I’m confused as to when self-identifying as something is respected and when it is not.
Rabang was still a teenager when she and 300 other members of the Rabang family were disenrolled from Nooksack in 2016. The move to disenroll had started years earlier when a former tribal chair questioned the Rabang’s ancestral lineage to the tribe.
The “Nooksack 306”, referring to the members and families being disenrolled, were “incorrectly” enrolled in the 1980s, according to former chairman Ross Cline Sr. The tribe claims the people being disenrolled have no lineage to Nooksack.
Now, Santana and many others are still fighting to preserve their family history and their lives on the reservation.
“We’re going to fight as long as we can,” Santana said. “If it gets to the point where they’re going to come here and physically remove us, then that’s the point that we’ll get to. But we’re not going to go anywhere.
As part of the disenrollment process, over 60 people who self-identify as Nooksack, but who have been disenrolled, are facing eviction from their homes.
Lets ask Elizabeth Warren – the liberal expert on the subject.
Having lived next 2 Indian reservations, these stories came up from time to time.
Sometimes it’s about politics, the family does something the elders kick the family out.
Other times. Some people identify as a member if tribe to get benefits the tribe offers. Or they may not be associated with another tribe.
It’s hard to prove youre a member without a lack of documentation.
Genealogical politics can be quite incendiary. I have clan members of my own who self-identify as being Irish despite not possessing a spec of native Irish DNA. Documented history and science take a backseat to a charismatic great uncle’s version of oral history. I just bite my tongue and smile a lot.