A Century of Citizenship

Rhyia Joyheart, 26, is no stranger to the day-to-day grind of 21st-century life, such as rising rent, high grocery bills, and long hours spent in city traffic. Born on Wyoming’s Wind River Indian Reservation and currently working at Denver’s Urban Indian Health Clinic, Joyheart says bringing resources to Indigenous communities involves working with systems that are designed to exclude them.

“It’s become my passion to become a translator for our community, in the sense of making a spot at the table,” Joyheart says. “I do feel at times the only way to get anywhere is to assimilate to the system.”

Congress passed the Indian Citizenship Act a century ago, granting citizenship to “all noncitizen Indians born within the territorial limits of the United States.” Today, Native Americans claim dual citizenship, recognizing their identity with both their tribal nations and the United States. But this relationship is far from simple.

USA TODAY traveled to Wind River to learn from Indigenous community leaders about how they balance these identities a century onwards, and what gives them hope for a better future.

More: Native Americans fight barriers to voting, 100 years after being recognized as U.S. citizens

Moving history, changing borders

Wes Martel, of Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho heritage, sits with a plate of hash browns and fried eggs in front of him. At 74, he’s been active in tribal politics, buffalo restoration, environmental protection, and the fight for water rights. He thinks that Native Americans still live under the same legal constraints as they did a century ago.

He points to the Doctrine of Discovery, enacted by the Pope in the 15th century, which gave control of land to settlers who “discovered” it. The Vatican renounced the Doctrine, but it was cited by the U.S. Supreme Court as recently as 2005. 

He also takes issue with the authority the U.S. government holds over Native Americans, known as “plenary power,” defined as “complete or absolute authority granted to a governing body…without limitations.” In Martel’s words, Congress “can do whatever the hell they want.” 

All this makes Martel question the equality of Native American citizenship.

“It’s 2024, as a tribal member, I can’t own land,” Martel says. The Bureau of Indian Affairs “has to hold it in a trust for me.” 

Martel points out that tribal nations along the Colorado River are reclaiming water rights and says that a brighter future is possible when Indigenous communities fight back.

“If you’re just going to give me some more Christianized, colonized attorneys, I don’t want no part of it,” Martel says. “We need some pit bulls for treaty law, constitutional law, and to fight this plenary power bullshit.”

Martel sips his coffee and talks about the history of Wind River. An 1863 treaty had the territory of the Eastern Shoshones stretching as far as present-day Utah and Colorado. Laws and treaties cut the reservation’s size by 95 percent. The U.S. government moved the Northern Arapaho Tribal Nation to Wind River in 1878. 

At the turn of the 20th century, allotment and leasing acts opened up land to white settlers. Their descendants own property today, making Wind River a checkerboard of Indigenous and settler “discovered” land. 

Sitting at his dining table in a maroon Arizona Diamondbacks shirt, Clarence Thomas, 60, questions the borders that define modern sovereignty – not just Wind River. Thomas descends from the Onk Akimel O’odham (Pima) tribal nation near today’s U.S.-Mexico border and moved to Wind River for his wife, who is Eastern Shoshone. 

Thomas’ ancestors historically roamed throughout the Southwest. Thomas says that “tribal cousins” now live across the U.S.-Mexico border. He prickles at the idea of closing it.

“This whole country is full of those who immigrated here. And we as Indigenous people, we just watch them come and go,” Thomas says. “But yet they are the ones who always will say, “let’s stop the immigrants.””

Assimilation, bridging two worlds

Jeff Means, an Oglala Sioux, argues that the notion of citizenship as a “gift” to Native Americans is “disingenuous.” As an associate professor of History and Native American and Indigenous studies at the University of Wyoming, Means says it’s the culmination of decades of policy designed to blend American Indians into white society. 

“All that you have left are the Natives who’ve known nothing else but reservation life. And they’re struggling desperately to try and maintain their identity and their sovereignty and independence,” Means says. “You’re now declaring these people citizens of a completely different nation.”

Thomas says his elders taught him a similar message

“Citizenship in itself came with “you will do it this way, but that’s the only way you’ll do it,” Thomas says. “And in that, everything else is gone. And even to this point, we’re still, as tribal people, trying to gain that back. But it’s still a fight.”

