Part 3: Selecting the ColorsHistorical, Legal

and Political Perspectives

Part 3: Selecting the ColorsHistorical, Legal

and Political Perspectives

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To be an Indian, you must have a tribe

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Diverse People, Cultures, Languages, Lifestyles, and Locations

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Ethnological Concept of Tribe

Shared language and culture

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Federal Recognition

567 federally-recognized tribesCriteria:

Existence pre-date European discoveryHas continued to remain separate and

distinctProcess:

Act of Congress (treaties prior to 1871)Petition Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)Annually published in the Federal Register

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Tribal Government

Like state or county governmentsProvides servicesHas sources of revenuePasses laws and enforces them

Tribal jurisdictional area: “Indian Country”State laws do not applyTribal sovereignty

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Tribes are unlike other local governmentsin the U.S.

Tribes define their membership: enrollment

Some tribes have traditional forms of governmentNo separation of powers

No separation of “church” and state

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Basic Tenants of Indian Law

Tribal sovereignty

Federal trust responsibility

Government-to-government relationship

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Tribal Sovereignty

Tribes are governments that have authority with regard to their members

Tribes existed prior to the U.S. and made treaties with colonial powers, states, and the U.S.

Nations within a nation

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Federal Trust Responsibility

U.S. ConstitutionArticle I, Section 8, “Indian commerce clause”

authorizes Congress to regulate commerce with “foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with Indian tribes”

Article II, Section 2, grants the federal government the exclusive authority to make treaties

Trust responsibility is like being a guardian, looking out for the best interest of tribes

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Government-to-Government Relationship

Tribes are treated as governments by the federal government.

Protocols

Tribal consultation

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Federal Indian Policy Shifts

1700’s - 1800’s: Westward Expansion and Indian removal

Indian Removal Act of 1830Treaty making (ends 1871)Indian wars

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Federal Indian Policy Shifts continued…

1880-1930’s: Assimilation and AllotmentGeneral Allotment Act of 1887 (Dawes Act)Boarding SchoolsRe-naming

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1492Arrival of Columbus

1790ForcedInland

1830IndianCountry

1860ImmigrationStampede

1890Vanquished

2090Indian Country?

= Reservation Lands

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More Policy Shifts

1930’s: Reorganization

1950’s: Termination

and Relocation

1970’s: Self-determination

1980’s: Self-governance

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Recent Trends in Indian policy

Negotiated rule-making (1994)

1994 Clinton Presidential Memorandum directs every federal agency to operate in a government-to-government relationship with tribes

1998 and 2000 executive orders on tribal consultation

More agencies contracting and compacting

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Bureau of Indian Affairs

Agency in the Department of the Interior

Secretary of Interior has authority to make decisions about tribes including land statusLand into trust -- increases size of

reservations

Tribes want the Census Bureau to consult BIA maps regarding tribal boundaries

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Key Points

Indians are the only group of people mentioned in the Constitution

Indians have a political relationship with the federal government that distinguishes from other ethnic groups

Have jurisdiction with regard to their people and their land

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Key Points continued…

Treaties are legal agreements between sovereign nations not diminished by time

Tribes define their membership and there is no separation of “church” and state