Federal Recognition Quotes

Every president since Nixon has embraced a policy of 'self-determination without termination' - the idea that Native Americans are best equipped to govern themselves. Trump is breaking with this position.

The United States will never ask for your land there. This I promise you in the name of your great father, the President. That country he assigns to his red people, to be held by them and their children's children forever.

There is great good will on Capitol Hill for the tribes but virtually none for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The Constitution does not apply to the Navajo Nation. The Navajo Nation predates the Constitution.

With federal recognition, the Lumbee Tribe would become a full player in Indian country, no longer second class Indians in the eyes of the federal government. As such, we would employ our substantial skills and abilities to help correct problems faced by Indian country and make significant contributions.

I can't marry my way into citizenship like straight people can. I can get married in the state of New York where I live, but because of the Defense of Marriage Act, the federal government, which hands out visas, won't recognize my marriage.

I support the administrative rules promulgated by the Department of the Interior which permit a Native Hawaiian government to establish a relationship with the U.S. government. If Native Hawaiians form a government consistent with those rules and seek federal recognition, I would likely support the request.

Tribes don't need Congressmembers' sympathy. What tribes need is for us to properly exercise our duty.