"Rep. Mike Honda�s approach to the Amah Mutsun sovereignty application problem seems exactly backwards to us.

While we understand that a decades-long wait for a sovereignty application to be processed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs is obscene - and we�ve editorialized on that point - the truth is it�s a problem for all Native American tribes submitting applications. When Rep. Richard Pombo introduced a bill that would speed action on applications for federal recognition of sovereignty that were submitted before 1988, we complained that it was too narrow.

Honda�s bill, which applies only to the Amah Mutsun tribe, is ridiculously narrow. What it is, in fact, is special interest legislation. Our elected representatives do not need to micromanage the BIA. They need to establish policies - and apparently the BIA needs an explicit time frame in which to process sovereignty applications - and should not intervene on behalf of specific tribes."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Backwards Honda Bill (The Gilroy Dispatch 8/25)

Amah Mutsun Recognition Bill:
H.R.3475

Only on Indianz.Com:
Federal Recognition Database V2.0 (May 2005)

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