Post by blackcrowheart on Nov 25, 2006 11:36:06 GMT -5
United States Respects Indian Tribes' Right to
Self-Determination Indian tribes retain unique sovereign status as
"domestic dependent nations" By Peggy B. Hu and Jeffrey Thomas
Washington File Staff Writers
usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2006\
&m=November&x=20061103120126cjsamoht0.4840967
<http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=200\
6&m=November&x=20061103120126cjsamoht0.4840967>
Washington -- Many people are puzzled when they hear the U.S.
president use such phrases as “government-to-government basis
with tribal governments,†“tribal sovereignty†or
“self-determination†for American Indians. Isn’t
the United States “one nation ... indivisible," as the Pledge of
Allegiance says? The answer is more interesting than a simple
“yes†or “no.†According to the U.S.
Department of Justice's Office of Tribal Justice, American Indian tribes
are considered "domestic dependent nations" within the United States.
As such, they retain sovereign powers over their members and territory
except where such powers specifically have been modified by U.S. law.
American Indians are more than members of a racial minority group in the
United States; they are indigenous people of the Americas with a status
akin to dual citizenship. In his November 1 proclamation marking
National American Indian Heritage Month, 2006, President Bush reaffirmed
his administration's adherence to a national policy of
self-determination for Indian tribes, a policy that began under
President Richard Nixon. The United States “will continue to work
on a government-to-government basis with tribal governments, honor the
principles of tribal sovereignty and the right to
self-determination,†Bush said, “and help ensure America
remains a land of promise for American Indians, Alaska Natives, and all
our citizens.†(See text of proclamation
<http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=texttrans-english&y=20\
06&m=November&x=20061102105046eaifas8.480251e-03> .) During a February
meeting of governmental and indigenous delegates to draft an
"Inter-American Declaration of Rights of Indigenous People," U.S.
Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States John
Maisto said the United States "is proud of its longstanding commitment
to tribal sovereignty [and] self-determination, and
government-to-government relationships with federally recognized
tribes.†(See related article
<http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=200\
5&m=February&x=20050208143335ASrelliM0.1828577&t=xarchives/xarchitem.htm\
l> .) “A policy of self-determination for American Indians is one
of the most positive aspects of the U.S. experience, and may potentially
serve as a model for better relations between other countries and
indigenous peoples and populations," he said. The U.S. federal
government currently recognizes 561 Indian nations. The Bureau of Indian
Affairs (BIA) within the U.S. Department of the Interior manages 55.7
million acres of land held in trust by the United States for American
Indians. The BIA also is responsible for maintaining tribal schools
serving nearly 48,000 American Indian primary, secondary and university
students. TRIBAL MEMBERSHIP Each tribe determines who qualifies as a
member, and an individual can qualify as a member of more than one
tribe. As a result, many of the 4.5 million U.S. citizens -- or 1.5
percent of the total population -- identified as full- or part-American
Indians or Alaska Natives in the most recent U.S. Census Bureau estimate
(July 1, 2005), might claim membership in more than one Indian nation.
In general, tribes use the blood-quantum system, the descent system or a
combination of the two to determine membership. Tribes also might have
residency or other requirements for those who seek membership. In the
blood-quantum system, a prospective member must prove he or she has
inherited a certain percentage of “Indian blood†from the
tribe he or she wishes to join. The Nez Perce Nation, for example, will
grant membership only to those who are "at least one fourth (1/4) degree
Nez Perce Indian ancestry born to a member of the Nez Perce
Tribe.†The descent system does not set a minimum blood
requirement. Instead, prospective members must demonstrate that they
are directly descended from a tribal member from a particular time
period. The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, for example, requires that
prospective members trace their lineage to at least one person listed on
the Dawes Rolls of 1899-1907, the official list of people accepted by
the Dawes Commission as members of the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw,
Chickasaw and Seminole Indian tribes. American Indians are active
participants in all aspects of American life. Among the more famous
American Indians are former senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (Northern
Cheyenne); National Museum of the American Indian founding director W.
Richard West, Jr. (Southern Cheyenne, Cheyenne and Arapaho); physicist
Fred Begay (Navajo and Ute); Olympic medalist Billy Mills (Lakota);
composer Louis Ballard (Quapaw and Cherokee); ballerina Maria Tallchief
(Osage); poet Simon Ortiz (Acoma); singer Felipe Rose (Lakota) of the
Village People; actor Floyd Red Crow Westerman (Dakota branch of Sioux
People); actress Irene Bedard (Inupiat Eskimo and Cree); author Leslie
Marmon Silko (Laguna Pueblo); author N. Scott Momaday (Kiowa); and
activist and writer Winona LaDuke (Ojibwa). For a timeline of key legal
developments affecting the status of the American Indian in the United
States, see fact sheet
<http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=200\
6&m=November&x=20061106163901bpuh0.5341455> . For more information on
U.S. society, see Population and Diversity
<http://usinfo.state.gov/scv/history_geography_and_population/population\
_and_diversity.html> . (The Washington File is a product of the Bureau
of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web
site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
Self-Determination Indian tribes retain unique sovereign status as
"domestic dependent nations" By Peggy B. Hu and Jeffrey Thomas
Washington File Staff Writers
usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2006\
&m=November&x=20061103120126cjsamoht0.4840967
<http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=200\
6&m=November&x=20061103120126cjsamoht0.4840967>
Washington -- Many people are puzzled when they hear the U.S.
president use such phrases as “government-to-government basis
with tribal governments,†“tribal sovereignty†or
“self-determination†for American Indians. Isn’t
the United States “one nation ... indivisible," as the Pledge of
Allegiance says? The answer is more interesting than a simple
“yes†or “no.†According to the U.S.
