ABOUT FEDERAL RECOGNITION OF AMERICAN INDIAN TRIBES... byjojobrooksshifflett

 By JoJo Brooks Shifflett 

A LuMbee GerShôm 

Yes, I remember. 

And I Go So Far Back, 

I Remember WHY the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs DECIDED To enact A STANDARD PROCEDURE FOR federal Acknowledgement of Indian Tribes in 1974.

     Most Indians and very few politician remember tribes were federally recognized in a variety of ways before 1974. More on a case by case basis.  

  I won't spill the tea on social media, but anyone who doubts me, I know exactly Why the Senate said "NEVER AGAIN" shortly after passing a bill to federally recognize a Tribe and ASAP, they dramatically overhauled the ways available to Federally Recognize Tribes. Amd the pre1974 pathways available to Federal Recognition for tribes were far more Fair to Tribes & far less expensive and in reality. 

 They took what was more personal and informal ways of understanding who a tribe was and allowed Tribes to tell their stories without the need to pay lawyers $ 25-30 million just to apply and go through often decades to try and obtain federal Recognition PURSUANT TO the now "STANDARDIZED REGS" passed in 1974.

     I know a lot more than not all but most attorneys about ONE THING, Fed'l Indian law ... oh, and Property & Zoning law which in reality often intertwine. 

And the History of why some laws were passed ... See, I used to love to go to The Monacle and Sit & LISTEN to the late Great Pete Taylor, A lifetime Staff Member on the Then "Senate Select" Committee On Indian Affairs when I was an Intern.

 The man knew so much about why certain laws were passed and Who were the key players. He was a rare man....Few truly bright minds work at the same Senate Committee 30 years which is why Federal Indian Law and other areas like Labor, when you look at the body of federal laws that govern an area as specific as Federal Indian Law, the laws are unnecessarily complex as too few Congressional Staffers stay around to learn what laws are needed and what laws need to be reformed and I say reformed Because ANYONE WHO'S EVER TRIED TO GET A BAD LAW REPEALED IN ANY AREA KNOWS, The Government NEVER relinquishes control of anything... And basically, that's the essence of what a law does. 

Passing a new bill creates a law  and a law gives the government a right to control something or do an act it previously had no legal right to control or do previously. 

* UNEDITED