[Introduction to] Dismembered: Native Disenrollment and the Battle for Human Rights

Authors

David E. Wilkins, University of RichmondFollow
Shelly Hulse Wilkins

Files

Description

While the number of federally recognized Native nations in the United States are increasing, the population figures for existing tribal nations are declining. This depopulation is not being perpetrated by the federal government, but by Native governments that are banishing, denying, or disenrolling Native citizens at an unprecedented rate. Since the 1990s, tribal belonging has become more of a privilege than a sacred right. Political and legal dismemberment has become a national phenomenon with nearly eighty Native nations, in at least twenty states, terminating the rights of indigenous citizens.

The first comprehensive examination of the origins and significance of tribal disenrollment, Dismembered examines this disturbing trend, which often leaves the disenrolled tribal members with no recourse or appeal. At the center of the issue is how Native nations are defined today and who has the fundamental rights to belong. By looking at hundreds of tribal constitutions and talking with both disenrolled members and tribal officials, the authors demonstrate the damage this practice is having across Indian Country and ways to address the problem.

ISBN

9780295741581

Publication Date

2017

Publisher

University of Washington Press

City

Seattle

Keywords

Native Americans, tribal citizenship, human rights

School

Jepson School of Leadership Studies

Disciplines

Indigenous, Indian, and Aboriginal Law | Leadership Studies

Comments

Read the introduction to the book by clicking the Download button above.

Recommended Citation

Wilkins, David E. and Shelly Hulse Wilkins. Dismembered: Native Disenrollment and the Battle for Human Rights. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2017.