3 Review(s)

The Federal Acknowledgment Process (FAP) is one of the most important and contentious issues facing Natives today. A complicated system of criteria and procedures, the FAP is utilized by federal officials to determine whether a Native community qualifies for federal recognition by the United States government. In "Forgotten Tribes", Mark Edwin Miller offers a balanced and detailed look at the origins, procedures, and assumptions governing the FAP. His work examines the FAP as viewed through the prism of four once unrecognized tribal communities, the United Houma Nation of Louisiana, the Tiguas of Texas, the Pascua Yaquis of Arizona, and the Timbisha Shoshones of California, and their battles to gain indigenous rights under federal law. Although the criteria required for securing federal acknowledgment sometimes bear little resemblance to how Natives see themselves, federal recognition is important politically and economically.Tribal status qualifies Native communities to receive federal aid and tax exemptions. It also gives Native groups an authoritative voice when dealing with the federal government and usually exempts them from local laws and restrictions.In recent years, casino interests have had much at stake in championing certain Native communities through the FAP, and existing tribes have sometimes resisted the official recognition of other communities, fearing economic competition or a drain on federally allocated resources. Taken together, these realities have ensured that tribal acknowledgment remains a controversial issue. Based on a wealth of interviews and original research, "Forgotten Tribes" features the first in-depth history and overview of the FAP and sheds light on this controversial Native identification policy involving state power over Native peoples and tribal sovereignty. Mark Edwin Miller is an assistant professor of history at Ouachita Baptist University.