Spotted today in an Old Town Eureka parking lot: A Toyota 4Runner with a license plate issued by the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians.
I knew that some Native American nations issue passports. I remember the showdown earlier this year when the U.K. shamefully refused to let members of the Iroquois National lacrosse team travel to a tournament without documentation issued by The White Man. But I didn’t know that a whole bunch of nations effectively have their own DMVs.
There are many deep and tricky discussions to be had about native sovereignty. What is the proper balance of power between the federal government, state government, local government and sovereign tribes? To what degree does self-governance in Indian Country lead to a fragmentation of our legal system, or our society? (Teaser: This week’s Journal will likely touch upon one of these questions.)
Everything else being equal, though, I declare my natural bias in favor of sovereignty. It just makes the world more interesting. And with that, I’m throwing down a challenge: Hoopa, you’re first. I want to see some license plates.
This article appears in Holiday Gift Guide 2010.
You need to spend less time in Eureka.
That is a slippery slope that can only end in war. What’s after license plates, Burns, currency? Who says we have to accept Hoopa money and who decides its value? What’s after that, border checkpoints, crossing guards, vehicle searches, body scans, background checks, or tribal laws that clash with American laws? Would they have a military and could they aspire to reclaim their former lands by force? Who decides what things they can or cannot ship across their border into ours? What if they close their borders and cut off highway 96? What if the Federal government sides with them more than California on some critical issue? And how do they reconcile their newfound sovereignty with their traditional attitudes toward land ownership?
Not a well-thought-out idea, Ryan. Perhaps such posts could wait till after the coffee break…
@yuppie: In your unholy terror at the spectre of a second U.S.-Hoopa War, you misidentified the author of this post.
It appears that Yuppie’s problem is that he did wait until after his coffee break.
God forbid a sovereign nation maintains their sovereignty, eh Yuppie? That might be awkward.
cool! The Menominee Tribe in Wisconsin also has license plates. For some reason, the Yurok Tribe drives vehicles with US Govt plates. Go figure. It’s complicated.
If Hoopa money is backed by gold or silver, I would happily trade in my fiat greenbacks that theFed keeps churning out at an alarming rate…