“Your expressions of frustration with the current delivery of Indian Affairs services illustrate the necessity for a review of the Indian Affairs structure and business processes,” Artman said in his January 14 letter to tribal leaders. “As we have stated since the start of this dialogue, the modernization effort must be tribally driven to ensure that any revisions are directly responsive to tribal concerns.”
January 23, 2008
Every tribe invited to capital
562 Federally Recognized Indian Tribes Invited to Meet in Washington, DCAssistant Secretary–Indian Affairs Carl J. Artman this week invited leaders from the 562 federally recognized tribes to attend a national meeting in Washington, D.C., on January 30, 2008, on the Indian Affairs Modernization Initiative. The one-day event will take place at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, Horizon Room, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (EST).
“Your expressions of frustration with the current delivery of Indian Affairs services illustrate the necessity for a review of the Indian Affairs structure and business processes,” Artman said in his January 14 letter to tribal leaders. “As we have stated since the start of this dialogue, the modernization effort must be tribally driven to ensure that any revisions are directly responsive to tribal concerns.” Comment: I believe there are 563 or 564 federally recognized tribes at present, not 562. The number is difficult to verify since every source gives a conflicting or out-of-date answer.
“Your expressions of frustration with the current delivery of Indian Affairs services illustrate the necessity for a review of the Indian Affairs structure and business processes,” Artman said in his January 14 letter to tribal leaders. “As we have stated since the start of this dialogue, the modernization effort must be tribally driven to ensure that any revisions are directly responsive to tribal concerns.”
Writerfella here --
ReplyDeleteNot to mention that ersatz 'tribes' like the Chickasaw and the Pequot and the Lumbee and the Chickahominy and the Kickapoo keep emerging to muddy the waters...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
The Chickasaws have been a recognized tribe of Indians since before you were born.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chickasaw
When Europeans first encountered them, the Chickasaws were living in villages in what is now Mississippi, with a smaller number in South Carolina. The Chickasaws may have been immigrants to the area, and perhaps were not descendants of Indians of the pre-historic Mississippian culture. Their oral history supports this, indicating they moved, along with the Choctaws from west of the Mississippi in pre-history.
The first European contact with the Chickasaws was in 1540, when Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto encountered them and stayed in one of their towns, most likely near present-day Tupelo, Mississippi. After various disagreements, the Chickasaws attacked the De Soto expedition in a nightime raid, nearly destroying the expedition, soon after which the Spanish moved on.
http://www.americanexecutive.com/content/view/5880/
[I]n the 1830s, President Andrew Jackson initiated the movement of Native American tribes away from their homelands into “Indian Territory.” But when oil was discovered in the late 1800s, all the tribes were dissolved, and the territory became the state of Oklahoma. In the 1930s, realizing its mistake, the US government created the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act, which enabled the tribes to reconstitute in the form of a corporation or a government. The Chickasaw Tribe chose to model itself after the US federal system, complete with judicial, legislative, and executive branches. Today, the Chickasaw Nation is the 13th largest federally recognized tribe in the US with more than 38,000 members.
I've already educated you about the other tribes you listed. But since you insist, I'll do it again.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, here's a question for readers to consider:
Russell Bates believes tribes that are less racially "pure" than his tribe--e.g., the Pequots, Chickasaws, Lumbees, Kickapoos, and Chickahominies--aren't real Indians. To Russ, being Indian is a matter of racial purity.
Is this belief racist? Discuss and debate.