Department of Justice's Office of Tribal Justice, American Indian tribes
are considered "domestic dependent nations" within the United States.
As such, they retain sovereign powers over their members and territory
except where such powers specifically have been modified by U.S. law.
American Indians are more than members of a racial minority group in the
United States; they are indigenous people of the Americas with a status
akin to dual citizenship. In his November 1 proclamation marking
National American Indian Heritage Month, 2006, President Bush reaffirmed
his administration's adherence to a national policy of
self-determination for Indian tribes, a policy that began under
President Richard Nixon. The United States “will continue to work
on a government-to-government basis with tribal governments, honor the
principles of tribal sovereignty and the right to
self-determination,†Bush said, “and help ensure America
remains a land of promise for American Indians, Alaska Natives, and all
our citizens.†(See text of proclamation
<http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=texttrans-english&y=20\
06&m=November&x=20061102105046eaifas8.480251e-03> .) During a February
meeting of governmental and indigenous delegates to draft an
"Inter-American Declaration of Rights of Indigenous People," U.S.
Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States John
Maisto said the United States "is proud of its longstanding commitment
to tribal sovereignty [and] self-determination, and
government-to-government relationships with federally recognized
tribes.†(See related article
<http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=200\
5&m=February&x=20050208143335ASrelliM0.1828577&t=xarchives/xarchitem.htm\
l> .) “A policy of self-determination for American Indians is one
of the most positive aspects of the U.S. experience, and may potentially
serve as a model for better relations between other countries and
indigenous peoples and populations," he said. The U.S. federal
government currently recognizes 561 Indian nations. The Bureau of Indian
Affairs (BIA) within the U.S. Department of the Interior manages 55.7
million acres of land held in trust by the United States for American
Indians. The BIA also is responsible for maintaining tribal schools
serving nearly 48,000 American Indian primary, secondary and university
students. TRIBAL MEMBERSHIP Each tribe determines who qualifies as a
member, and an individual can qualify as a member of more than one
tribe. As a result, many of the 4.5 million U.S. citizens -- or 1.5
percent of the total population -- identified as full- or part-American
Indians or Alaska Natives in the most recent U.S. Census Bureau estimate
(July 1, 2005), might claim membership in more than one Indian nation.
In general, tribes use the blood-quantum system, the descent system or a
combination of the two to determine membership. Tribes also might have
residency or other requirements for those who seek membership. In the
blood-quantum system, a prospective member must prove he or she has
inherited a certain percentage of “Indian blood†from the
tribe he or she wishes to join. The Nez Perce Nation, for example, will
grant membership only to those who are "at least one fourth (1/4) degree
Nez Perce Indian ancestry born to a member of the Nez Perce
Tribe.†The descent system does not set a minimum blood
requirement. Instead, prospective members must demonstrate that they
are directly descended from a tribal member from a particular time
period. The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, for example, requires that
prospective members trace their lineage to at least one person listed on
the Dawes Rolls of 1899-1907, the official list of people accepted by
the Dawes Commission as members of the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw,
Chickasaw and Seminole Indian tribes. American Indians are active
participants in all aspects of American life. Among the more famous
American Indians are former senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (Northern
Cheyenne); National Museum of the American Indian founding director W.
Richard West, Jr. (Southern Cheyenne, Cheyenne and Arapaho); physicist
Fred Begay (Navajo and Ute); Olympic medalist Billy Mills (Lakota);
composer Louis Ballard (Quapaw and Cherokee); ballerina Maria Tallchief
(Osage); poet Simon Ortiz (Acoma); singer Felipe Rose (Lakota) of the
Village People; actor Floyd Red Crow Westerman (Dakota branch of Sioux
People); actress Irene Bedard (Inupiat Eskimo and Cree); author Leslie
Marmon Silko (Laguna Pueblo); author N. Scott Momaday (Kiowa); and
activist and writer Winona LaDuke (Ojibwa). For a timeline of key legal
developments affecting the status of the American Indian in the United
States, see fact sheet
<http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=200\
6&m=November&x=20061106163901bpuh0.5341455> . For more information on
U.S. society, see Population and Diversity
<http://usinfo.state.gov/scv/history_geography_and_population/population\
_and_diversity.html> . (The Washington File is a product of the Bureau
of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web
site: http://usinfo.state.gov)