More than 11,ooo people have been stripped of their tribal citizenship in the last two decades due to increasing casino revenues and payouts to members. A new documentary called "You’re No Indian" exposes the practice of disenrollment and its impact on tribal members. KUNM spoke with the director of the film Ryan Flynn.
RYAN FLYNN: Rightful members of tribes are being removed in spite of empirical evidence – DNA tests, exhuming bodies, passing those DNA tests and still getting removed. And in many cases, the per capita payments of the members that remain go up. If you have 1,000 members and everyone's getting $1,000 a month, cut it in half to 500 members. Everyone gets $2,000 a month, and you know that's what we call the sick math of disenrollment.
KUNM: So, how did this film come to be?
FYLNN: I was just curious how much an Indigenous person gets from their casino, and that answer varied wildly. Sometimes it was nothing. Sometimes it was as much as $100,000 a month, and that's how I came across this concept of disenrollment. And I was surprised that I had never heard of it, and then I was more surprised that no one was talking about it. Where was the film? Where was the YouTube video? Why is no one talking about this? So I started reaching out to different people that were vocal in the community and learning more about their stories. And what hit me was that these individuals had empirical evidence; they had the truth on their side, and they were being removed in spite of that truth, and through that process losing the connection to their ancestors, their communities, and their tribal benefits. So when you have something that is true, and you have them being removed in spite of that truth, that's wrong. So I know how to hold a camera. That was actually at the time that's about all I knew, and it felt like a responsibility to try. This is something that no one has been talking about, and we should be talking about it.
KUNM: What are some of the strategies that tribes have been using in order to push out members?
FYLNN: When it comes to tribal membership, the tribes have the right, and frankly, rightfully so, to determine their own membership. Because of this sovereignty, they're able to remove members, honestly for any reason at all. So whatever strategy you see is more of a public relations, a PR kind of a thing. They say you know ‘we looked into the records and it turns out they don't belong.’ But when someone is removed from their tribe, even when they're holding a DNA test showing that they are related to the exact person that they need to be related, there is nowhere for them to go legally. So if they try to go to the state court or the Supreme Court of the United States, which they have, these courts don't have jurisdiction. So we see tribal politicians wielding sovereignty as kind of a weapon. I call them politicians, and not leaders, because leaders bring their people home, leaders grow their tribe, and we celebrate those leaders in the film, and we shine a light on the politicians that are not operating in the best interest of their tribe, but in their constituents and themselves.
KUNM: Have you spoken to any said members that have been disenrolled?
FYLNN: Yeah, we have spoken to many disenrolled members, and everyone that has gotten on camera has done so at great personal risk. We call it the weaponization of hope. They have a little bit of hope that they might get back in, but if they show up in a documentary about disenrollment it can all but guarantees that they won't get back in. But they spoke to us because they believe that it's right to speak about this. Disenrollment lives in the shadows, thrives in the shadows, and our community, this movement, is here to shine a light on it. I cannot imagine what it feels to be disenrolled, but some of our crew are disenrolled members. Santana Rabang is one of our producers, and she was disenrolled herself, and she started questioning her own identity. Am I even Indigenous? Is what she told me that she thought. What am I? Imagine what it must feel like to know that your ancestors stood on that same earth, and to be severed from that connection. But I will say one of the things that I asked every single disenrolled person if they've considered suicide, and every single one of them said yes.
KUNM: What do you want viewers to take away from your film?
FYLNN: I want them to walk away with an understanding of how important and how beautiful these cultures are, and only able to get a little bit, just a few tribes. There are hundreds and hundreds of tribes, and that is all at risk if disenrollment continues. I want them to walk away with encouragement that we can do something. Since this film has come out, disenrollments have really, really fallen off a cliff. They have slowed down significantly, but it's not been made right. There are people that should be brought home, and this conversation is happening now. But you know conversations fade, subjects change, and we really need to figure out a way collectively to encourage tribal politicians to act like leaders.
"You’re No Indian" will screen at the Get Indigenous Film Festival this weekend during Santa Fe Indian Market.
- Friday August 14th at 6:00 pm-8:30 pm, Doors at 5:45 pm
- Sunday August 16th 11:00 am-1:00 pm, Doors at 10:45 am.
If you or a loved one is in crisis, you can call or text the Suicide and Crisis Line at 988.
Support for this coverage comes from the Thornburg Foundation.
