Native American tribes aren’t social clubs

Jacqueline Keeler’s (Diné/Dakota) piece “On Sacheen Littlefeather, Pretendians and what it means to be Native American” (Insight, Nov. 27) on the harm done by “Pretendians” to American Indian tribes and recognized tribal citizens is a public service that deserves support. It has long been too common for people who are not affiliated with any tribe to appropriate the name of a given tribal nation as their own — commonly Cherokee, but in this case Apache — without any recognition by the very tribal nation they claim identity with.

Part of the problem and confusion is that most Americans have little understanding of what tribal citizenship is and who is or isn’t American Indian. Tribes are sovereign political entities who solely determine who their citizens are as a fundamental function of that sovereignty. In virtually all cases, it is a matter of documented descendency, but can include other requirements like residence on a reservation or blood quantum. Those who pretend to tribal affiliation dishonor that sovereignty and abuse the trust of those they deceive. It is illegal, for example, for an artist to sell their work as “American Indian Art” when the artist is not a recognized tribal citizen.

As the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Morton v. Mancari, American Indian status is not racial but a unique legal and political status as a citizen of a nation. It is best for everyone if this legal-political status is considered any time a person asserts American Indian tribal identity for personal benefit. Ron Rowell, Oakland