Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians to open membership enrollment next year
SAULT STE. MARIE — Earlier this month, the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians announced plans to open membership enrollment in February 2024 so qualifying individuals can become an official part of the tribe.
Tribal membership works differently in every tribe in America, each with their own rules about what allows a person to be considered a member, and what that membership entails.
The Sault tribe currently has 49,274 enrolled members that live across the world, each of them descendant from the original members of the Chippewa tribe that lived in the Sault area. This makes the Sault tribe one of the biggest native American tribes east of the Mississippi River.
This enrollment will allow qualifying people to become tribal members officially, allowing for some benefits, such as certain tax exemptions for those living in Sault tribe areas. They will also now be able to attend and participate in community events and meetings.
"We want the ultimate benefit of joining our tribe to be about honoring Native ancestry, becoming part of the Anishinaabe community and celebrating our shared history as a people," said Austin Lowes, Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians Tribal Chairman. "We hope we will see more people at our community events and sharing our rich history with the world."
Tribal enrollment has been closed since 1998. At the time, the tribe had many reasons for closing enrollment but still left it available for children in most cases. In later years, changes were made to allow tribal application for members who could not trace ancestry or minors who were children of members.
During the times of closed enrollment, except in special circumstances, the only new tribal members admitted were those born into the tribe with accessible records of ancestry. There were many reasons a qualifying member wouldn't be included in tribal membership, including adoption, unrecognized paternity, changes in guardianship, or parents being unaware they needed to enroll their children.
Because of this, it is possible there are dozens if not hundreds of potentially eligible Sault tribe members who are not officially a part of the tribe.
"There are many people in our community who are proud of their Native heritage and ancestry but have not been able to enroll as official Sault Tribe members, so this is an opportunity to welcome them in an official capacity," said Lowes.
Soon people will be able to send in applications on the Sault tribe website, but must check their qualifications first.
The qualifications list can be found on the Sault tribal code and under membership ordinance, and has many qualifying factors. The main factors are that a person has a certain degree of both Native American and Chippewa ancestry, and be able to prove an ancestor was on a something called a base or tribal roll, which is a catalogue of tribal members.
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Applicants must submit copies of documents of their direct lineal descendants, starting with the applicant, then their Native parent, grandparent, and so forth, until they reach the descendant who is listed on one of the base rolls used to determine membership.
In cases where tribal documentation is needed, applicants can use the paperwork of a tribal family member to fill in details.
The enrollment will open Feb. 1 of next year, and will stay open until the tribal board passes another resolution to close it. This allows for any qualifying member to apply to officially become a member of the tribe.
Applicants can send in their application, related documents and a $25 fee to P.O. Box 1628, Sault Ste. Marie, MI 49783. Applications will begin being accepted on Feb. 1, and processing could take 8 weeks or longer. Applications sent prior to Feb. 1, 2024 will not be processed, and the tribe does not accept cash payments. Applicants cannot apply if they are already considered a member of another Native American tribe.
“There are many people who are proud of their Native heritage and ancestry who have been unable to enroll as Sault Tribe members,” said Lowes. “We look forward to welcoming them into our community and growing our membership.”
— Contact Brendan Wiesner: BWiesner@Sooeveningnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Sault News: Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians to open membership next year
