The Tribal Establishment is Pushing (and Congress is Considering) Unprecedented Racial Tyranny

By Darrel Smith

              When studying federal Indian policy, I sometimes wonder if I haven’t inadvertently wandered into some weird time warp…or maybe fallen down a rabbit hole into a strange Alice in Wonderland type existence. Let’s look at some really basic facts. The words “Indian” or “American Indian” or “Native American” all refer to an indigenous race. Racism can be defined as “prejudice or discrimination based on race.” In spite of these basic facts, the federal government has a “federal Indian policy,” “Senate Indian Affairs Committee” and “Bureau of Indian Affairs.” It legally defines “Indian country.” It legally recognizes “tribal governments” and “Indian reservations” where many tribal members (who are American citizens) live under race-based governments without the protections of either state or federal constitutions.[i] These, and a whole host of other racial discriminations, are the dictionary definition of racism. Federal Indian policy is explicit, legal racism. The questionable attempts to defend this discrimination[ii] are simply the latest efforts in a long history of justifying various forms of racism.

            The Supreme Court has tolerated this policy under very limited conditions. These conditions include the requirements that tribal membership be voluntary[iii] and that tribal governments have very limited authority over nonmembers.[iv]

            For over a year, the tribal establishment has been pushing for, and Congress is considering, a proposal that would completely obliterate these limited conditions.[v] The tribal organizations and their followers[vi] have prepared a concept paper[vii] and have proposed draft legislation for Congress.[viii] The Senate Indian Affairs Committee held at least two Senate hearings promising legislative action.[ix] The proposed legislation would greatly increase the definition of “Indian country” to include between 940,000 and 3,300,000 non-Indians.[x] The legislation would also give tribes ultimate civil and criminal jurisdiction within this expanded definition of “Indian country.”[xi]

            This proposal would subject non-Indians to the civil and criminal jurisdiction of tribal governments who exclude them because of their race. Non-Indians would not have the right to vote and would be excluded from the legislative, executive and judicial functions of tribal government. Like reservation Indians, non-Indians would also lose the protections of both their state and federal constitutions. Tribal governments generally can’t even be sued for their actions because of their tribal sovereign immunity,[xii] except under very controlled circumstances in the proposed legislation.[xiii]

The advocates of this legislation are adding to their racism, a level of tyranny against American citizens that is unprecedented in the history of this country. When has the federal government ever passed a law denying hundreds-of-thousands of American citizens their right to vote and their constitutional protections? The most radical members of the KKK and Aryan Nations would drool in their dreams if they thought they could duplicate federal Indian policy and this legislative proposal. Certain truths are indeed self-evident. Have our political leaders become so corrupted by political correctness, casino cash and high priced lobbyists that they will ignore the rights of thousands of citizens and the Constitution that they have sworn to uphold?