The Road to Citizenship for American Indians

October 7, 11:00 PMNative American Community ExaminerBrenda Golden

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According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, a citizen is- 1: an inhabitant of a city or town; 2 a: a member of a state b: a native or naturalized person who owes allegiance to a government and is entitled to protection from it. American Indians have a dual citizenship status, as a member of their tribal nation and that of the United States. Both are a matter of birth right and just as the US sets standards for citizenship so do the Tribal Nations.  

The road to US citizenship for native people was longer than it was for African Americans and women.   All Native Americans did not become citizens of the United States until 1924, and it would be even longer before all Native Americans gained the right to vote.   American Indians served in the US military in World War I even though they were not given the status of US citizen at that time. It is estimated that prior to 1924 two thirds of American Indians were granted US Citizenship through a variety of measures, including their denouncement of their own tribal nation. For that reason many would not forego their people in order to gain status as an American citizen.

 

   

 

Prior to 1924, The Dawes Act was the most important method of acquiring citizenship for the American Indians here in Oklahoma. The Dawes Act tied Indian citizenship to what a lot of officials considered the ultimate proof of civilization — individual ownership of property. The American Indian became a US citizen as soon as he received his 160 acre allotment. The Act also declared that Indians could become US citizens if they had separated from their tribes and adopted the ways of civilized life, without ending their rights to tribal or other property.  President Theodore Roosevelt described this important law in his message to Congress of December 3, 1901 as "a mighty pulverizing engine to break up the tribal mass."  For it was a pulverization to the American Indian, as the effect was dissention and discord among members of the tribal communities to make them choose one’s citizenship over the other.

 

In 1934, the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) ended the policy of compulsory allotment and offered tribes the opportunity to draft their own constitutions, enact their own laws and court systems, and obtain Federal corporate charters. Unfortunately, many Indian Tribes adopted a boilerplate constitution based on the federal system of having three branches of government. Many of these hastily adopted constitutions contained terms requiring BIA Secretarial approval over all tribal ordinances. Most ratified tribal constitutions set forth in writing the manner in which persons could apply for membership and enroll as a tribal citizen.

 

In 1953, The House and Senate adopted House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 108 to "free" Indian Tribes and individuals from Federal supervision and control. With the view that tribal governments were temporary, the sentiment was that there was no harm in dissolving tribes and emancipating individual Indians, especially if they were given the same privileges and responsibilities as other citizens of the United States. Pursuant to this new policy, Congress used its plenary power to enact termination acts dissolving 109 Tribes in the 1950’s and 60’s. A policy that would remain in force until President Richard Nixon’s reversal in 1970 that issued in the era of Indian Self Determination. Even so, it is arguably noted that American Indians are not given the same privileges and responsibilities as other citizens of the United States.

 

Back then and up to the present day, the American Indian is discriminated against in courts, justice systems, educational institutions and victims of hate crimes. The statistics are staggering when it comes to health disparities of American Indians. In many localities American Indians are treated worse than second class citizens, they are the third or fourth.

 

Along with self determination, tribal nations have the right and responsibility of granting citizenship to their own. Tribal Nations have set up citizenship boards and enrollment offices for the purpose of reviewing the applications and supporting documents of persons applying for citizenship. A person born on US soil is considered a naturalized citizen of the United States. But, the American Indian in most tribal nations must prove either a minimum degree of Indian blood or a direct lineage to an Indian ancestor on a base roll. Controversies in recent years have come about from “disenrollment” of tribal members and the lack of tribal recognition to “freedmen” both being upheld on many fronts as an absolute right of the tribes to determine their own citizenship. One need not agree with the premise of these tribal nations’ actions but should agree that it is the role of the tribal nation to acknowledge their own citizens.

 

The Indian Health Service on the other hand defines a person of Indian or Alaska Native descent as evidenced by one or more of the following factors: (1) is regarded by the community in which he lives as an Indian or Alaska Native; (2) is a member, enrolled or otherwise, of an Indian or Alaska Native Tribe or Group under federal supervision; (3) resides on tax-exempt land or owns restricted property; (4) actively participates in tribal affairs; (5) any other reasonable factor indicative of Indian descent. ( http://www.ihs.gov/PublicInfo/Publications/IHSManual/Part2/ pt2chapt1/pt2chapt1.htm#212) These factors sound fabulous in theory but rarely placed into practice in the daily operations of the IHS in the real world. It is much easier to require a person produce a tribal citizenship/enrollment card in order to receive services than it is to determine if they are regarded by the community in which they live as an Indian or any of the other nebulous factors. This leads one back to the citizenship standards set by the tribal nations to access health services and that reliance produces a duty on the citizenship and enrollment boards.

 

In the past, there are those who had ancestors that denied their Indian heritage in order to fit in to the social and working class of the United States. Others chose not to follow the enrollment process from the initial base rolls because of personal choice either not to be identified or in defiance of the system. Throughout history the American Indian was regarded as less than human and considered savages and heathens and some attempted to disassociate themselves from those labels. American Indians were not even recognized as human until Standing Bear (Ponca) successfully argued in US District Court in 1879 that Native Americans were “persons within the meaning of the law”. For many years following that ruling, often times the more Non Native blood an American Indian had, the more “human” they were considered in mainstream United States circles. 

 

Standing Bear (Ponca)

 

Following the resurgence of the popularity of American Indians, the American Indian as noble, peaceful, spiritual and such, has led to an increase in those wanting to be Indian. The list of faux American Indian groups and Indian wannabees has grown exponentially since movies such as “Dances with Wolves” hit the big screen. There are others who think all Indian tribes are rolling in money since the passage of the Indian Gaming Act and want recognition as a member of a tribe to reap the supposed benefits.  In the last twenty years or so it has apparently, in some minds, become desirable to be American Indian leading to an increase in self identification as such. But that does not mean one is a citizen of a tribal nation.

 

Many tribal nations have a blood quantum requirement, based on the federal government’s degree of Indian blood system. Others such as the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma have instituted a descendent standard for citizenship.  In virtually most tribal nations their citizenship is based on one’s blood lineage or birthright. How these standards will hold up in the future remains to be seen. It would be interesting if tribal nations would institute a testing system like that of the United States Immigration and Naturalization Office to become a citizen. The test might measure understanding of the tribal language, customs, traditions, culture and history with a minimum score set in order to become a citizen.  As part of that scenario it would ensure that no one would forget the sacrifice, pain, suffering, death and destruction that happened to American Indians to get to where they are now. 

 

It is all well and good that people are embracing the American Indian way of life and wish to be what many of us have no choice except to be. There is no escaping the brown skin, dark eyes, straight hair, hairless bodies, arched eyebrows, high cheekbones and other distinctive features of the American Indian. For many people 200 years ago and now, there was and is no choice in identifying themselves as American Indian. You either are or you aren’t Indian but to be a tribal citizen requires formal acknowledgement by way of enrollment with a tribal nation.  At times American Indians were asked to give up their tribal citizenship in order to be a US Citizen, but are citizens from other countries made to renounce the country of their birth when they immigrate here?   No.               

Not all Native Americans viewed or view US citizenship as something wonderful. Their experiences in dealing with Washington and the states did not give them much confidence in the government or desire to participate in it. Some tribes feared they would have to give up their own sovereignty and the federal government would deny its treaty obligations. In the words of one Native American:

"United States citizenship was just another way of absorbing us and destroying our customs and our government. How could these Europeans come over and tell us we were citizens in our country? We had our own citizenship. By its [the Citizenship Act of 1924] provisions all Indians were automatically made United States citizens whether they wanted to be so or not. This was a violation of our sovereignty. Our citizenship was in our nations."