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Native American Tribes and the US Government

jcuellar4 years ago

There are currently 574 Federally recognized Native American Tribes within the United States. These are sovereign and independent nations even if that may not always be clear to tribal members or to certain members of the US Government. Native American Tribal Citizens have a Dual Citizenship meaning they are both Citizens of the United States and Citizens of their Tribal Territory. The word Tribal Member is routinely used to describe the Government or Chiefs of the Tribal Land.

The United States has a total of 375 Treaties with Tribal Territories or Tribal Nations that are recognized by the Department of State. The Department of State is a Foreign Diplomatic Office for the United States Government. Recognition of these Treaties by the Department of State gives International Validity to the Sovereignty of Tribal Lands and their status as Independent Nations.

Under US Constitution ArtIV.S3.C1 these Sovereign Nations can become a New State with the approval of State Legislatures and the United States Congress. The Tribes can also cede or sell their territory to the United States and remain Citizens of the United States but still retain their cultural and religious heritage which would be protected through the Bill of Rights. As all of the 574 Tribal Nations also currently have dual citizenship with the United States, this would not require any immigration to the United States or a 5 year waiting period for Citizenship.

Each of the 574 Native American Nations are also free to remain an independent nation in which case they would have to become more familiar with international treaties, international trade, immigration rules and import/export controls on textiles, products and services. For the time being, this is simplified with their Dual Citizenship status with the United States.

It is important to discuss Native American Independence, their sovereignty and their current and future participation in global governance. Many of the worlds countries are being asked to take on more responsibility in running their governments and economies rather than depending on Permanent UN Security Council Members to provide for the majority of their needs.

As these discussions have progressed, the official status of Native American Tribes within the US has been questioned and the 375 Native American Treaties along with Senate Records and transcripts from the US Court of Federal Claims has been provided to World Bodies in the UK, EU, Middle East and Latin America.

In speaking with Tribal Councils, most wish to remain sovereign, in which case they would be treated as landlocked nations. A good case study for this scenario lies in South Africa with the nations of Lesotho and Swaziland (eSwatini). Both countries are independent nations, both countries are part of the UK Commonwealth and both countries are within South Africa which is an independent nation who is also part of the UK Commonwealth. Swaziland (eSwatini) additionally shares a border with Mozambique which is also a member of the UK Commonwealth. All countries in Africa belong to the African Union which is an organization focused on bringing financial and cultural independence to every nation in Africa and to keep the continent of Africa united as a region. African nations to the north additionally belong to Arab League which is an organization focused on economic trade between Africa and the Middle East.

Information on the 574 Federally recognized tribes and the 375 treaties that go along with it has been difficult to come by even with contacts at Library of Congress, National Archives Records Administration, Department of Interior and at a handful of individual tribes. All of the collected information is being placed here. There will be very little information not linked from this page regarding the sovereignty and independence of the Native American Tribes although some of the links may change so it is recommended to archive all the links locally and download any PDFs if you are able to do so. It is hoped that the links will remain permanent but webmasters don’t always know how to do a proper web migration during an upgrade so its recommended to archive all data locally.

Only Federally Recognized Tribes are eligible for any agreements made that is in accordance with the US Constitution regarding Indians not Taxed. As Native Americans are are considered Independent Nations, the States are not able to make treaties with them directly per the US Constitution.

States are free to recognize that a group of people within their State has a Native American heritage but it is unlikely that they will be counted as Indians not Taxed as things progress in the realm of Global Governance with the Native American Tribes of North America.

Globally, the 574 North American Tribes that are landlocked within the USA and recognized by the US Federal Government, including the US Department of State are represented by NARF at the UN. NARF then Liasons with NCAI and NCAI should be liaising with the US Department of Interior and Individual Tribal Councils.

The Iroquois have been authorized to issue a passport book to their Citizens that can be used for international air travel and and the Pascua Yaqui Tribe have a Western Hemisphere Compliant passport card that allows them to cross into the USA and Mexico due to their tribal land bordering Mexico. The Blackfeet Tribe have a similar situation near Montana and Canada although they have not been authorized to issue a Western Hemisphere Compliant passport card.

The United States Social Security Administration has put together a map that outlines the boundaries of each sovereign territory which are sometimes called reservations. An area of focus for NARF, NCAI, UN and Department of Interior would be the Pascua Yaqui, Blackfeet and the Midwest. For example, Oklahoma, the Dakotas, Arizona, Washington State and Alaska.

