Michael Crawford, a member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Tribe of South Dakota, moved to Oregon in 2004 to be near his grandchildren.

Crawford proudly carries the driver's license issued by his tribe. But it wasn't good enough for the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles when he went to apply for a photo ID.

"I was sitting there, hearing people speak Lao, Russian, Spanish and being helped. And I thought, 'Here I am, I can speak Dakota -- one of the original languages of this continent.' . . . The state of Oregon is supposed to serve the public. It has not served me. The day it doesn't serve one, it serves none," he told The Oregonian.

Oregon won't accept identification from out-of-state tribes. "If a group contacts us and gives us a sample and tells us how to identify it as authentic, we'll consider it," a spokesperson told the paper.

The only other state that imposes such a restriction is New York, according to the National Immigration Law Center. Immigrants, whether legal or not, aren't required to tell Oregon of their status when seeking identification.

Get the Story:
Native hits roadblock applying for state ID (The Oregonian 10/23)

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