Following European contact, many cultures combined to shape Louisiana and its inhabitants: French, Spanish, American, and African. However, Indian tribes also left their mark and continue to do so to this day. Currently, there are four federally recognized Indian tribes in Louisiana, and several other Indian communities who do not yet have federal recognition. Indian tribes play an important role in flavoring the cultural gumbo of Louisiana.
Following European contact, many cultures combined to shape Louisiana and its inhabitants: French, Spanish, American, and African. However, Indian tribes also left their mark and continue to do so to this day. Currently, there are four federally recognized Indian tribes in Louisiana, and several other Indian communities who do not yet have federal recognition. Indian tribes play an important role in flavoring the cultural gumbo of Louisiana.
Issues of jurisdiction in Indian Country can be complex. UANativeNet.com has developed a flowchart to walk you through the factors determining who has jurisdiction to prosecute and hear cases in Indian Country or involving Indians.
An Office of Hearings and Appeals, separate and apart from a tribe’s appellate court, can be established to hear and decide matters that come from administrative agencies of the tribe. Such an office may simplify the appeal process for those involved, allow them to proceed in a more informal manner, and result in appeals being decided more quickly – thereby building trust and confidence in the system. This Guidebook discusses the details to be considered by a tribe before it approaches writing code to create such an office.
Federally recognized tribes stand in a government-to-government relationship with the US federal government and exercise their sovereignty through such things as establishing tribal membership criteria and adopting and enforcing laws. This Topic in Depth describes the process mandated by BIA regulations to obtain recognition.
Native Hawaiians have a unique relationship with the federal government which differs from the relationship between the government and American Indians. Unlike many American Indian tribes and Alaskan Natives, Native Hawaiians are not federally recognized. Native Hawaiian refers to the indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Native Hawaiians trace their ancestry back to prehistoric Marquesan, Tahitian, Samoan (potentially Tongan) settlers of Hawaii.