Reinette Curry, 40, wears heart-shaped beaded earrings and a blue t-shirt. Curry works at the University of Wyoming and pushes for Indigenous education and cultural preservation. She says a level of assimilation can be a necessity, but community building is the ultimate goal.

“Although we’re getting educated out in the white man’s world, we’re able to come back home and bring that education in,” Curry says. She tells her children and younger community members, “If you go off to college and you get educated, you can use that as a tool to fight for our people.”

The impact of federal policy plays out in Curry’s personal life. Curry, while an enrolled member of the Northern Arapaho tribal nation, also has Northern Ute and Pyramid Lake Paiute heritage. The Bureau of Indian Affairs instituted blood quantum in the 1880s. It’s a sort of inversion of the Jim Crow South’s “one-drop rule” that measures a person’s amount of “Indian blood” to determine tribal eligibility.

As Curry’s family and others have children with members of other tribes, or with outsiders, they become less Indigenous in the eyes of the United States government. This can make them less eligible for tribal membership and benefits.

“It was basically placed to eventually fade us out,” Curry says.

Curry sits inside a white canvas tent as the roar of a summer thunderstorm lashes against its sides. She explains that parents encourage their children to form partnerships with other Indigenous people to avoid the risk of losing their tribal status and associated benefits.

“Tough conversations like that we as Native people have to have, other people don’t have to have,” Curry says.

An honest narrative, a path forward

When Joyheart, who’s Northern Arapaho, Flathead, and Eastern Shoshone, looks at the last century, she sees a reluctance to truthfully tell a story that could repeat itself.

“They’re like “okay, yeah, get over it,” but they don’t understand that it’s not that simple. How can you get over a genocide of a people?” Joyheart asks. “We understand that what has happened is in the past, but it doesn’t mean that it couldn’t happen again.”

A desire for an honest look at history isn’t unique to Joyheart and Native Americans. Japanese internment camps have been transformed into museums. In Washington, D.C., the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture documents the timeline of the cultural and civil rights abuses against Black Americans. Although there is a National Museum for the American Indian, Joyheart wants broader recognition of the unique challenges Indigenous people have overcome.

President Joe Biden took a step forward to reconciliation when he recently apologized for abuses committed at government and church-run boarding schools. Earlier this month, the Department of the Interior announced an oral history initiative with the National Museum of American History to preserve the stories of survivors of the federal Indian boarding school system.  

The schools played a crucial and often harsh role in assimilating American Indians into non-Indigenous society. Their legacy lingers at Wind River, to this day.

Thomas tells the story of his grandfather greeting a teacher at a boarding school in his native language.

“And she [the nun] kept hitting him every time he said that … finally, when he started learning the language, what she was saying was, ‘Don’t speak your dirty language to me and don’t look at me.’” Thomas says, “Don’t look at me. Look down.”

Joyheart, who beads and sews regalia for young powwow dancers, says more teaching of Native American history is needed, both inside and outside her communities.

“A lot of our Native people are rediscovering a lot of the history within our own stories,” Joyheart says.

Allison Sage, 66, Northern Arapaho, works to connect youth on Wind River with these histories. He tells a favorite joke from the front seat of his pickup truck.

“In the 1800s … General George Armstrong Custer told Congress’ don’t do nothing till I get back,” Sage says.

The oft-mythologized Custer died in the Battle of Little Big Horn – and in Sage’s eyes, the federal government hasn’t changed its tune since: “They divide you up, then they conquer you.”

Sage saddles up with youth from around Wind River for monthly healing rides to connect young people with their cultural heritage. The annual highlight is a pilgrimage to the site of Custer’s defeat.

“We go every year to the Battle of the Little Big Horn victory ride, which is the decolonization ride,” Sage says.

Martel, sitting over his breakfast, believes the government has failed Native Americans, but he has faith in the strength of tribal communities. He has five great-grandchildren. When asked about his wishes for them, he emphasizes health, happiness, food on their table, and an “understanding of our lodges, ceremonies, and medicines.”

“Strength in our families and our communities, that’s all we’re trying to do,” Martel says. “But nobody gets it.” 

