NASHVILLE, March 26 (UPI) -- Established American Indian tribes worry an effort to gain recognition by three self-described ancestral tribes will undermine efforts of established tribes.
The 12-year recognition effort comes before committee hearings in the Tennessee Legislature Tuesday. Annual efforts that began in 1990 so far have gone nowhere.
The Remnant Yuchi Nation, the Tanasi Council and the Eastern Lenape Nation of Winfield, each of which claim to be ancestors of Indians who remained in Tennessee when President Andrew Jackson ordered removal of all the state's Indians to Oklahoma in 1818, are seeking a formal state acknowledgement, by which they could label their crafts authentic, apply for federal funds and bring tourist dollars to the state, The Nashville Tennessean reported Monday.
There are 566 federally recognized tribes in the United States, Bureau of Indian Affairs spokesman Nedra Darling said, and with the identification comes self-rule in government and schools, as well as the opportunity for federal funding. The three groups in Tennessee are among 212 nationwide seeking state recognition.
In the case of the Tanasi Council, which claims to be part of the federally recognized Cherokee tribe, the Eastern Band of Cherokees in North Carolina says the group is harmful to the history, workings and government relations of the already established tribes, Eastern Band spokesman Perry Shell said.
