Threats to Meaningful Consultation in Indian Country Signal a New Termination Era
Threats to Meaningful Consultation in Indian Country Signal a New Termination Era By Nicky Kay Michael, PhD A political storm is threatening Indian Country similar to what US tribal nations faced in the 1950s termination era. According to Scott Sypolt, Akerman Law, terminating the federal relationship of tribal nations did not begin with one major shift in political action. Instead, termination was a series of reduced acts and exclusions which enabled a full onslaught called termination. The US terminated their Trust relationship to 109 tribal nations from 1945-1960. The federal responsibility and jurisdiction was turned over to state governments. Consequently, approximately 1,500,000 acres of trust land was removed from protected status and close to 12,000 Native Americans lost tribal affiliation. Much land was sold to non-Indians as a result. While those are the official statistics, in no uncertain terms, termination devastated all of Indian Country. The simple