Tribes shouldn't exclude non-Indians

Native American nations face legal limbo“To exclude every single person from tribal membership because they’re not Indian is going to harm tribes in the long run,” says Fletcher, who is a member of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.

“Tribes can actually be a domestic nation that can exercise the necessary government authority over all the people in their territory. But in order to do that, they have to liberalize their membership criteria.”And:American Indians must be more aggressive with nonmembers, he says. A non-American Indian working for a tribe should consent to tribal jurisdiction, as well as anyone living on Native American land. This consent is no different than requiring noncitizens to seek a visa or a work permit from a host country, Fletcher adds.

“Most nations around the world adopt membership rules and criteria without regard to race and ancestry, and Indian nations should do the same,” he says. “For tribes to progress into self-serving, independent nations within a larger nation, they will need to find a way to include non-Indians in the political process of the tribal government while still maintaining a distinctive tribal character.”Comment:  This posting is mostly about extending tribal jurisdiction to non-Indians. But the line worth noting is this:Most nations around the world adopt membership rules and criteria without regard to race and ancestry, and Indian nations should do the same.Eventually tribes will need to do this to avoid extinguishing themselves. They might as well start thinking about it now.

For more on the subject, see Defining Tribes by Peoplehood and The Trap of Blood Quantum.