Print By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times - Wednesday, March 1, 2023 California’s Bay Area congressional delegation has a dilemma in the form of a tireless tribal chairwoman named Charlene Nijmeh. Ms. Nijmeh is waging a high-octane, public relations campaign aimed at regaining federal recognition for the Muwekma Ohlone, a San Francisco Bay Area tribe of about 600 that lost its status in 1927 after erroneously being declared “extinct. ” Ms. Nijmeh wants lawmakers to sponsor legislation restoring the tribe’s standing, but aiding her would mean alienating other California tribal nations that want such decisions left to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which denied the Muwekma Ohlone’s petition in 2002. “The tribe has always been in contact with our delegation throughout the decades, and they know our struggles,” Ms. Nijmeh told The Washington Times. “But the problem now is, I believe, they’re being influenced by the gaming tribes not to recognize Muwekma. ” Politicians prefer to steer clear of tribal infighting, but some lawmakers are finding themselves caught in the middle as frustrated unrecognized tribes turn to Congress to gain federal status — and the recognized tribes push back. A coalition of 141 of the nation’s 574 federally recognized tribes took the extraordinary step of releasing a video in November opposing legislation that would have granted recognition to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina and the MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians. “All we’re asking is, go through the process, prove who you are, prove your identity,” Richard French, chairman of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians tribal council, said in the video . “Don’t ask someone to circumvent the process just to put it in there for political gain. That’s not right. ” Both bills died at the end of the session, but the fight isn’t over. Last week, North Carolina Republicans reintroduced the Lumbee recognition bill, marking the 31st time the legislation has been filed since 1988. For U. S. tribes, federal recognition is the golden ticket that brings with it legal status, federal support and tax benefits — not to mention the opportunity for generational wealth in the form of casino gambling on Indian reservations. Getting there isn’t easy. There are three paths: the administrative route, in which tribes petition the BIA’s Office of Federal Acknowledgement. It’s a detailed, time-consuming process more likely to result in failure than success. A rejection can be appealed to the courts. And then there’s Congress. Kathryn Rand, a law professor who co-directs with Steven Light the Institute for the Study of Tribal Gaming Law & Policy at the University of North Dakota, said the congressional route has at least two advantages. “First, although the Interior Department has made improvements to the federal regulations governing the federal tribal recognition process, it can still be a lengthy and burdensome process for a tribal group,” Ms. Rand said. “If a tribal group has support in Congress, it may be that the tribe can achieve federal recognition via federal statute more quickly and with fewer costs. ” The criteria include proving that a tribe has existed as a distinct, continuous community since 1900; that it has maintained political influence or authority; and that its members descend from a historical Indian tribe and don’t belong to other tribes. In addition, the Supreme Court decided in 2009’s Carcieri v. Salazar ruling that the Interior Department may only take land into trust for tribes recognized before the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act, a prerequisite for Indian gaming, unless Congress intervenes. “Congress, of course, retains authority to take land into trust, and can direct the Secretary to do so,” Ms. Rand said. “So, if a tribe achieves federal recognition via federal statute, Congress can include a provision in that statute that directs the Interior Secretary to take land into trust, bypassing any Carcieri issue for a newly recognized tribe. ” There are an estimated 400 unrecognized tribes, many of which have organized as 501c3 nonprofits. Some are virtually indistinguishable from recognized tribes in that they offer services to their members, hold regular meetings and events, and even receive limited federal support. For established tribes, however, the unrecognized bands can be a headache, at best, and a threat to tribal sovereignty, at worst. Ben Barnes, chief of the Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, said there are 36 unrecognized Shawnee groups with nonprofit status that “pose” as tribal representatives at historic sites, universities and state historical societies, “causing significant harm to our identity, culture, and reputation. ” “Unlike many tribes approved by Congress, these groups do not have clear, documented tribal histories,” Mr. Barnes said in an op-ed in Indianz. com. “The questions about their history of governance as a people extend well beyond Congress’ ability to answer. ” He warned that legislation conferring federal status on tribes unable to satisfy the BIA’s requirements “represents a clear and present danger to every legitimate tribe across the nation. ” “While Congress did the right thing by federally recognizing our tribe, it can do demonstrable harm to all federally recognized native nations if it circumvents the Office of Federal Acknowledgment process and recognizes outside groups with questionable histories through congressional approval,” Mr. Barnes said. The Muwekma Ohlone’s Ms. Nijmeh chalked up the opposition to self-interest, saying the explosion of casino gambling following the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act essentially split Indian Country into the haves and have-nots. “Here we are today, still fighting for our rights to be a sovereign nation,” said Ms. Nijmeh. “And now it’s even worse because we have our own brothers and sisters pushing against us because of economic development. ” After California state Sen. Dave Cortese sponsored a bill last year to give state recognition to the Muwekma, the Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations and California Nations Indian Gaming Association countered that the state “lacks the historical record, experience, and trust responsibility” to make such decisions. “This must remain a question between tribal petitioners and the federal government,” said the groups in an April 2022 letter. “Anything less dilutes and diminishes the sovereignty of all tribal governments across America. ” The state committee declined to vote on the bill, prompting Ms. Nijmeh to accuse lawmakers of ignoring the “overwhelming evidence” and instead bowing to political pressure from established tribes. “Today we face another injustice,” she told the committee. “Your refusal to vote on our resolution is evidence plain as day that it has never been about our evidence, it’s been about the politics. ” Like her mother, a tribal leader who was jailed for hitting an archeologist with a shovel in a dispute over burial grounds, Ms. Nijmeh isn’t one to pull her punches. She lined up a meeting with the Bay Area delegation in Washington, D. C. , after a newsy-looking tribe-supported website called the “San Francisco Inquirer” began running scathing headlines attacking lawmakers such as California Reps. Anna Eshoo, Ro Khanna and Zoe Lofgren. Rep. Eric Swalwell, California Democrat, advised her to tone down the rhetoric. “It seems like on a lot of these issues, there’s a lot of support in this room, but there’s going to have to be a reset on your side of the arrows that are being aimed at my colleagues,” Mr. Swalwell said in an audio of the Jan. 11 meeting posted on the tribe’s website . He said his staff was told “you should take this meeting because if you don’t, you’re going to get the same treatment that Zoe Lofgren got. I’ve never seen anything like that before in a meeting request. ” Ms. Nijmeh ticked off her list of supporters, including university groups and churches, but Ms. Eshoo cut to the chase by asking, “Do you have all the other tribes of California supporting you?” Ms. Nijmeh replied: “Well, unfortunately, it’s not that way because of special interests. It’s so sad. Let’s put it out there: Gaming has divided our own community. ” The last time Congress passed a recognition bill was 2019, when six Virginia tribes gained federal status. The catch: All six were prohibited from offering gaming. Would the Muwekma be willing to forgo gaming? Ms. Nijmeh says that even though she personally opposes gambling and the tribe has no plans to offer it, such a bargain would tie the hands of future generations and make them “less of a tribe. ” So far Ms. Nijmeh doesn’t have her bill, but she’s hopeful. The tribe strengthened its hand last year when researchers at Stanford and the University of Illinois were able to connect DNA from current members to that of human remains dating back 1,900 years ago from an Alameda County ancestral burial site. “So we know where we come from. We know who we are,” she said. “But it’s not about the evidence. It’s politics here. We need to motivate and get our legislators to do the right thing. ” • Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes. com . Copyright © 2023 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission . Please read our comment policy before commenting. Click to Read More and View Comments Click to Hide.