SSA Map: https://socialsecurity.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=fcd1224f9a49491e892ef6fc2d45b2e0
Zoom and scroll along the Mid West and Alaska to look for boundaries.
Contact: SSA.Tribal.Communications[@]ssa.gov and Open.Government[@]ssa.gov

There are some concerns and case studies that can be done in evaluating these specific tribes and areas as a first phase case study:

Washington State: This is the home of an International Company and it is a fairly liberal state with progressive societal policies. It would be nice for the Tribes in the area to discuss economic opportunities at Microsoft including background checks, international cooperation, anti-money laundry compliance and digital currencies.

Arizona and Montana: There is a tribe in each of these States that borders a neighboring country, Mexico for the Pascua Yaqui in Arizona and Canada for the Blackfeet in Montana. Compliance with international travel documents and standards are important for those wishing to exercise their right to travel and freedom of movement on a global scale.

Alaska: Russia and China are nearby and while Silicon Valley and its democratic representatives like to bicker and fight with Russians on a political debate floor due to the money they borrowed from Russian investors and don’t want to pay back; The Russian and US military are fairly amicable with each other and the FBI and CIA both have had contacts at the KGB and Kremlin in the past. The Native American Tribes should be aware that both China and Russia are Permanent UN Security Council Members and can act as sovereigns on International Waters just as the US, UK and France can. While there is no immediate threat to Alaska, the Native American Tribes should be aware that China has stolen military blueprints from California and has begun building up its Air Force and Navy using those stolen blue prints. The nearest US Navy bases are in Guam and Southern California.

Dakotas, Oklahoma and Arizona include some of the larger continuous territories of Native American Lands. These would provide good places to get land surveys done to explore economic opportunities in mineral exploitation, agriculture and ranching. The operations should be operated and managed by the Tribal Councils and the products can be exported to the USA or other nearby tribes as a start.

As Deb Halaand has been nominated as Secretary of the Interior, it would present a conflict of interest to focus soleley on the Pueblo Tribes of New Mexico; however, it would also be unethical for her not to include New Mexico and her constituents within the first few case studies.

On a Global Level, the Native Americans Tribes can communicate with the world outside the US as follows:

Within the United States when using the US Federal Government, the US Judiciary and US Congress as a point of contact for establishing treaties and trade agreements with the United States or discussing past disagreements regarding land and resource usage the points of contact are:

  • Department of Interior
  • US Court of Federal Claims
  • Congressional Native American Caucus

Currently Deb Haaland is a Congressional Representatives and Co-Chair for the Native American Caucus with Representative Tom Cole. These are Congressional or Legislative Appointments. She has been nominated by President Elect Joe Biden to serve in an Executive Role as Secretary of the Interior which is an Executive Role. This would be a breach of the Separation of Powers which is a constitutional concept in the US. She would have to select one role or the other and normally transfers between branches of the US Government are not allowed. The other issue is representing both the US Government as the Secretary of Interior and the Native American Tribes. This would create a conflict of interest.

A Potential solution to this dilemma is to have the UN Security Council evaluate Deb Haalands qualifications to serve as an Executive Officer for the Department of the Interior. She would then transfer from the Legislative Branch to the Executive Branch which would be allowed on a case by case basis if it is determined that this is allowed per US Law and/or this is an extraordinary circumstance allowing for emergency powers. She would then select another Native American Congressional Representative so serve as co-Chair for the Native American Caucus and resign as Congresswoman. Negotiations would be done between the Department of Interior and NCAI.

References:

  • Map of Laguna Pueblo Native American Tribal Lands
    Bing Maps
  • Indian Entities Recognized by and Eligible To Receive Services From the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs – Federal Register
    https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/01/30/2020-01707/indian-entities-recognized-by-and-eligible-to-receive-services-from-the-united-states-bureau-of
  • Advisory Committees for Tribal Self Governance
    https://www.tribalselfgov.org/advisorycommittees/
  • Tribal Interior Budget Council
    https://www.bia.gov/as-ia/obpm/tibc
  • Tribal Interior Budget Council; November 2, 2020 through November 6, 2020 Meeting Materials
    https://www.ncai.org/initiatives/tibc/tibc-documents
  • Progress Act Overview
    https://www.ncai.org/initiatives/tibc/PROGRESS_Act_Overview.pdf
  • National Conference of State Legislators State Recognized Tribes
    https://www.ncsl.org/research/state-tribal-institute/list-of-federal-and-state-recognized-tribes.aspx#State
  • National Conference of State Legislators Federal and State Recognized Tribes
    https://www.ncsl.org/research/state-tribal-institute/list-of-federal-and-state-recognized-tribes.aspx
  • Social Security Administration of Native American Territorial Boundaries
    https://www.ssa.gov/open/maps/AIAN_details.html
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