Our first documentary ” Federal Recognition – The Second Great Mystery” presents the difficulties encountered by Native American tribes who are forced to prove that they are descended from historical Indigenous tribes. Federal recognition is a business relationship between a tribe and the U.S. government. If a tribe wants to form in a way that allows them to have sovereignty that is specific to their Nation, obtaining federal recognition allows them to do business with the United States. The Constitution reads that treaties are “the supreme law of the land” and as such should authorize Tribes to be sovereign entities.
The federal recognition process is often misunderstood and is perceived as a way for tribes to get federal funding or open a casino. The truth is far from being simple. Obtaining federal recognition is a decades long, expensive, arduous, and humiliating experience that causes turmoil and extreme difficulty within tribes and tribal members. Even after obtaining access to the “recognized tribe club”, a tribe faces years of difficult administration in order to take advantage of potential benefits. If successful, a tribe can receive funding for health programs, education, training, and other assistance. Well designed execution is mandatory for these to achieve the intended results. And even so, the results are often inadequate and below par.
Tribes with Federal Acknowledgement have a land base held “in trust” (a Reservation) by the Dept of Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Therefore, the Tribal Citizens can only occupy the land- they do not have authority to do with it as they could if they owned it independently of the BIA.
Related Videos
We have a few related Indigenous recordings you might enjoy watching.
