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Title: APNewsBreak: Indian tribe recognition process overhauled
Source:
AP Newsbreak
URL Source: http://tbo.com/ap/national/apnewsbr ... 8a2fee05064a27894202ec0fa994e2
Published: Jun 29, 2015
Author: Uncredited
Post Date: 2015-06-29 09:45:03 by cranky
Keywords: None
Views: 877
Comments: 11
The Obama administration is making it easier for some Indian tribes to obtain federal recognition, addressing a longstanding grievance of many Native Americans. The new regulation updates a 37-year-old process that has been roundly criticized as broken because of the many years and mounds of paperwork that typically went into each application. But the effort to address those criticisms generated a backlash of its own, with some lawmakers and existing tribes with casino operations complaining that the administration's original proposals set the bar too low. The Obama administration made changes in the final rule that answers many of those concerns, but not all. Kevin Washburn, an assistant secretary at the Department of Interior, plans to announce the regulation Monday during a National Congress of American Indians conference in Minnesota. Federal acknowledgment means a tribe is treated as a nation within a nation, able to set up its own government, legal system, and taxes and fees. Recognition also brings critical federal investments in medical care, housing and education. It also can lead to tribes opening casinos in future years through a separate approval process. Washburn told The Associated Press that the regulatory changes will greatly enhance transparency by letting the public see most of the documents submitted by the petitioning groups via the Internet. The changes will also give tribal groups facing rejection the chance to take their case to an administrative judge before a final determination is made. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said the new regulations for tribal recognition "makes good on a promise to our First Americans to clarify, expedite and honor a meaningful process for federal acknowledgment." The most scrutinized changes will be the new criteria that must be met for recognition to occur. Indian groups seeking recognition will no longer have to show that outside parties identified them as an Indian entity dating back to 1900. Washburn said the requirement clashed with the reality of the times. Many Indians were attempting to hide their identity from outside sources out of fear they would be discriminated against, or worse. "They would have been crazy not to have," said Washburn, a member of the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma. Some federally recognized tribes had urged that the requirement be kept. "We cannot understand why a legitimate petitioner could not produce external documentation of its existence," Robert Martin, chairman of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, testified during a recent congressional hearing.
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#1. To: cranky (#0)
Sounds like a way to get more Indians on the "reservation" (for federal goodies) and to use the casino expansions to hit at the Las Vegas gambling industry which has some rich Jewish Republicans like Sheldon Adelson as primary backers.
Some states need gambling and this is a way to do it. I did see a documentary or read an article a few years ago on the tribe that started the Foxwoods casino. In that case on of last tribe members living on the reservation or born on it did indeed hide his Indian identity. He looked nothing like an Indian, had blue eyes, etc. but his grandmother looked Indian and he grew up hiding this fact even though he lived in CT. This guy was a legit Indian - registered and everything but looked nothing like an Indian. So I can see it as plausible that many hid their native American ancestry.
This is all about strangling the Republican segment of the gambling industry (Adelson) and creating more loyal Dem voters. Also, more "Indians" means more bureaucrats to hire at the federal level. Obola is very political about these things. Everything has a political motive.
Obola is very political about these things. Everything has a political motive. I honestly don't think so. This won't allocate new reservation land will it? Also, I do think this is more of a case for individual states wanting in on gambling revenue.
A new excuse for Liz Warren? She can claim that her tribe feared the intolerant Rodham-Clinton rednecks. She must be getting ready to announce her candidacy.
I'm still waiting for Fauxcahontas to address her colleagues in her native tongue. There are three kinds of people in the world: those that can add and those that can't
It doesn't have to. An Indian tribe can build casinos outside a reservation anyway. You can have the casinos, the tribe, the lawsuits and the considerable expansion of supervising bureaucrats at DoJ and BIA without any new reservations. This is why it will be so attractive to Obola & cronies.
You need a reservation base to build a casino outside the border of same, no? I recall in New York state that was what one tribe in a reservation upstate wanted to do. I also kind of remember it because not all of the tribes wanted to go into the casino business and there was a lot of arguing back and forth between the Indians on this topic. So, no, not all Indians are waiting to get into the gaming business.
I don't think so. I can't cite any examples offhand but found this story.
I read that as well but it sounds like it has to have a base at a Reservation - like the HQ.
On a reservation or on "tribal lands". AFAIK, these are not reservations but are lands held in common by a recognized tribe. But don't quote me on that. Some of the dinky tribes barely have any land at all.
#2. To: TooConservative (#1)
Sounds like a way to get more Indians on the "reservation" (for federal goodies) and to use the casino expansions to hit at the Las Vegas gambling industry which has some rich Jewish Republicans like Sheldon Adelson as primary backers.
#3. To: Pericles (#2)
#4. To: TooConservative (#3)
This is all about strangling the Republican segment of the gambling industry (Adelson) and creating more loyal Dem voters. Also, more "Indians" means more bureaucrats to hire at the federal level.
#5. To: cranky, Fred Mertz (#0)
Many Indians were attempting to hide their identity from outside sources out of fear they would be discriminated against, or worse. "They would have been crazy not to have,"
#6. To: hondo68 (#5)
#7. To: Pericles (#4)
This won't allocate new reservation land will it?
#8. To: TooConservative (#7)
#9. To: Pericles (#8)
You need a reservation base to build a casino outside the border of same, no?
#10. To: TooConservative (#9)
#11. To: Pericles (#10)
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