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The case of native sovereignty
The case of native sovereignty
Different social economic isses within native americans
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During the 1970s American Indians in California and other parts of the U.S were at a disadvantage that included unemployment, poverty, deteriorating homes, and unsanitary living conditions. As a means to deal with the situation, some tribes included gaming (bingo or poker games) to their way of life. The goal of tribal government was to make the reservation self sufficient (Weeber 85). Although, some tribes did adopt gaming, others have not because of moral or traditional reasons or because they live in an areas far away from patrons (Canby 332). As a result, their lives continue to lack electricity, clean water, paved roads, and medical facilities (Barker 155). In this paper, I will show how the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians flourished from poverty because they adopted gaming as a form of economic growth. Then, I will explain the internal issue, known as “disenrollment” using sovereignty as the backdrop to show, why casino tribes (as any other sovereign government) have the right to denied “membership” to long standing members.
Before the Pechanga Band, began gaming operations on their reservation, other Indian tribes in California were exercising their sovereignty through poker and card games. The Cabazon Band of Mission Indians operated poker and card games “against” state laws. The state of California insisted its laws were being defied by the tribe, so it went after the Cabazon Band citing Public Law 280 (1953), which had granted the state criminal jurisdiction over Indian reservations. California claimed that the Cabazon’s band small gaming operations were criminal, and for that reason should be control or ban by the state. As a sovereign people, the Cabazon Band responded pointing to tribal ordinances supported by the ...
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...harge of membership to the tribe may end up disenroll (Weeber 91). The enrollment committee accused Gomez of falsifying federal and local records (Barker 167) then decided that Gomez was to be removed from the Band’s Enrollment Book (Barker 168). After Gomez was kicked out from the Pechanga Band he filed a civil complaint in state court alleging that tribal officials did not follow its constitution (Barker 147).
Gomez, like other individuals that have been rejected from their tribe, appeal their case in tribal court (if available), but usually are turned away. Then, they fall back on state and federal courts, but court case opinions like Santa Clara Pueblo v. Martinez makes it impossible for the courts to get involved in the issue at hand. Usually state and federal courts point their finger at tribal sovereignty as the cause for their non-involvement (Beiser 77).
It had previously been the policy of the American government to remove and relocate Indians further and further west as the American population grew, but there was only so much...
Fishing and hunting have been at the core of many American Indian cultures like the Nisqually since precontact. Indian hunting, fishing and gathering were conducted then—as they are now—not for sport, but for food and for a livelihood. This was well understood by the early colonists and later by the U.S. government. Thus, many of the treaties (e.g., Medicine Creek, 1854) negotiated between the federal government and Indian tribes in the nineteenth century contained provisions guaranteeing rights to hunt and fish. In the trea¬ty negotiated by Isaac Stevens, the tribe ceded to the U.S. some of the Nisqually vil¬lages and prairies, but Article Three reserved the tribe’s right to fish “at all usual and accustomed grounds and stations…in common with all citizens of the Territory.” (FL 12) But the growth of the European American population, and with it the proliferation of fenced lands, the destruction of natural habitat, and often the destruction of wildlife itself, drastically curtailed the Indians' ability to carry on these activities. Charles Wilkinson’s thesis declares that the “messages from Frank’s Landing” are “messages about ourselves, about the natural world, about societies past, about this society, and about societies to come.” (FL 6)
When the word “Native American” is mentioned, the first thing most people will think of is Indian gaming. As many people know, only Native Americans can conduct gaming while people from other ethnicity cannot. This leads to the belief that it is an indirect way for the American government to repay the tribal government for taking their lands. This is partially true. The right to conduct gaming on reservations begins with the Indian Gaming Regulation Act (IGRA). Since its establishment in 1988, hundreds of tribes are able to negotiate an agreement with the governments to operate casinos on reservation lands. However, this is not the only intention of IGRA. Although Congress says that the real purpose of IGRA is to allow Indians to open casinos so tribes can support themselves, it is merely a set of laws that limits the tribe’s right on gaming.
Banks, D., Erodes, R. (2004). Dennis Banks and the Rise of the American Indian Movement. Ojibwa Warrior. Retrieved January 20, 2005, from http://www.oupress.com/bookdetail.asp?isbn=0-8061-3580-8
Throughout the 1925-1975 period, the Native American population of the United States has faced many obstacles. Just a few years before, they had been suppressed by the federal government’s “Anti-Long Hair” policy for all Native American males. This would set the stage for future cultural restraint on the Indians. However, they continued to fight for equality. All through this time period, the experience of the Native American culture has been a struggle for equality in their homeland.
