Connecticut

I’ve been meaning to write an in-depth single about the Bureau of Indian Affairs attempt to change the process for tribes getting recognized and the backlash it’s received in Connecticut since it was announced last summer but simply haven’t had the time (or energy) to get around to it. Because I have no time to write something proper, here’s a basic overview. I. The Current Policy and Changes In June of last year the Bureau of Indian Affairs proposed changing the policy for tribal recognition. To quote the BIA announcement, the current policy is “expensive, burdensome, less than transparent, and inflexible.”1 The current policy requires tribes seeking recognition to provide documents showing “existence since historical contact, prove descent and identity from a historical tribe, demonstrate political structures and influence over their members, and prove they maintained strong community and social ties.” The financial costs, bureaucratic slowness of the process, and inability of tribes to meet the documentary requirements meant that between 1978, when the policy went into affect, and the late 1990s only fourteen tribes had been recognized and thirteen denied acknowledgement.2 ...