State & Federal Recognition
A unique and controversial fact of life for Indian people is that, as far as federal and state governments are concerned, tribes of Indians do not exist unless those governments say they exist. While the governments certainly recognize that the descendants of Maryland’s indigenous people continue to reside in the state, that recognition remains unofficial, and even that unofficial recognition is only extended on an individual basis. Unlike other minorities, native people must be members of a recognized tribe in order to be privy to health, education, business, and other programs set aside for minorities.
Access to these programs is the sole driving force behind our decades-long pursuit of state and federal recognition. While other minority groups are able to use the programs to better their lives, Maryland’s indigenous people are instead faced with a sadistic choice. One option is to attempt, if possible, to abandon their Indian identity and apply as a member of another minority group to take advantage of these programs. The other option is to embrace their identity, but to do so at the peril of their families’ livelihood.
Sadly, this situation is no accident. It is a system of bureaucratic, demographic genocide engineered by the state government at the end of the American Revolution to deal with the “Indian problem” by stripping Maryland’s native people of their identity. People in high places made certain that Indians could choose their lives or their identity – but not both. Recognition is intended to end this utterly inhumane practice.
A long list of groups and individuals with political agendas have stalled the tribe’s effort to obtain recognition. The list has included governors looking to secure votes from large blocks of anti-Indian interests. It has come from religious groups who insist our only desire is to bring casinos to Maryland. It has come from developers fearing the Piscataway will sue to recoup lands in Maryland or block development of sites of historical significance to our people. It has even come from other minority associations who fear that we will take more than our fair share of allotments set aside for minority programs. They remain blind to the enormous human suffering that will continue for as long as we go without recognition.
Our elders, veterans, and young children go without proper medical care. Chronic illnesses ravage our people much as they did centuries ago – only now, smallpox is replaced with staggering rates of diabetes, mental illness, and heart disease.
Our older children are left with substandard education and opportunities, stunting their ability to enter society productively and instead leading them down a dark road of poverty, violence, early unwed pregnancy, drugs, crime, homelessness, or destitution.
Job programs, business loans, and other economic opportunities remain out of reach, suppressing and often eliminating our incomes and our ability to support our families.
Many people incorrectly assume that recognition is about casinos, land-grabbing, profit, and greed. Consciously or unconsciously, they use racist stereotypes to associate the word “Indian” with “gaming.” They are mistaken. Recognition is about fairness. It is about giving our people the same opportunities – no more, and no less - afforded other historically disadvantaged minorities. It is about accessing these opportunities without having to sacrifice our heritage. It is, quite simply, about giving our people a fair chance to survive as Indians.
Over the past two decades, the Piscataway Conoy petition for state recognition has been through every hoop imaginable. The Maryland Commission on Indian Affairs, in addition to archaeologists, genealogists, historians, anthropologists, ethnohistorians, and other impartial experts appointed by Maryland governors have certified that our petition has met the recognition criteria – said to be the most rigorous in the country - set forth by the Maryland General Assembly. They strongly recommended these governors grant our recognition. But in spite of overwhelming evidence and recommendations from the governors’ own appointed experts, the state continues to refuse recognition.
Recently, however, the tide seems to have turned in our favor for the first time in a generation. It was recently determined by the courts that the criteria for federal recognition status was too vague, allowing people in positions of authority to deny petitions on frivolous grounds. Similar vagueness in the criteria for Maryland state recognition have been exploited by past governors to deny or refuse to approve petitions on the basis of their own personal opinion which is, by definition, virtually impossible to debate.
Maryland’s current governor, Martin O’Malley, appears to be sincerely interested in approving the Piscataway petition so long as it is done under criteria that are consistent, specific, and fact-based. To this end, the Maryland Commission on Indian Affairs has been charged with proposing to the governor a change in the law that will match Maryland’s recognition criteria to that of the federal government. If the change is then passed by the Maryland legislature, it is believed that our petition for state recognition will be approved shortly thereafter.
All of the above information has pertained to state recognition, but the Piscataway have also submitted a petition for recognition to the federal government. This will allow our people to apply at the federal level for the same types of programs we are seeking from the state. While that petition has not been obstructed by the force of political interests to the degree that our state petition has, it remains mired in bureaucratic process. Recent changes in federal recognition criteria, coupled with what we pray is only a (relatively) short matter of time before obtaining state recognition, makes us hopeful that federal recognition will soon be granted as well.
