Indian Reorganization Act (IRA)

Tribal Enrollment

Producer
The Newberry
Year

Tribes have the right to determine their own membership. These criteria for enrollment vary from tribe to tribe. In the Midwest, the criteria are based on descendancy, that is, descent from an individual on a particular roll, as well as, in some cases, blood quantum and/or residency of the applicant or his/her parents. Most tribes also have constitutional provisions for adoption of members. Individuals who are enrolled in a particular tribe have rights that include hunting, fishing, and gathering on tribal land (or in some cases off-reservation), as well as per capita payments if the tribe distributes income from court cases or businesses. Other benefits include preferential hiring for tribal jobs, entitlement to certain services, the right to vote and run for tribal office, use of tribal land, and preferential selection for tribal housing.

Citation

The Newberry. "Tribal Enrollment." Indians of the Midwest. McNickle Center at the Newberry Library. Chicago, Illinois. Video. (http://publications.newberry.org/indiansofthemidwest/identities/legal-id..., accessed October 30, 2013)

Videos: White Earth Nation Constitutional Reform

Producer
White Earth Nation
Year

As part of its ongoing process of educating the White Earth people and others about White Earth's proposed new constitution, White Earth Nation's Constitutional Education Team produced several videos for White Earth citizens to view in order to gain a better understanding of the key governance changes that the new constitution seeks to make.

Native Nations
Citation

White Earth Nation. "Videos: White Earth Nation Constitutional Reform." White Earth Nation. White Earth, Minnesota. August 2013. Videos. (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQS2l_EeUTrF9Gi9J9KUZcw/videos, accessed November 12, 2015)

Truth To Tell: Community Connections - White Earth Constitutional Forum Part I

Producer
KKWE/Niijii Radio
Year

In collaboration with production partner KKWE/Niijii Radio, TruthToTell and CivicMedia/Minnesota traveled west on August 14, 2013, to the White Earth Reservation to air/televise the seventh in our series of LIVE Community Connections forums on critical Minnesota issues. Convened at White Earth's Shooting Star Casino, panelists debated the meaning and impacts of a proposed new home rule constitution to be voted on by White Earth Nation citizens this fall, and fielded questions from members of the audience. This is a burning issue among members of the entire Minnesota Chippewa Tribe (MCT), whose current Constitution currently governs all Minnesota bands under its jurisdiction...

Native Nations
Citation

KKWE/Niijii Radio. "Truth To Tell: Community Connections - White Earth Constitutional Forum Part I." Truth ToTell and Civic Media Minnesota (hosts: Andy Driscoll and Michelle Alimoradi). KKWE/Niijii Radio. August 14, 2013. Forum. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEdlRqSf970, accessed September 4, 2013)

Truth To Tell: Community Connections - White Earth Constitutional Forum Part II

Producer
KKWE/Niijii Radio
Year

In collaboration with production partner KKWE/Niijii Radio, TruthToTell and CivicMedia/Minnesota traveled west on August 14, 2013, to the White Earth Reservation to air/televise the seventh in our series of LIVE Community Connections forums on critical Minnesota issues. Convened at White Earth's Shooting Star Casino, panelists debated the meaning and impacts of a proposed new home rule constitution to be voted on by White Earth Nation citizens this fall, and fielded questions from members of the audience. This is a burning issue among members of the entire Minnesota Chippewa Tribe (MCT), whose current Constitution governs all Minnesota bands under its jurisdiction...

Native Nations
Citation

KKWE/Niijii Radio. "Truth To Tell: Community Connections - White Earth Constitutional Forum Part II." Truth ToTell and Civic Media Minnesota (hosts: Andy Driscoll and Michelle Alimoradi). KKWE/Niijii Radio. August 14, 2013. Forum. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt8NZM8LdnU, accessed September 6, 2013)

Native American Lands and the Supreme Court

Producer
C-SPAN Video Library
Year

Tribal judge and legal scholar Angela Riley (Citizen Potawatomi) spoke in the U.S. Supreme Court chamber about the history of the Supreme Court and Native American lands. The lecture was one in a series hosted by the Supreme Court Historical Society on the Constitution, the Supreme Court, and property rights‚ Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg introduced Professor Riley...

