Some illegals seek tribal cover

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article. ... spanc87415
By S.E. RUCKMAN World Staff Writer
8/26/2007

Some illegal immigrants are seeking membership in nonfederally recognized Indian groups as a way to protect themselves from deportation.

Federal prosecutors charged a Mexican couple in Wichita, Kan., last week with making false claims of U.S. citizenship after the two allegedly purchased membership from the Kaweah Indian Nation.

Local federally recognized tribes said the likelihood of that occurring in Oklahoma is slim because obtaining membership or citizenship in a tribal nation involves intricate measures.

"It's up to the applicant to prove to us they're Osage," said Peaches Cooper, Osage Nation tribal enrollment officer.

"We don't have to prove anything to them."

Tribal membership criteria must be documented by the applicant, and federally recognized tribes in the area require that potential members trace their kinship to someone on the Dawes Roll, a federal census of American Indians taken in the early 1900s.

Tribes across the area enroll new members almost daily, particularly newborns who are born to current tribal citizens, officials said.

However, there are those who have only recently learned of their Indian status and want to belong to a tribe.

"We have had people call us who say, 'I have taken a DNA test, and I found out I am Indian, but I don't know what kind. Can I get a membership card?' " Cooper said. "The second question is usually, 'What do I get?' "

With the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma, based in Tahlequah, there is no substitute for tribal lineage, said Tim Goodvoice, tribal administrator.

"Anyone who cares to enroll in a federally recognized tribe is going to have to prove it," he said.

"Anyone can lay claim to being Indian, but I suppose there could be imposters. . . . It would take a lot of trouble, though."

The requirements for obtaining a tribal citizenship card differ with the tribes. Some tribes, such as the UKB, require that applicants have a specific degree of Indian blood to qualify.

Others, including the Five Civilized Tribes, have a descendency requirement.

Those applicants need only prove lineal descendency to an original Dawes Roll enrollee.

The process is lengthy in either requirement, said one Osage tribal official.

"Sometimes it takes years to verify a person's lineage," said Julia Lookout, who established Constituent Services in her tribe to assist with such issues.

"We are the only group of people in the world that has to have a card to prove who we are."

Federal officials have issued warnings about tribal card "scams" used on unsuspecting and desperate immigrants.

Christopher Bentley, a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesman, said illegal immigrants have used cards from Indian groups in the Midwest recently because of the immigration issues in those states.

"Those (cards) absolutely, positively impart no authority. They mean absolutely nothing," he said.

When law enforcement officials stop immigrants and conduct status checks, they regard the Law Enforcement Support Center database run by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as the last word, Bentley said.

"Having a card issued by a tribe, recognized or not, doesn't imply any legal immigrant status to the bearer. Only a green card can do that," he said.

Oklahoma has 37 federally recognized tribes. Two other tribes are currently seeking official federal Indian status. Those two, listed by the Oklahoma Indian Affairs Commission, are the Delaware Tribe of Indians in Bartlesville and the Euchee (Yuchi) Tribe of Indians in Sapulpa.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

S.E. Ruckman 581-8462
se.ruckman@tulsaworld.com