Most people in the United States are familiar on some level with the existence of Native American and American Indian tribal entities, and to some extent the history of Native American/United States relations over the past several hundred years.
However, there are a great many people who are unaware of the process by which over 560 tribal entities have gained federal acknowledgement of their sovereignty. Indeed, many people in the U.S. don’t know that Native American tribes with recognition are considered to have a country-to-country relationship with the United States government… that those tribes are sovereign nations in and of themselves.
Furthermore, there are many people who don’t know that next to these federally acknowledged sovereign tribal entities, there are even more non-acknowledged tribal entities who do not have the visibility or benefits conferred by federal acknowledgement. They are not entitled to funds from the U.S. government targeted at bolstering dedicated tribal education and healthcare services; they do not receive the benefit of land reserved for that tribe. The federal government does not consider them sovereign entities.
This project was the perfect combination of my interest in mapmaking, data visualization, and the social issue facing hundreds of tribes across the U.S. By delving into research surrounding the process and history of federal recognition, as well as the numbers and locations of many non-acknowledged groups, I was able to create a high-level view of the Pacific Coast and the locations of 114 different tribal groups which are currently not acknowledged by the Federal Government. Some of these groups—including the Dxw’Dəw?Abš (Duwamish) Tribe which is local to me here in Seattle—have received recognition, which was then rescinded. These tribes and many others continue to fight lengthy legal battles in order to gain that recognition.
The map was created in Adobe InDesign using shorelines from data provided by OpenStreetMap, with additional elements from the USGS HydroSHEDS project. Listing of non-acknowledged tribes was based on research by Troy Johnson, Cal State, Long Beach, with geographic locations estimated by searching for registered addresses of each entity.
Details
Selective Sovereignty—American Tribal Entities of the Pacific Coast without Federal Recognition
- W 18in x H 24in
- Built using QGIS, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe InDesign.
- Original version, 2017; last updated 2023.