The Identity of Evidence: Documentary Evidence in the Federal Acknowledgement Process.

Abstract

In the Federal Acknowledgment Process (FAP) indigenous groups submit 1000s of documents as evidence to prove they satisfy seven mandatory acknowledgment criteria established at 25 C.F.R. § 83.7. Despite a broad consensus among those who study federal acknowledgment that documentary evidence is critically important it has never before been studied. This exploratory study provides new insights and new data about the role of documentary evidence in the FAP. Through a synthetic review I identify the main factors attracting prior research attention and believed to influence outcomes. I analyze metadata for more 126,000 documents submitted by 11 of the 44 petitioners receiving a final determination. Unsuccessful petitioners on average submit more documentary evidence per member, more from federal sources, more letters, more federal letters and more tribal letters. This analysis points toward explanations of petition failure focused on documentary absences more than resource deficits. Successful petitioners enjoy a disproportionate share only of letters from pan-Indian legal organizations and members of congress. Using qualitative and quantitative methods I also analyze 62 Technical Assistance (TA) letters sent to 42 of the 44 petitioners by OFA staff communicating perceived weaknesses in documentary evidence years before a final determination. I describe differences in the evaluation of documentary evidence by future outcome, show which criteria are most vexing in relation to documentary evidence, extract vocabularies characterizing TA letters, and report the results of a Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) of a number of key documentary and other acknowledgment factors. My analysis of TA letters suggests that only the criteria reliant on the perceptions and documentation of non-Indians predict outcomes and that success is more difficult now than in the past and appears influenced by geography.