Projects
American Indian Community Data Profile, 2002
Namadji Youth and Elders Project Report, 2001
Forum Reports
1997 Fall: Tribal Sovereignty and
American Indian Leadership
1996 Fall: Tribal Governments: What will they look like in the year 2010?
1996 Spring: The Threatened State of Tribal Sovereignty
Tribal Governments in 2010 - Judy Moe
In her luncheon address, MCT Operations Program Director Judy Moe outlined the tribal enrollment process as practiced by the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe (MCT). Moe offered a history of MCT enrollment procedures as an illustration of the complexity of issues and questions Indians must address as a result of their unique sovereign status.
Currently, MCT has an enrolled membership of 39,020, and is growing. Benefits of enrollment include an identification card, access to education, housing, health care and other services, Indian preference within the BIA, state income and sales tax exemptions, reservation license plates, the right to vote in tribal elections and hunting and gathering rights as established by treaties.
Moe explained that the MCT established membership requirements in 1936 when it drafted its constitution. In 1961, tribal delegates to the MCT enacted the first set of what are now known as enrollment procedures. One year later, the membership ordinance was established.
Between 1941 and 1961, people were enrolled without meeting the one-quarter blood quantum requirement, a process which continued until 1979. Both Indians and non-Indians questioned the status of enrollees with very little Ojibwe blood. As a result of these concerns, in 1979, enrollment was limited to those with more than one-quarter Ojibwe blood. The process of enrolling people without one-quarter blood was reopened in April 1993. The MCT ended the process on July 31, 1996.
Tribal enrollment is a complex and time-consuming process. The MCT maintains extensive databases on enrollment. The current legal body charged to act on all enrollment criteria is the Tribal Executive Committee (TEC). One important issue is the appeals process for those who have been denied enrollment. Those individuals who have been denied may appeal to the U.S. Secretary of the Department of the Interior within 60 days of the denial. As part of the appeals process, the case is reverted back tot he MCT for consideration. However, with the limited BIA staff, the process can take up to six months. The MCT can review the appeal, but the one-quarter blood quantum requirement remains. Enrollments denied on this basis cannot be overturned without a constitutional revision.
In conclusion, Moe offered her insights as to what the future holds for MCT enrollment. She stated that it is likely that a tribal constitutional revision is imminent with respect to the blood quantum requirements. More explained that as it now exists, this requirement may become detrimental to future generations of American Indians and may therefore become obsolete. It is more difficult however to answer the question of how to resolve the issue of individuals who have multiple tribal ancestry. In Moe's view, it is questionable whether the MCT will allow combined blood totals as a way to meet the minimum blood requirements in the future.
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Tuesday November 1, 2005