“Pretendians” — like the three University of Kansas professors whose claims to be members of Indian tribes have recently been debunked — are only part of the problem.
Shawnee Chief Ben Barnes
According to Shawnee Chief Ben Barnes, the Government Accountability Office and reporting by the Los Angeles Times, there are hundreds of fake tribes bilking millions of dollars annually from taxpayers.
Barnes said a GAO report from 2010 shows 26 separate federal programs which are being defrauded by 24 fake tribes that are not federally recognized.
GAO report 12-358 says federal agencies awarded more than $100 million in funding to the 26 non-federally recognized tribes for fiscal years 2007 through 2010.
The report said that the majority — some $76 million — went to the “Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina” which has state recognition, if only partial federal recognition, and is actively pursuing federal recognition.
The report was careful to note that most program recipients are, in fact, federally-recognized tribes and that funding to non-recognized tribes accounted for only about 2.7% of the $2.6 billion spent over the four years studied — which is still a considerable sum.
Most of the grant funds are distributed by various federal agencies to non-profit organizations under the various “tribes.”
As an example, the Department of Health and Human Services distributed funds to two non-federally recognized tribes in New Jersey during the 4-year review period — the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Indians of New Jersey and the Powhatan Renape Nation.
While there have been a couple of “concurrent resolutions” regarding the “tribes,” the resolutions do not have the force of law, and the GAO report says the New Jersey Commission on Native American Affairs has been at pains to make clear neither tribe has state recognition — let…
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