Curry is optimistic that this strength and these practices will find future generations so they can continue to be proud of their culture no matter where life carries them. Just a few generations removed from the violence of boarding schools, and with a new understanding of intergenerational trauma, Curry is already seeing the results.

“Now we can start teaching our babies at a younger age. And so I get excited when they’re dancing and singing and singing songs in our language,” Curry says. “So much hope that our kids are going to learn all this, and they’re going to be able to hold us down when we’re all gone.”

One hundred years after the Indian Citizenship Act, Joyheart stands in a field of tall grass, sharp peaks of the Wind River mountains behind her, her gaze brushing over a ring of trucks and tents, everything tinged rose by the setting sun. Just a few generations ago, her regalia and the dance she performs were outlawed.

“We live in our children’s past,” Joyheart says. “Meaning that when we’re long and gone, that all of our cultural teachings and legacies are going to carry on with them.” 

Cy Neff reports on Wyoming politics for USA TODAY. You can reach him at cneff@usatoday.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @CyNeffNews

by Maggie Mullen, WyoFile

An Ohio court transferred a lawsuit Thursday to Wyoming’s U.S. District Court because of its similarity to a high-profile case involving Kappa Kappa Gamma at the University of Wyoming and its admission of a transgender woman.  

“This case is about whether Kappa Kappa Gamma (“Kappa”) may allow transgender women to join its sisterhood,” U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio Judge Michael H. Watson wrote in his decision. 

The same issue is the subject of another case in another federal district court, Watson wrote, and “because they are duplicative, these two cases should not proceed simultaneously, for a plethora of prudential reasons.”

More specifically, Watson pointed to the “first-to-file rule,” which calls for the court in which the first suit was filed to oversee subsequent cases, too. 

The initial suit began in April 2023 when six members of Kappa Kappa Gamma at the University of Wyoming filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming against the sorority for admitting Artemis Langford, a transgender woman. 

The lawsuit was dismissed. The suing sorority sisters’ appeal was also unsuccessful. In the midst of that legal battle, Patsy Levang and Cheryl Tuck-Smith, two Kappa Kappa Gamma alumni, filed a separate complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio against the organization after they were expelled from it.

Levang and Tuck-Smith openly opposed Kappa’s trans-inclusive policy and supported the plaintiffs in the Wyoming case, including publishing an op-ed in the National Review. That violated the organization’s media policy, according to the sorority’s court filings. 

Kappa Kappa Gamma also claimed that Tuck-Smith violated a separate policy when she used the organization’s membership list to contact other alumni about the ongoing litigation. 

Ultimately, the organization’s fraternity council — which functions as a board of directors — voted to terminate both Levang and Tuck-Smith’s membership. 

In their complaint, however, Levang and Tuck-Smith argue the termination was retaliatory. 

They also claim that Kappa Kappa Gamma “is bound to defend the single-sex nature” of the organization, and by including transgender women it has “improperly attempted to broaden its membership criteria,” among other things. 

“This case raises issues about whether a private, non-profit organization can disregard its mission and fiduciary duties, disavow its governing rules and bylaws, ignore its legal and ethical obligations, deceive and silence its members, and retaliate against those members who object to this conduct,” the complaint states. 

The case is now in the hands of U.S. District Court Alan B. Johnson, who dismissed the Wyoming complaint last year. 

How did we get here?

The plaintiffs in the Wyoming case — Jaylyn Westenbroek, Hannah Holtmeier, Allison Coghan, Grace Choate, Madeline Ramar and Megan Kosar — accused the sorority of breaking its bylaws, breaching housing contracts and misleading sisters when it admitted Langford by vote of its members. 

In August 2023, Johnson dismissed the Wyoming case, ruling that the plaintiffs failed to adequately state a claim against Langford or her sorority, and that the government cannot interfere with how a private, voluntary organization determines its membership. 

Johnson ruled “without prejudice,” giving the plaintiffs the option to refile an amended complaint. He also gave them advice on how to do so.

“If Plaintiffs wish to amend their complaint, the Court advises Plaintiffs that they devote more than 6% of their complaint to their legal claims against Defendants,” Johnson wrote regarding their 72-page complaint. 

Instead of refiling, the plaintiffs hired two high-powered attorneys to appeal the dismissal to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. 

