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FAQ about the American
Indians

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INTRODUCTION

Indian America makes up of more than 550 tribes, with a total population of just less than two million. It is the youngest, fastest growing population in our nation. Nearly forty percent of all American Indians and Alaska Natives are under the age of twenty. About twenty percent of the total American Indian and Alaska Native population resides on 314 reservations, Indian lands, and in Alaska Villages that make up Indian Country. American Indians and Alaska Natives have a land base of approximately 3,615,210 square miles. It is made up of American Indian and Alaska Native trust lands totaling approximately 56, 000, 000 acres and Alaska Native lands totaling approximately 44,000,000 acres.

While economic conditions in Indian Country have improved in recent years, American Indian and Alaska Native communities continue to lag behind the rest of the United States with respect to social, economic, and educational attainment levels. Income levels between American Indians and Alaska Natives are substantially below those of all other Americans, and some 31 percent continue to live below the poverty level. In comparison, the national poverty level in 1990 was 13 percent. Complicating factors such as geographical isolation, under developed physical infrastructures, and demographics, add to the challenges confronting tribes as they work toward a better standard of living and quality of life for tribal peoples

Answers to some
Frequently Asked Questions

  • How Are Tribes Organized?

Tribes have the inherent right to operate under their own governmental systems. Many have adopted constitutions, while others operate under Articles of Association or other bodies of law, and some still have traditional systems of government. The chief executive of a tribe is generally called the tribal chairperson, but may also be called principal chief, governor, or president. The chief executive usually presides over what is typically called the tribal council. The tribal council performs the legislative function for the tribe, although some tribes require a referendum of the membership to enact laws.
  • What Does the Term "Federal Recognized Tribe" Mean?

"Recognition" is a legal term meaning that the United States recognizes a government-to-government relationship with a tribe and that a tribe exists politically in a "domestic dependent nation status." A federally recognized tribe is one that was in existence, or evolved as a successor to a tribe at the time of original contact with non-Indians.

Federally recognized tribes posses certain inherent rights of self-government and entitlement to certain federal benefits, services, and protections because of the special trust relationship.
  • What is the Jurisdiction of Tribal Courts?

Tribal courts have civil jurisdiction over Indians and non-Indians who either reside or do business on the reservation. Tribal courts have criminal jurisdiction over tribal offenses occurring, and committed by American in Indian Country. (1)
  • Why Are American Indians and Alaska Natives Sometimes Referred to as Native Americans?

When referring to American Indians or Alaska Natives, it is appropriate to use the terms American Indians and Alaska Natives. These terms denote the cultural distinction between the indigenous peoples of the continental United States and those of Alaska.

While the term "Native Americans" came into usage in the 1960's with respect to American Indians and Alaska Natives, over time, usage of the term has been expanded to include all native peoples of the United States and its territories, including Native Hawaiians, Chamorros, and American Samoans.
  • Are American Indians and Alaska Natives Citizens?

American Indians and Alaska Natives are citizens of the United States and of the states in which they reside.(2) They are also citizens of the tribes to which they belong according to the criteria established by each tribe.
  • What Is the Relationship Between the United States and the Tribes?

The relationship between the tribes and the United States is one of a government to a government. This principle has shaped the entire history of dealings between the federal government and the tribes, and is lodged in the Constitution of the United States.
  • Can American Indians and Alaska Natives Vote?

American Indians and Alaska Natives have the same right to vote as all citizens. American Indians and Alaska Natives vote in state and local elections, as well as in tribal elections. Just as state, federal, and local governments have the sovereign right to establish voter eligibility criteria; each tribe has the right to decide its voter eligibility criteria.
  • Who Is an American Indian or Alaska Native?

As a general principle an Indian is a person who is of some degree Indian blood and is recognized as an Indian by a tribe and/or the United States. No single federal or tribal criterion establishes a person's identity as an Indian. Government agencies use differing criteria to determine eligibility for programs and services. Tribes also have varying eligibility criteria for membership.

It is important to understand the difference between the ethnological term "Indian" and the political/legal term "Indian." The protections and services provided by the United States for tribal members flow not from an individual's status as an American Indian in an ethnological sense, but because the person is a member of a tribe recognized by the United States, and with which the United States has a special trust relationship. This special trust relationship entails certain legally enforceable obligations and responsibilities.
  • Do American Indians and Alaska Natives Have the Right to Hold Federal, State, and Local Government Offices?

American Indians and Alaska Natives have the same rights as all citizens to hold public office. In this century, American Indian and Alaska Native men and women have held elected and appointed offices at all levels of state, local, and federal government. Charles Curtis, a member of the Kaw Tribe of Kansas, served as Vice President of the United States under President Herbert Hoover.

Indians have also been elected to the United States Congress. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, a member of the Cheyenne Tribe of Montana, was elected to the Senate in 1992 after having served his third term in the United States House of Representatives.
  • Historically, Did All American Indians and Alaska Natives Speak a Common Language?

American Indians and Alaska Natives speak many diverse languages. At the end of the 15th Century, more than 300 American Indian and Alaska Native languages were spoken. Some were linked by "linguistic stocks" which meant that widely scattered tribal groups had similar languages. Today, some 250 tribal languages are both spoken and many are written.
  • What Is a Reservation?