People
Resource Type
Citation

Riley, Angela. "Native American Lands and the Supreme Court." Supreme Court Historical Society on the Constitution, the Supreme Court, and property rights, Supreme Court Historical Society. Washington, DC. Nov 14, 2012. Presentation. (https://www.c-span.org/video/?309427-1/native-american-lands-supreme-court, accessed August 21, 2013) 

Vine Deloria's Last Video Interview

Producer
Walking Eagle Productions
Year

American Indian author, theologian, historian, and activist Vine Deloria, Jr. (1933-2005) talks with documentary film producer Grant Crowell about traditional Indigenous governance systems and criteria for citizenship, the impact of colonial policies on tribal citizenship (specifically the effects of blood quantum), and recent controversies with certain academics claiming American Indian ethnicity for political gain. The interview was recorded from Vine Deloria's home in Golden, Colorado in 2005, shortly before his passing.

Resource Type
Citation

Walking Eagle Productions. "Vine Deloria's Last Video Interview." Walking Eagle Productions. Golden, Colorado. 2005. Interview. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLI4srZuh5A, accessed April 22, 2013)

Joseph P. Kalt: The Nation-Building Renaissance in Indian Country: Keys to Success

Producer
Bush Foundation
Year

Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development Co-Director Joseph P. Kalt presents on the Native nation-building renaissance taking root across in Indian Country, and shares some stories of success.

Resource Type
Citation

Kalt, Joseph P. "The Nation-Building Renaissance in Indian Country: Keys to Success." Tribal Leaders Summit. Bush Foundation. Prior Lake, Minnesota. October 2, 2009. Presentation. (https://vimeo.com/14858844, accessed August 1, 2023)

An Essay on the Modern Dynamics of Tribal Disenrollment

Year

Disenrollment is predominately about race, and money, and an “individualistic, materialistic attitude” that is not indigenous to tribal communities.

Because many tribes have maintained the IRA’s paternalistic and antiquated definition of “Indian” vis-a-vis blood quantum (as discussed in “An Essay on the Federal Origins of Disenrollment“), tribal membership has largely become “an explicitly racial conception of Indian identity.” Suzianne D. Painter-Thorne, If You Build It, They Will Come: Preserving Tribal Sovereignty in the Face of Indian Casinos and the New Premium on Tribal Membership, 14 Lewis & Clark L. Rev. 311 (2010)...

Resource Type
Citation

Galanda Broadman. An Essay on the Modern Dynamics of Tribal Disenrollment. Galanda Broadman, PLLC. Seattle, Washington. March 12, 2014. Opinion. (http://www.galandabroadman.com/blog/2014/03/an-essay-on-the-modern..., accessed January 20, 2015)

Rethinking Rewriting: Tribal Constitutional Amendment and Reform

Author
Year

This essay examines the recent wave of American Indian tribal constitutional change through the framework of subnational constitutional theory. When tribes rewrite their constitutions, they not only address internal tribal questions and communicate tribal values, but also engage with other subnational entities, i.e. states, and the federal government. It applies that framework to a study of tribal constitutional amendment and reform procedures. Focusing on the processes of constitutional change produces insight into tribes' status as “domestic dependent sovereigns” in the contemporary era of self-determination, a status reflected in the opportunities, and limitations, inherent in tribal constitutions. In so doing, this essay aims to highlight an aspect of tribal constitution writing that enables successful reform and communicates the significance and goals of constitutionalism within the tribal context.

Native Nations
Resource Type
Citation

Hipp, Jason P. "Rethinking Rewriting: Tribal Constitutional Amendment and Reform." Columbia Journal of Race and Law. Vol. 4:1, 73-95. 2013. Article. (https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/download/fedora_content/download..., accessed October 18, 2023)

An Essay on the Federal Origins of Disenrollment

Year

Disenrollment is not indigenous to Native America. It is a creature of the United States.

The origins of disenrollment are traced to the United States’ paternalistic assimilation policies of the 1930s. In 1934 the U.S. Congress passed the Indian Reorganization Act (“IRA”), wherein the federal government took an extremely active role in framing tribal membership rules. The IRA contained a definition of who would be recognized as an indigenous person by the federal government: The individual must be a descendant of a member residing on any reservation as of June 1, 1934, or a person “of one-half or more Indian Blood.” 25 U.S.C. § 476...

Resource Type
Citation

Galanda, Gabe. An Essay on the Federal Origins of Disenrollment. Galanda Broadman. Seattle, Washington. March 6, 2014. Opinion. (http://www.galandabroadman.com/blog/2014/03/an-essay-on-the-federal..., accessed March 1, 2023)