Legislation Legacy

A tribe must be federally recognized by the United States to have its own judicial system independent of local and state jurisdictions; receive lands held in trust by the federal government; and have access to community services, including health clinics. Often decades pass while tribes await federal recognition; approximately 562 tribes are currently federally recognized, with several hundred still waiting for federal recognition. In past, tribes were recognized through Congress, treaties, or administrative decisions by the executive branch of government; however, this changed when the Bureau of Indian Affairs set up a long meticulous process for regulating the recognition of tribes, requiring the requesting tribe to satisfy certain historical, anthropological, and genealogical criteria. (National Congress of American Indians, n.d.)

In an "unprecedented" act, the Bureau of Indian Affairs withdrew federal recognition of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation in October 2005. The Schaghticoke Tribe filed a motion with the United States District Court in New Haven to return the tribe's federal recognition, citing undue political influence of elected Connecticut officials. The main arguments were that the revocation of federal recognition was the result of illegal political pressure and impropriety; the decision to revoke the federal recognition was made by the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Jim Cason who was not legally appointed by the President or Senate in either a permanent or acting capacity made any decisions made by Cason illegal; and that the revocation of federal recognition was made by ignoring direction from the Interior Board of Indian Appeals. (Toensing, 2007)

References

National Congress of American Indians. (n.d.) Federal recognition. Clickhere for more information.

Toensing, G. C. (2007). Schaghticoke Tribal Nation seeks restoration of federal acknowledgement. Indian Country Today. Click here for more information.