The Indians were being confined to crowed reservations that were poorly run, had scarce game, alcohol was plentiful, the soil was poor, and the ancient religious practices were prohibited. The Indians were not happy that they had been kicked off there land and were now forced to live on a reservation. The Indians then began to Ghost Dance a form of religion it is said that if the Indians were to do this trance like dance the country would be cleansed of white intruders. Also dead ancestors and slaughtered buffalo would return and the old ways would be reborn in a fruitful land. Once the Bureau of Indian affairs noticed what was going on they began to fear this new religion would lead to warfare. The white peoplewere scared that this new dance was a war dance. They called for army protection. Army was called in to try to curbed this new religion before it could start a war.
4. The California Act for the Government and Protection of Indians – Describe in detail this former California law, its provisions and impacts on California Indians
The growing pan-Indian activism that was becoming increasingly strong in regions of the United States helped develop the American Indian Movement. Educated young urban Indians were becoming involved in rights issues and insisted on self-determination in the 1960s era of prote...
When Spaniards colonized California, they invaded the native Indians with foreign worldviews, weapons, and diseases. The distinct regional culture that resulted from this union in turn found itself invaded by Anglo-Americans with their peculiar social, legal, and economic ideals. Claiming that differences among these cultures could not be reconciled, Douglas Monroy traces the historical interaction among them in Thrown Among Strangers: The Making of Mexican Culture in Frontier California. Beginning with the missions and ending in the late 1800s, he employs relations of production and labor demands as a framework to explain the domination of some groups and the decay of others and concludes with the notion that ?California would have been, and would be today, a different place indeed if people had done more of their own work.?(276) While this supposition may be true, its economic determinism undermines other important factors on which he eloquently elaborates, such as religion and law. Ironically, in his description of native Californian culture, Monroy becomes victim of the same creation of the ?other? for which he chastises Spanish and Anglo cultures. His unconvincing arguments about Indian life and his reductive adherence to labor analysis ultimately detract from his work; however, he successfully provokes the reader to explore the complexities and contradictions of a particular historical era.
From the beginning of the 20th Century, there were nearly 250,000 Native Americans in the United States who accounted for approximately 0.3 percent of the population. This population was mostly residing in reservations where they executed a restricted extent of self-government. Native Americans have experienced numerous challenges related to land use and inconsistent public policies. Actually, during the 19th Century, Native Americans were dispossessed of a huge section of their land through forced removal westwards, through a series of treaties that were largely dishonored, and through military defeat by the United States in its expansion of control over the American West (Boxer par,1). Moreover, Native Americans have experienced
Stark, H. K., & Wilkins, D. E. (2011). American Indian Politics and the American Political System. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
The state courts or government has no jurisdiction at Red Lake. All the laws are made by the Tribal Council and enforced by the Tribal Council and the Federal Courts. Red Lake is unique because it is considered a "closed" reservation. All the land is held in common by the tribe and there is no private property. Because of this, there are very few non-members that live at Red Lake. The tribe has the right to limit who can visit or live on the reservation. Both men and women alike are able to govern and can hold positions in the Tribal Council. In 1934, Red Lake Band of Chippewa preferred to retain a “clan-based” system of governance so they rejected organization under the Indian Reorganization Act. It was not long until they withdrew from the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe and all other Chippewa nations and began governing
Pequot tribe is a Native American nation in Connecticut State which is federally recognized by the United States government. It was recognized in 1983 by the congress and is considered to be the eighth tribe to be recognized by the United States government through congressional procedure. There are different views regarding Pequot tribe based on its past history and the tribe’s present activities. This paper deals in discussing views of various sources regarding the Pequot tribe and compares various present findings of the tribe in modern society.
Gambling in the form of traditional games has always been a part of many American Indian tribes’ cultures. Though many tribes began using other forms of gambling, this continues today. However, the use of gaming to obtain profit was not as successful until the late 1970's and early 1980's. It quickly grew from an industry that made $100 million annually to over $22 billion annually. Gambling started with simple games such as bingo and continued to grow until the states the tribes were in eventually took notice. Additionally, because of the rapid growth of the gambling industry some tribes used this to better their ailing economies. As more states started to take notice of the increased amount of income the tribes were bringing in, the states’ governments began questioning whether it was a legitimate operation or not. In response states began lobbying for the Federal Government to regulate Indian gaming. The states wanting to both counter infiltration by organized crime and tax income gained by Indian gaming. Tribes fought the states to maintain tribal sovereignty and to protect gaming revenues for further economic development and support. Congress responded with the set of compromises which then evolved into what is now known as the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988. The Act separated Indian gaming into three separate classes with a different regulatory scheme for each.
Sandefur, G. (n.d.). American Indian reservations: The first underclass areas? Retrieved April 28, 2014, from http://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/focus/pdfs/foc121f.pdf