No "group" is a legitimate NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBE unless first meeting the criteria set forth by the federal government.

Federally recognized Native American Tribes must have tribal sovernity and the ability to determine their tribal members, if not, then being an American Indian becomes a mute point.

Recognizing groups that can not meet federal standards absolutely undermines the sovereignty of the recognized indigenous nations and tribes. It allows social groups to compete with legitimate tribally enrolled artists in direct violation of the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990. These social groups are attempting is to circumvent long standing criteria and be recognized as something they are not. If these people were actually what they claim to be....they wouldn't have a problem with the long standing standards that has been used by the United States Department of the Interior to define what a Native American tribe is !!!!!

Hello, are you for a fact know who or what you are for 20 generations back, sir or mamm? You are like someone that was left out of Oklahoma but was lucky to get in Eastern Cherokees yourself? Did you ever hear of 100% Indians that have no tribe and people that in tribes that have 1/4 requirement losing membership due to that shrinking? What is wrong if some people come together to have their Indian tribes and get their rights and benefits like any other group? I mean hey, can you prove you are a Cherokee for 29 generations because it is a moot issue really of your own breediness and greediness. It might be nice to a full blood Indian but why don't you disqualify all the people who are not 100% Indians because it is not right what you say. What is wrong with anyone declaring their Indian ancestry and obtaining their rights and any other benefits on racial heritage like other people? How does that cost you, how are you paying if someone else gains from their ancestry? Robert Sherman Nix III, political advocate for Native Americans and peoples of America.

I for one will not rest until this fake tribe and all other claiming Cherokee are stopped. Lee, Tsalagi “Should we not therefore run all risks, and incur all consequences, rather than to submit to further loss of our country? Such treaties may be alright for men who are too old to hunt or fight. As for me, I have my young warriors about me. We will hold our land.” ~Chief Dragging Canoe, Tsalagi

No truer words are spoken.

The Shawnee Tribe, a federally recognized tribe of American Indians, opposes state recognition processes that do not mirror the Federal Standard. Creating tribes on a state level undermines the sovereignty of all 566 Native Nations. It also wastes tax payer dollars. Please refer to GAO report 12-348: http://www.gao.gov/assets/600/590102.pdf Also, legislative bodies need to understand that removal of native peoples following the Indian Removal Act of 1830 left a vacuum in the eastern states for a great many tribes, particularly the Shawnee. A pogrom was enacted and completed that removed *all* Shawnee people west of the Mississippi River into what would become Kansas and Oklahoma. Any group claiming Shawnee is a fiction and needs to be thoroughly scrutinized. I would direct the law-making body of West Virginia to this video produced by the Cherokee Nation that details "what is a tribe?" and shows the damage that these hobbyist groups, culture clubs and native appropriators can cause: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKLOnbc1aEQ Ben J. Barnes, Second Chief of the Shawnee Tribe

WE MUST STOP the mining of Native American cultural identity in West Virginia and protect those Native Americans who call WV home!