Reservations are territories reserved as permanent tribal homelands. Some were created through treaties while others were created by statutes, or executive orders.
  • What Is Meant by Tribal Self-determination and Self-governance?

These are important concepts in federal Indian policy, and are also the objectives of major federal legislation. In policy, the concepts are similar to the block grant system, by which state and local governments are accorded the opportunity to administer federal programs directly.

Under the self-determination and self-governance laws, tribes have been accorded the authority to control and operate federally-funded and administered programs whenever tribal governments choose to do so. Moreover, these laws affirm the fundamental American belief that local problems are best resolved at the local level using the collective resources of the nation.
  • What Is the Relationship Between Tribal and State Governments?

Because the Constitution vests authority over Indian Affairs in the federal government, generally, states have no authority over tribal governments. Tribal governments are not subordinate to state governments. They retain the right to enact and enforce stricter or more lenient laws and regulations than those of the neighboring state(s).

Tribes possess both the right and the power to regulate activities on their lands independently from the neighboring state government. However, tribes frequently collaborate and cooperate with states through compacts or other agreements. The Tribal-to-State relationship is also one of a government to a government.
  • What Is the Role of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the Provision of Services to American Indians and Alaska Natives?

The role of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) has changed dramatically over time. Until the 1960's, the BIA was the direct provider of services to American Indians and Alaska Natives. As we near the 21st Century, BIA is implementing the federal policy and law of self-determination and self-governance.

In its modern role, BIA technical specialists work with tribal managers in protecting and managing trust resources pending informed decision-making by the tribe on the development of the resources. Also, BIA assists tribes to enhance their quality of life and to raise the standard of living in tribal communities.
  • What Are "Treaty Rights"?

From 1777 to 1871, United States relations with individual Indian nations were conducted through treaty negotiations. These "contracts among nations" created unique sets of rights for the benefit of each of the treaty-making tribes. Those rights, like any other treaty obligations of the United States, represent "the supreme law of the land." As such, the protection of treaty rights is a critical part of the federal Indian trust relationship.

Footnotes
  1. Criminal jurisdiction in Indian Country is governed by federal law set out primarily in Title 18 of the United States Code at Sections 1151, 1152, and 1153. Under these statutes, the United States expressly retained jurisdiction over major crime committed by Indians and crimes against Indians committed by non-Indians. Under Supreme Court interpretations of these statutes, jurisdiction over crimes between non-Indians, even though occurring in Indian Country, is vested in states.
  2. Indians were granted citizenship pursuant to the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 (8 U.S.C. §1401). Later amendments clarified that the Act applied to Alaska Natives, as well.

Bibliography

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Canby, William C. 1988. American Indian Law in a Nutshell. 2nd edition. West Publishing

Co., St. Paul, Minnesota.

Cohen, Felix S. Handbook of Federal Indian Law. 1982 edition. Michie Bobbs-Merrill

Publishers, Charlottesville, Virginia.

Getches, David H., and Wilkinson, Charles F., Williams, Robert A. Jr. 1993. Cases and

Materials on Federal Indian Law. 3rd edition. West Publishing Co., St. Paul,
Minnesota.

Tyler S. Lyman. 1973. A History of Indian Policy. Department of the Interior, Bureau of

Indian Affairs. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C

Utter, Jack. 1993. American Indians: Answers to Todays Questions. National Woodlands

Publishing Company, Lake Ann, Michigan.

LEGISLATIVE REFERENCES

  • Tribal Self Governance Act of 1994 Pub. L. 103-413.
  • Snyder Act of November 2, 1921, 42 Stat. 208.
  • General Allotment Act of 1887 (Dawes Act), 24 Stat. 388.
  • Non-Intercourse Act, 25 U.S.C. §177.
  • Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, 25 U.S.C.A. §461 et seq.
  • Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, Pub. L. 92-203.
  • Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, as amended Pub. L. 93-638.
  • American Indian Religious Freedom Act, Pub. L. 95-341.
  • Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, Pub. L. 96-487.
  • Leasing of Allotted Lands for Mining Purposes, 25 U.S.C.§396.
  • Indian Mineral Leasing Act, 25 U.S.C. §396a396g.
  • Indian Mineral Development Act, 25 U.S.C. §2101-2108.
  • Sale of Timber on Lands Held Under Trust, 25 U.S.C. §406.
  • Sale of Timber on Unallotted Lands, 25 U.S.C. §407.
  • Rights-of -Ways for All Purposes Across Any Indian Lands, 25 U.S.C. §3230-3280.
  • Lease of Restricted Lands for Public, Religious, Educational, Recreational, Residential, Business, and Other Purposes; Approval By Secretary, 25 U.S.C.§§ 415.

OTHER SELECTED REFERENCES

Department of the Interior, Departmental Manual, Part 512, Chapter 2, "Departmental

Responsibilities for Indian Trust Resources."

Presidential Memorandum: April 29, 1994. Government to Government Relations with

Native American Tribal Governments.

Presidential Memorandum: April 29, 1994. Policy Concerning Distribution of Eagle

Feathers for Native American Religious Purposes.

OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION

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