Recognition of tribal sovereignty beyond US borders under challenge

British officials have refused to recognize passports issued by the Iroquois confederacy, stating that only US and Canadian passports would be acceptable. The team will not play in its last scheduled game because of their refusal to travel on passports not issued by the Iroquois confederacy. “The rights of Native nations to govern themselves independently has long been recognized by federal treaties, but the extent of that recognition beyond U.S borders is under challenge in a post-Sept. 11 world. . . . The Iroquois, whose members mostly live in New York, Ontario and Quebec, along with the Hopi and Western Shoshone are among the few American Indian nations in which members have had a form of their own passports.”

 

Get the full story here.

 

-CMD