One of the most interesting aspects in the relationship between the Indigenous Tribes/Nations and the United States government is how different the USA reacts to, and with, the “First Contact Tribes/Nations” who have not signed away their sovereignty and those Tribes/Nations that have.
Let me begin by stating what should be obvious to any intelligent person is that there are three USAs- There is the USA for white people. There is the USA for Colored people. There is the USA for Indigenous People.
The first two groups share the same laws. The third group does share the laws of the first two groups when living in hamlets, towns and cities, and not on reservations. However, the first two groups do not share those laws which deal with the Indigenous populations, regardless of where the indigenous person may live.
The First Contact Tribes/Nations are those Tribes that greeted the Europeans and interacted with them when they arrived on the shores of the North America. For the United States, these Tribes/Nations dwelled on the East and West Coasts, as well as those Indigenous People living along the Southern Borders of what is now the USA and Mexico, and along the very Northern boundaries establishing the border between the USA and Canada.
They are also the first indigenous tribe/nation to sign treaties with the representatives of the European country they were interacting with at that time. For many members and allies of The Federation of Aboriginal Nations of the Americas (FANA), their treaties were with the British Government.
After the Revolutionary War, those treaties were grandfathered into the laws of the newly established USA. Those Tribes that did not sign away their Sovereignty, and do not come under what we now know to be the Bureau of Indian Affairs, are still ruled by the Laws of those Treaties.
What many Americans do not know or understand is that these Treaty Laws supersede Constitutional Law.
However, because these Treaties were grandfathered into the laws of the USA, the First Contact Tribes/Nations should first reach out to the British Government to establish contact and put forth the reason for Tribes’/Nations’ request for open communication.
In this case, it is for the wampum that the Queen of England has in her possession. It becomes more complicated when the request is for the return of some of the land that was stolen and any monetary benefits that the Tribe/Nation has been denied.
That is a whole different story as to how the Queen of England and the United States become involved.
In June of 2019, Principal Chief Dr. Ronald Yonaguska Holloway of The SandHill Band of Lenape and Cherokee Indians, along with the other Tribe/Nation members and allies of FANA, had asked the Federation to write, on their behalf, to the Queen of England requesting the return of the Wampum that belonged to many of its members and allies at that time.
However, neither the SandHill, or other members, or FANA have received any response. That is not unusual when writing to the Queen. However, the letter written in 2019 opened the doorway for future talks with England’s Government.
It’s the foundation for further communications by FANA members and allies with the British Crown.
Please click the link below to read the letter to the Queen that begins the journey.
https://www.fana.global/queenofenglandletter
Please leave any questions or comments below and please encourage others to follow events as they unfold.