miller called Forgotten Tribes. I recommend that everyone in the group read at least a portion of the book*. It covers a variety of issues from federal acknowledgment policies and the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) as well as specific cases of tribes trying to bypass the acknowledgment process. On page 55, the book talks about Senator John McCain "chastising" the BIA for its inherent acknowledgment problems. I wonder if Barack Obama has a plan to deal with this issue - if you know, post a comment!

Here's the book:

*You can read an extended preview of the book on google

Submitted by James Applegate

250 Unrecognized Tribes in the US

2008-11-12T13:13:00.000-08:00

Here's good introductory article that discusses the Little Shell Band - a group of 250 unrecognized tribes in the US. However the article is from 1997 so its a little outdated. We can see what tribes were facing a decade ago in terms of petitioning congress for recognition. As you'll read it's an extremely expensive endeavor ($50,000 to $150,000) regardless of the result. So check out the article and hopefully we can identify some changes that have occurred over the past ten years.

Article: 250 Tribes Wait for US Recognition

Submitted by James Applegate

Also added by James Applegate - News gadget, YouTube gadget, National Geographic gadget, photo in header

Duwamish People's

2008-10-16T21:09:00.001-07:00