Citizenship/Membership

Hot Topics in Tribal Governance: Citizenship + Blood Quantum

Producer
Native Nations Institute
Year

As the Director of the Oneida Nation's Trust Enrollment Department, Doxtator used the skills he honed as a financial analyst to examine the current state of the nation's enrollment criteria and illustrate what that meant for the future of the nation. Since Oneida was still relying on Blood Quantum (BQ) to determine enrollment eligibility, the future of the nation's enrollment numbers looked grim. The unfortunate reality was that, if nothing was done to amend the nation's enrollment criteria, it would mean the extinction of the Oneida Nation in just a few generations.

In this presentation during the Native Nations Institute's 2022 Remaking Tribal Constitutions Seminar, Doxtator uses population pyramids and one very compelling animation to explain the issue with BQ as a determinant for enrollment -- a lesson that could any Native nations wrestling with questions about BQ and enrollment.

 

Resource Type
Citation

Doxtator, Keith. "Hot Topics in Tribal Governance: Citizenship + Blood Quantum." September 19, 2023. Presentation. Native Nations Institute.

Transcripts for all videos are available by request. Please email us: nni@arizona.edu.

Wrapping Our Ways Around Them: Aboriginal Communities and the CFCSA Guidebook

Author
Year

This Guidebook is based on the belief that Aboriginal peoples need to know, and work with, the systems that impact children and families today such as the Child, Family and Community Service Act (CFCSA), Provincial Court (Child, Family and Community Service Act) Rules (Rules), Child, Family and Community Service Regulation (CFCSA Regulation), Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) and delegated Aboriginal agencies.

Exercising exclusive jurisdiction over child welfare remains the goal for Aboriginal peoples: Restoring Aboriginal ways of doing things, especially in caring for children, is essential for the health and well-being of children and families. Successive generations of Aboriginal children continue to be taken into the child welfare system. Without intervention, experience has shown that the outcome for these children will be bleak and reverberate outward, influencing the future of entire families, communities and nations. This Guidebook suggests immediate steps that can be taken on the ground we are standing on–within the CFCSA and systems that impact Aboriginal children and families today–to improve outcomes for Aboriginal children while building toward a better future.

Resource Type
Citation

Walkem, Ardith. Wrapping Our Ways Around Them: Aboriginal Communities and the CFCSA Guidebook. ShchEma-mee.tkt Project. Nlaka’pamux Nation Tribal Council. British Columbia, Canada. 2015. Guide. (http://cwrp.ca/sites/default/files/publications/en/wowat_bc_cfcsa_1.pdf, accessed May 29, 2015)

Tribal Equity Toolkit: Sample Tribal Resolutions and Codes to Support Two Spirit & LGBT Justice in Indian Country

Year

This Toolkit has been developed to give tribal legislators a brief overview of legal and policy issues that impact the equal treatment of Two Spirit/ LGBT individuals. The Toolkit identifies areas in which existing laws discriminate against Two Spirit/ LGBT individuals, and offers sample resolution and code language for tribal lawmakers to consider adopting to maximize equality within their communities...

Citation

Native American Program of Legal Aid Services of Oregon, the Indigenous Ways of Knowing Program at Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling, the Western States Center, the Pride Foundation, and Basic Rights Oregon. "Tribal Equity Toolkit: Sample Tribal Resolutions and Codes to Support Two Spirit & LGBT Justice in Indian Country." Portland, Oregon. November 1, 2012. Paper. (https://graduate.lclark.edu/live/files/12737-tribal-equity-toolkit, accessed November 2, 2012)

Robert Joseph: History of Maori Governance and Self-Determination

Producer
Native Nations Institute
Year

In this interview, Māori barrister and Senior Lecturer at The University of Waikato Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato, Dr. Robert A. Joseph offers his expert analysis of governance and law through the historical perspective of Māori self-governance. Dr. Joseph gives a summary of the complexities of colonization over Māori lands under New Zealand governments and in particular a thorough examination of the Treaty of Waitangi that lays the foundations for the governance relationships of the Māori people with New Zealand governmental relations and society. Included with his historical accounts are the ways that law and jurisdiction intersects with Māori economy that brings together a current context to the way colonization impacts the modern practices of Māori self-determination.

People
Native Nations
Resource Type
Citation

Native Nations Institute. "Robert Joseph: History of Maori Governance and Self-Determination.” Leading Native Nations, Native Nations Institute, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, December, 2017

Transcript available upon request. Please email: nni@email.arizona.edu

Native Nations and U.S. Borders: Challenges to Indigenous Culture, Citizenship, and Security

Year

A comprehensive review of Native nations along or near the U.S. borders with Mexico, Canada, and Russia response to border-related challenges to citizenship, crossing rights and border security, culture, the environment and natural resources, and public health and safety. This book seeks to inform discussions of border policy at all levels of government—tribal, local, state, and federal—and is intended to be a resource to Indigenous leaders; federal, state, and municipal policy-makers and authorities; researchers; and nongovernmental work involving border regions.

This is the downloadable PDF. Purchase the book on the NNI Shop.

