Cowlitz Tribe of Indians, WA
This tribe has been acknowledge and the documents could be foundon this website: https://www.bia.gov/as-ia/ofa/016-cowltz-wa
Their Official website: https://www.cowlitz.org
Your paper should discuss the acknowledgment process generally as well as identify your tribe, its composition, its history, its petitioning arguments, and why or why not the federal government granted acknowledgment. Your paper should be 4-5 pages in length and contain notes and bibliography (use the note/bibliography style most associated with your major).
You will also present your findings to the class in a short powerpoint presentation. Approximately fifteen minutes will be given to the presentation with another five minutes devoted to questions.
Starting the Research Process
A useful starting point for your research is the Office of Federal Acknowledgment, Bureau of Indian Affairs: OFA at which most of your information can be found. However, supplement this with other sources as needed.
1. In the OFA website, click on Petitions Resolved in the left-side menu. Then click on the “Acknowledged” link or the “Denied” Link or the “Congressional Action” link to determine how your tribe fared in the acknowledgment process.
Next click on your tribe in the column labelled “Petitioning Group Name.” In the “Associated Documents” you will find documents related to the petition. The one marked “Proposed Finding” often contains the most information concerning the tribe, its history and composition, and its petitioning arguments as well as the determination of the OFA. Much of your information can be found in this section. Use them for this paper.
2. As your research papers should include a discussion of the federal acknowledgment process, examine the link entitled, “Guidelines, Precedent Manual, and Sample Narrative” in the OFA website to determine the criteria the federal government uses to evaluate acknowledgement petitions.
3. Check to see if your tribe has a website. Even tribes that were denied recognition often have websites. These websites contain information about the tribe, its membership, its history, government, etc. For example, see the webpage of the Narragansett Indian Tribe. (acknowledged) or the Brothertown Indian Nation (denied).
4. Check to see if the local media has information on your tribe or the petitioning process. For example, PBS Wisconsin has a series called “Tribal Histories” with one segment devoted to the Brothertown Indians. Similary, FOX11 News Wisconsin ran a story on the Brothertown Indians to change their status.
5. Find Books to see if relevant material can be obtained through ODIN (the MSU library collection) or WorldCat (which searches all catalogs worldwide. The site will then allow you to request a book through InterLibrary Loan. Click on “Find Articles” to see if you can find scholarly journal articles relevant to your tribe. The America: History and Life and the JSTOR databases are highly recommended.
