Nor Rel Muk WintuIndians indigenous to the Klamath Mountains in Northern California have a lot in common with the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape people, descendants of the original inhabitants of Delaware Bay. Both groups have been seeking federal recognition as Indian tribes for more than 20 years. The Wintu first filed papers with the Department of Interior/Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Office of Federal Acknowledgement (OFA) in 1983, the Nanticoke-Lenape in 1992. Neither tribe has any intention of operating a tribal government casino. And both are victims of an apparently broken federal system of acknowledging the sovereignty of Indian groups, including those with well-documented histories that predate the United States. The Wintu of Hayfork, Calif., inhabitants of the remote Trinity Valley since time immemorial, and Nanticoke Lenape, whom archeologists believe have resided on the Delaware for at least 12,000 years, hope ongoing efforts to reform the system will prove successful. Designation as federally recognized tribes would create for the Wintu and Nanticoke Lenape a government-to-government relationship with the United States, along with self-government status and BIA funding and trust services.Get the Story:
Dave Palermo: Fixing a broken system of tribal recognition (Pechanga.net 3/18) Committee Notice:
Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs Oversight Hearing on "Authorization, standards, and procedures for whether, how, and when Indian tribes should be newly recognized by the federal government: Perspective of the Department of the Interior" (March 19, 2013)
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Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs
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