Resource Type
Citation

Starks, Rachel Rose, Jen McCormack, and Stephen Cornell. Native Nations and the U.S. Borders: Challenges to Indigenous Culture, Citizenship, and Security. Udall Center Publications, The University of Arizona. Tucson, AZ. 2011. Book.

What Makes Someone American Indian?

Producer
National Public Radio
Year

Who is Native American? It's a complicated question that has tripped up, among others, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. The Democratic presidential hopeful recently apologized for identifying American Indian as her race more than 30 years ago. It was around that time that the U.S. census saw a surge of people identifying as American Indian. NPR's Hansi Lo Wang explains why.

Resource Type
Citation

Lo Wang, Hansi. What Makes Someone American Indian? National Public Radio. February 17, 2019. Retreived from https://www.npr.org/2019/02/17/695536896/what-makes-s... February 21, 2019.

Wilson Justin: Leadership with Cultural Knowledge and Perseverance

Year

Wilson Justin is a cultural ambassador for Cheesh’na Tribal council and serves as a Vice Chair Board of Directors for Mt. Sanford Tribal Consortium.  He relays his expertise and perspective on the intricacies of Indigenous governance in Alaska through adapting cultural traditions, creating a constitution, navigating citizenship, and asserting rights of Indigenous people. 

Native Nations
Resource Type
Citation

Native Nations Institute. "Wilson Justin: Leadership with cultural knowledge and perseverance."  Leading Native Nations, Native Nations Institute, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, November 15, 2016

For a complete transcript, please email us: nni@email.arizona.edu

Chairman Dave Archambault II: Laying the Foundation for Tribal Leadership and Self-governance

Producer
Native Nations Institute
Year

Chairman Archambault’s wealth and breadth of knowledge and experience in the tribal labor and workforce development arena is unparalleled. He currently serves as the chief executive officer of one of the largest tribes in the Dakotas, leading 500 tribal government employees and overseeing an array of tribal departments and programs, including Higher Education, TERO (Tribal Employment Rights Office), the Tribal Work Experience Program (TWEP), and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) program.

He also oversees the Tribe’s economic activities, including its effort to create more local job opportunities for the Standing Rock Sioux people. Prior to becoming Chairman, Archambault successfully directed the Department of Labor’s signature workforce development program, TCC DeMaND, a regional consortium of tribal colleges led by United Tribes Technical College that pools expertise and resources towards meeting critical needs in Indian Country while addressing the challenges of unemployment and workers impacted by changing economic conditions.  

In this interview for Leading Native Nations, Chairman Archambault offers his insights regarding effective, elected leadership and shares examples of tribal governance changes implemented during his administration to ensure the vitality of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

Native Nations
Resource Type
Citation

Chairman Dave Archambault II, "Laying the Foundation for Tribal Leadership and Self-governance," Interview, Leading Native Nations interview series, Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management, and Policy, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, February 22, 2016.

Biography

Chairman Archambault's wealth and breadth of knowledge and experience in the tribal labor and workforce development arena is unparalleled. He currently serves as the chief executive officer of one of the largest tribes in the Dakotas, leading 500 tribal government employees and overseeing an array of tribal departments and programs, including Higher Education, TERO (Tribal Employment Rights Office), the Tribal Work Experience Program (TWEP), and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) program. He also oversees the Tribe's economic activities, including its effort to create more local job opportunities for the Standing Rock Sioux people. Prior to becoming Chairman, Archambault successfully directed the Department of Labor's signature workforce development program, TCC DeMaND, a regional consortium of tribal colleges led by United Tribes Technical College that pools expertise and resources towards meeting critical needs in Indian Country while addressing the challenges of unemployment and workers impacted by changing economic conditions.

Transcript available upon request. Please email: nni@email.arizona.edu

Residence, Community Engagement, and Citizenship: How do non-resident tribal citizens connect with Native nations?

Year

The research draws from an online survey targeted primarily at younger tribal citizens living away from tribal lands; this project provides preliminary insight into 1) non-resident citizens' engagement with their tribes, and 2) the ways tribes might connect more effectively with non-resident citizens, should they choose to do so.

Native Nations
Resource Type
Citation

Schultz, Jennifer Lee, Stephanie Carroll Rainie, and Rachel Rose Starks. Residence, Community Engagement, and Citizenship: How do non-resident tribal citizens connect with Native nations? Connecting Across Distance & Difference: Tribal Citizenship in a New Era. The NCAI Policy Research Center Tribal Leader/Scholar Forum. National Congress of American Indians Mid Year Conference. St. Paul, Minnesota. June 30, 2015. Paper.

Reimagining Indigenous Health: Moving Beyond the Social Determinants of Health

Year

Senior researcher Stephanie Carroll Rainie critiqued the application of social determinants of health models in Native communities and challenged readers to reconsider how they think about Indigenous health.

Resource Type
Citation

Rainie, Stephanie Carroll. Reimagining Indigenous Health: Moving Beyond the Social Determinants of Health. Poster Session: Research to Fuel our Futures. The NCAI Policy Research Center Tribal Leader/Scholar Forum. National Congress of American Indians Mid Year Conference. St. Paul, Minnesota. June 30, 2015. Poster.