Reposts from yahoo group American Indian Alliance. Thanks to Dave and Fredericka.
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fredericka bickel <Bickel98@...>
Date: Mon Dec 12, 2005 8:43 am
Subject: Arkansas
I called myself looking at Arkansas's status, and I
cannot find much, but I may be missing some. I do not see a BIA office. Enrolled people can always work through this. All I see is a couple of Indian Business Corporations or Tribal Corporations. I am guessing but I would think to establish something for Health, Education there would have to be a State Indian Commission. This can be difficult. Have to have legislation approval, and that is a very difficult process. There have been a couple of States that have these, and they are not always successful. And these are not State Tribes. Getting the legislation is one problem, the budget another.
Another large problem which no one likes is establishing 'who is an Indian'.
As usual, there is a lot of fighting, but it has been
accomplished if someone is willing to spend the time and effort. First, meet some Arkansas politicians. Blanchard is one, can't remember her first name. She is usually sympathetic to causes. frederica
Dave <dafydd7916@...>
Date: Mon Dec 12, 2005 9:58 am
Subject: Re: [American_Indian_Alliance] Arkansas
Arkansas has a fairly large American Indian
population, the majority being along the border with Oklahoma. Theses families mostly are members of the Cherokee Nation, and travel back and forth. Other locations within the state have members of tribes from all over the nation who have moved here for employment or schooling. One pretty much has to travel to Oklahoma for anything. My children used to travel to the NDN clinic in Jay, OK. For medical care.
There is an American Indian Center in Little Rock,
which is a joke. It’s suppose to provide employment
and training assistance. But, all they do is meet with a client at the local state employment office and have the client use that office for help.
The state legislatures are fairly ignorant of the
American Indian. We are trying to educate them, but it’s a long road. They have been bamboozled by some local wannabe “tribes??? that have sprung up in recent years. The same with our Congressional members, who a couple of years ago touted OIE grants to 21 school districts with no American Indian students. These grants were pushed by a wannabe “tribe???, the “Lost
Cherokee of Arkansas and Missouri???. We contacted the OIE on this, and eventually the schools were notified that they were not eligible. The “tribe??? went into hiding. However, there is still concern that the OIE mismanages it’s grant application and approval process.
There also has been attempts to establish state
recognition for some groups, but not one of these
groups even comes close to meeting a legitimate tribal definition.
As far as state commissions go, the Tennessee
Commission on Indian Affairs is having a terrible time with the wannabes. One group as threaten to sue them if they don’t let anyone who wants to be an “Indian???.
Unfortunately, the wannabes are stirring up so much trouble and creating problems that real NDN problems cannot be addressed.
Dave
fredericka bickel <Bickel98@...>
Date: Mon Dec 12, 2005 10:36 am
Subject: Re: [American_Indian_Alliance] Arkansas
Yes, I remember the mess in Arkansas with the "tribe", but never knew what became of it, except for the Tribal Court. There was questions of misuse of grant money and strange or illegal adoptions. This does make it a lot more complicated. What I remember is that the splinter "tribes" were originally from Missouri, and
members were from many States, not necessarily from Arkansas. frederica
