Mixups over tribal IDs

From Walmart to the U.S.-Canadian border, Indians are encountering problems with their tribal IDs -- partly due to new laws which went into effect June 1, partly due to bureaucratic glitches, and partly because of the ongoing failure of the U.S. government to treat Native Americans fairly.

HCN reported on this problem in a story by Krista Kapralos titled Security vs. Sovereignty. Here's how NativeAmerican Legal Update explained it in a March posting:

In order to comply with the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative and the Real ID Act, travelers seeking entry into Canada from the United States must present either a current passport or a security-enhanced ID card by June 1, 2009. The federal government has provided millions of dollars to state governments to develop the chip-embedded ID cards and supporting database systems – but no money has been provided to Tribes to equip their members with the necessary cards and support.

Many Tribal members prefer to utilize ID cards issued by their Tribal governments when traveling internationally, to reflect the sovereignty of their Tribes. Despite the 1794 Jay Treaty that guarantees indigenous peoples the right to move freely between Canada and the U.S., if Tribal governments can't issue security-enhanced ID cards by June 1, Tribal members attempting to enter Canada with standard IDs will likely be turned back at the border. Tulalip Tribal leaders have agreed to develop ID cards for several Northwest Tribes, along with a database that would link to computers at the border, but it appears unlikely the systems will be on-line in time. "We're racing the clock right now," said Theresa Sheldon, a Tulalip policy analyst who has worked on the border security issue for several years. "The only way we would be able to make it by the deadline is if they gave us an extension."

The National Congress of American Indians has filed a request with the federal government for a $20 million grant to help Tribes create their own enhanced IDs. However, even if that request is approved, the money will likely not become available to Tribes until 2010.

 Meantime, tribes are scrambling to clarify the situation to their members. The native village of Eyak in Alaska explains on its website that tribal IDs are valid for domestic flights ("Every TSA agent should know this rule, but many do not") but not for international flights, even though some tribes have designed their own tribal passports and trying to get them formally accepted as international travel documents. The website reminds members that Tribal IDs are no longer valid for international land and water border crossings unless they are "security-enhanced," with a chip. However, the Department of Homeland Security has said that it will be "flexible" in allowing tribal IDs to be used for a "modest, but reasonable transition period."

States are also muddying the tribal ID issue. As of October 1, 2007, Montana law requires that a tribal ID card be treated the same as a state ID for obtaining a hunting license, recording titles, buying alcohol and tobacco and cashing checks. But when Frank Stiffarm -- who lives on the Fort Belknap Reservation in Montana (home to the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine tribes) -- tried to use his tribal ID last week to cash a check at the Great Falls Walmart, the clerk refused to accept the ID. A call to the Montana Tribal ID Hotline resolved the issue. 

"Typically the problems happen because someone isn't aware of the law," Montana Director of Indian Affairs Jennifer Perez Cole told the Great Falls Tribune.