Legislation

Legally, “Indians” means indigenous people j of the United States from the time of colonization, including Alaskan Natives and Native Hawaiians. The federal government recognizes some of the groups—bands, tribes, or nations—as “domestic, dependent nations.” Federal recognition means a government-to-government relationship allowing specific

Native Americans to receive government services, from education to health care to protection of resources. Some Native American communities have been recognized by the state they live in but have been unsuccessful at gaining federal recognition, which is a long and expensive process.

Federal and state legislation continues to try to balance past and present wrongs. One of the past wrongs was the removal of human remains and objects by anthropologists and archaeologists. The 1990 Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act made it illegal to buy or remove human remains. Furthermore, the law states that human remains and sacred objects that have been removed without tribal consent must be returned to the rightful people.

The extinction of some native languages and the risk of losing even more of Indian culture led to the Native American Languages Act, also passed in 1990. This law supports the preservation and use of native languages within individual Native American nations and in schools.

Native people who make a living through arts or crafts have their work protected by the Indian Arts and Crafts Act. This law requires that any work promoted as Native American work must be the work of an artist who is a member of a federally or state-recognized tribe.