Divisions and misinformation about state-recognized tribes

Guest reviews. Indigenous McCarthyism seeks to establish an internal redundancy process through misinformation and divisions. State-recognized tribes have been accused of being frauds and being historically and politically problematic.

On October 29, 2024, defamatory flyers were distributed at the annual convention of the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) by a group calling itself the United Indian Tribes of Oklahoma. Comparable misinformation was used in recent failed attempts to have state-recognized tribes removed from the Indian Arts and Crafts Act (IACA) of 1990 (PL 101-644) and excluded from membership NCAI voters. These efforts were in complete disregard of the NCAl Code of Conduct.

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Recent attempts to end the rights of state-recognized tribes are a legacy of settler colonialism. Identity policing, divisions and disinformation are destructive colonial weapons. For over 500 years, egocide and policing have been used against indigenous peoples. Egocide is bullying that destroys an individual’s Indigenous identity by creating insecurity and shame. Policing is the destruction of a tribe’s identity for political reasons. Blacklists of state-recognized tribes were created on social media and websites. They describe state-recognized tribes and their members with insensitive words such as fake Indians, fake Indians, and wannabes.

Identity policing is based on colonial stereotypes of who is and who is not a Native American. In the 19th and 20th centuries, these stereotypes were used in the professional testimony of a handful of anthropologists to eliminate the sovereignty of more than 100 tribes across the country and lose more than a million acres of tribal land. In California, the Muwekma Ohlone tribe lost federal recognition and was declared extinct. The Muwekma Ohlone remain strong and resilient as a tribal entity not recognized by the federal government.

According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, more than 20 percent of Native Americans are citizens of state-recognized tribes. They are legally recognized by the states in which they reside, including Alabama, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Carolina North, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.

As stated in “The Scope of State Power Over Indian Affairs” in the book by Felix S. Cohen Indian Federal Law Handbookthe legal status of state tribal recognition is a matter of state law. States have the legal authority to recognize tribes because of the federal power granted to the state. The 10th^th The amendment to the United States Constitution gives states the legal authority to recognize tribes within their borders. It gives states legal powers that are not delegated in the United States Constitution. State-recognized tribes have legal status, governmental authority, can participate in state programs, and are permitted to have reservations within state borders. State-recognized tribes enjoy the right to self-government, and tribal constitutions determine the criteria for an individual’s enrollment.

Today, there are more than 100 state-recognized tribes. The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, the Echota Cherokee Tribe of Alabama, and the United Houma Nation of Louisiana each have more than 10,000 members. Enrolled members of state-recognized tribes are considered racial minorities and receive all protections against discrimination under federal civil rights laws. They are subject to the same public health concerns as citizens of federally recognized tribes. These problems include disproportionate illness, lower life expectancy, and poor quality of life due to economic hardship. Federal agencies are required to identify state-recognized tribes and include them in federal decision-making regarding the environment and public health.

As Native Americans, we must be resilient in the face of all aspects of settler colonialism and end the divisions and misinformation created by egocide and policing. Let us hope that these colonial weapons will be disarmed by the next seven generations. This is crucial to our survival in Indian Country and beyond. We are all connected and we are on this journey together.

Dr. Kenneth Barnett Tankersley is a member of the Piqua Tribe of Alabama. Tankersley is a retired professor of anthropology and member of the Graduate School at the University of Cincinnati. He has served as director of Native American Studies at Northern Kentucky University, a gubernatorial appointee of the Kentucky Native American Heritage Commission, and a member of the advisory board of the Kentucky Center for Native American Art and Culture.

About the Author: “Levi \”Calm Before the Storm\” Rickert (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation) is the founder, publisher and editor of Native News Online. Rickert received the 2021 Native Media Best Column Award Award for print/online category by the Native American Journalists Association He serves on the advisory board of the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association. He can be reached at [email protected].

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