Essential Understandings Regarding
1. There is great diversity among the 12 tribal
nations of
2. There is great diversity among individual
American Indians as identity is developed, defined and redefined by many
entities, organizations and people. There is a continuum of Indian identity
ranging from assimilated to traditional and is unique to each individual. There
is no generic American Indian.
3. The ideologies of Native traditional beliefs and
spirituality persist into modern day life as tribal cultures, traditions and
languages are still practiced by many American Indian people and are
incorporated into how tribes govern and manage their affairs. Additionally,
each tribe has its own oral history beginning with their origins that are as
valid as written histories. These histories pre-date the “discovery” of
4. Reservations are land that have been reserved by
the tribes for their own use through treaties and was not “given” to them. The
principle that land should be acquired from the Indians only through their
consent with treaties involved three assumptions:
I. That both parties to
treaties were sovereign powers.
II. That Indian tribes had
some form of transferable title to the land.
III. That acquisition of
Indian lands was solely a government matter not to be left to individual
colonists.
5. There were many federal policies put into place
throughout American history that have impacted Indian people and shape who they
are today. Much of Indian history can be related through several major federal
policy periods.
Examples: Colonization
Period, Treaty Period, Allotment Period, Boarding School Period, Tribal
Reorganization, Termination, Self-determination
6. History is a story and most often related through
the subjective experience of the teller. Histories are being rediscovered and
revised. History told from an Indian perspective conflicts with what most of
mainstream history tells us.
7.
Under the American legal system, Indian tribes have sovereign powers separate
and independent from the federal and state governments. However, the extent and
breadth of tribal sovereignty is not the same for each tribe.