Access to these programs is the sole driving force behind our decades-long pursuit of state and federal recognition. While other minority groups are able to use the programs to better their lives, Maryland’s indigenous people are instead faced with a sadistic choice. One option is to attempt, if possible, to abandon their Indian identity and apply as a member of another minority group to take advantage of these programs. The other option is to embrace their identity, but to do so at the peril of their families’ livelihood.
Sadly, this situation is no accident. It is a system of bureaucratic, demographic genocide engineered by the state government at the end of the American Revolution to deal with the “Indian problem” by stripping Maryland’s native people of their identity. People in high places made certain that Indians could choose their lives or their identity – but not both. Recognition is intended to end this utterly inhumane practice.
A long list of groups and individuals with political agendas have stalled the tribe’s effort to obtain recognition. The list has included governors looking to secure votes from large blocks of anti-Indian interests. It has come from religious groups who insist our only desire is to bring casinos to Maryland. It has come from developers fearing the Piscataway will sue to recoup lands in Maryland or block development of sites of historical significance to our people. It has even come from other minority associations who fear that we will take more than our fair share of allotments set aside for minority programs. They remain blind to the enormous human suffering that will continue for as long as we go without recognition.
Our elders, veterans, and young children go without proper medical care. Chronic illnesses ravage our people much as they did centuries ago – only now, smallpox is replaced with staggering rates of diabetes, mental illness, and heart disease.
Our older children are left with substandard education and opportunities, stunting their ability to enter society productively and instead leading them down a dark road of poverty, violence, early unwed pregnancy, drugs, crime, homelessness, or destitution.
Job programs, business loans, and other economic opportunities remain out of reach, suppressing and often eliminating our incomes and our ability to support our families.
Many people incorrectly assume that recognition is about casinos, land-grabbing, profit, and greed. Consciously or unconsciously, they use racist stereotypes to associate the word “Indian” with “gaming.” They are mistaken. Recognition is about fairness. It is about giving our people the same opportunities – no more, and no less - afforded other historically disadvantaged minorities. It is about accessing these opportunities without having to sacrifice our heritage. It is, quite simply, about giving our people a fair chance to survive as Indians.
Over the past two decades, the Piscataway Conoy petition for state recognition has been through every hoop imaginable. The Maryland Commission on Indian Affairs, in addition to archaeologists, genealogists, historians, anthropologists, ethnohistorians, and other impartial experts appointed by Maryland governors have certified that our petition has met the recognition criteria – said to be the most rigorous in the country - set forth by the Maryland General Assembly. They strongly recommended these governors grant our recognition. But in spite of overwhelming evidence and recommendations from the governors’ own appointed experts, the state continues to refuse recognition.
Recently, however, the tide seems to have turned in our favor for the first time in a generation. It was recently determined by the courts that the criteria for federal recognition status was too vague, allowing people in positions of authority to deny petitions on frivolous grounds. Similar vagueness in the criteria for Maryland state recognition have been exploited by past governors to deny or refuse to approve petitions on the basis of their own personal opinion which is, by definition, virtually impossible to debate.
Maryland’s current governor, Martin O’Malley, appears to be sincerely interested in approving the Piscataway petition so long as it is done under criteria that are consistent, specific, and fact-based. To this end, the Maryland Commission on Indian Affairs has been charged with proposing to the governor a change in the law that will match Maryland’s recognition criteria to that of the federal government. If the change is then passed by the Maryland legislature, it is believed that our petition for state recognition will be approved shortly thereafter.
All of the above information has pertained to state recognition, but the Piscataway have also submitted a petition for recognition to the federal government. This will allow our people to apply at the federal level for the same types of programs we are seeking from the state. While that petition has not been obstructed by the force of political interests to the degree that our state petition has, it remains mired in bureaucratic process. Recent changes in federal recognition criteria, coupled with what we pray is only a (relatively) short matter of time before obtaining state recognition, makes us hopeful that federal recognition will soon be granted as well.
