Interesting article in the Sacramento Bee:
What is a ‘California Indian tribe’? How a proposed law unearthed a decades-old wound
BY HANNAH WILEY
AUGUST 05, 2019
Excerpt:
Ramos used a legal definition for “tribe” outlined in the 2001 California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, which states a “California Indian Tribe” must be federally recognized. If it’s not, the tribe must be in the petitioning process for recognition or be eligible to apply for the status.
That definition contradicts laws from 2004 and 2014 that define a California tribe as federally or non-federally recognized, as long as it’s on the contact list maintained by the Native American Heritage Commission.
There are only 109 federally recognized tribes in California, with another 55 without the status, according to a 2016 commission report. Many of the unrecognized tribes either had their status terminated beginning in the 1950s under a handful of congressional acts, or were never federally recognized.
READ FULL ARTICLE AT LINK ABOVE
