Members of Nooksack Tribe of Washington protest disenrollment. Photo from Facebook
Matt Remle explains why Last Real Indians does not support tribal disenrollment:
Disenrollment is not our way as indigenous peoples. We know of no Lakota word for “disenrollment.” We have no prayers, songs, dances or ceremonies about disenrollment. We know of no Sioux leaders who have ever disenrolled our relatives from the Great Sioux Nation. Disenrollment is a tool of colonialism and conquest. The United States began planting the seeds of disenrollment during the Indian removal and allotment eras, in furtherance of indigenous land dispossession and assimilation. The federal government then introduced disenrollment to us during the Indian reorganization era, to further assimilate us. Disenrollment is not indigenous to us or our lands. We are people of kinship and inclusion. We inter-marry with other peoples from Turtle Island. We adopt children from other tribes, into our tribes and families. We take relatives who are cold or hungry, into our homes and communities. We do not exclude our relatives, except in instances of banishment or exile as punishment for serious offenses against our people and ways.Get the Story:
Matt Remle: Last Real Indians Denounces Disenrollment (Last Real Indians 4/20) National Native American Bar Association Resolution:
Supporting Equal Protection and Due Process For Any Divestment of the American Indigenous Right of Tribal Citizenship (April 2015)
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