In June, the appellate court dismissed the plaintiffs’ appeal, ruling that it did not have jurisdiction over the case since the lower court had not issued a final order. 

The court also told the sorority sisters they could either seek a final judgement from the district court, or amend their complaint as Johnson suggested. In the six months since then, the plaintiffs have done neither and the case remains pending. 

First-to-file rule

When actions involving nearly identical parties and issues have been filed in two different district courts, Watson wrote in his decision, the court in which the first suit was filed should generally proceed to judgment.

“And, as a corollary, the court in which the later suit was filed should generally transfer, stay or dismiss,” he wrote. 

Furthermore, Watson wrote, to not apply the first-to-file rule “would be to condone forum-shopping.

“The Court does not accuse Plaintiffs of forum-shopping or bad faith, to be clear. But allowing Plaintiffs to proceed simultaneously on the same core claims in two fora, as Plaintiffs here seek to do, encourages forum-shopping.”

The status of the case in Wyoming makes that point clear, Watson wrote, since “six months have passed since the Tenth Circuit instructed the Westenbroek plaintiffs to either amend their complaint or move for a dismissal without prejudice. 

“They have not done so. Why not?”

Watson wrote that someone in the position of the plaintiffs might respond with another question. 

“Why would we proceed in a forum that dismissed our claim already when instead we can wait and see whether the Southern District of Ohio will be more receptive?”

Alongside Johnson, the case was assigned to Magistrate Judge Scott P. Klosterman. However, the case was reassigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephanie A. Hambrick after Klosterman recused himself for previously serving as an attorney for the defense in the Wyoming case.

This article was originally published by WyoFile and is republished here with permission. WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.

Related

LARAMIE, Wyo. — It wasn’t his sharpest game of the season, but at this point in the season it’s more about the end result than it is a beauty contest.

That result was a 24–21 comeback victory for Buffalo over New England. Josh Allen was 16-for-29 for 154 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He added 30 yards on six carries.

For the season, the former University of Wyoming quarterback is 291-for-456 for 3,549 yards with 26 touchdowns and just six picks. He’s rushed it 97 times for 514 yards and 11 scores.

Buffalo, which is 12–3, hosts the New York Jets in Week 17. The Bills still have a shot at the AFC’s No. 1 seed and are also closing in on locking up no worse than the No. 2 seed.

Below is a list of the other former Wyoming Cowboys and how they performed in Week 16.

Carl Granderson, New Orleans Saints

Granderson logged a decent game in the Saints’ 34–0 loss at Green Bay. He recorded three tackles.

For the season, Granderson lays claim to 53 tackles, 5.5 sacks, eight tackles for loss, one forced fumble, one pass defended and 13 quarterback hits.

New Orleans, which is 5–10, hosts Las Vegas in Week 17.

Tashaun Gipson, San Fransisco 49ers

Gipson didn’t record a stat in the 49ers’ 29–17 loss at Miami. For the season, he’s registered three tackles and one pass defended.

San Fransisco, which is 6–9, hosts Detroit in Week 17.

Andrew Wingard, Jacksonville Jaguars

Wingard enjoyed a decent day in the Jaguars’ 19–14 loss at Las Vegas. He made one tackle and had a season-high three passes defended.

For the season, Wingard has recorded two tackles and now has three passes defended.

Jacksonville, which is 3–12, hosts Tennessee in Week 17.

Chad Muma, Jacksonville Jaguars

Muma didn’t record a stat in the Jaguars’ 19–14 loss at Las Vegas. For the season, Muma has logged 31 tackles.

Jacksonville, which is 3–12, hosts Tennessee in Week 17.

Frank Crum, Denver Broncos

Crum didn’t play in the Broncos’ 34–27 loss at the Los Angeles Chargers. For the season, Crum has played in six games, participating in 33 snaps, with 24 of those occurring on special teams.

Denver, which is 9–6, travels to Cincinnati in Week 17.

Treyton Welch, New Orleans Saints

Welch is currently participating on the Saints’ practice squad. He has yet to be elevated this season.

Logan Wilson, Cincinnati Bengals

Wilson was placed on injured reserve with a knee injury prior to Week 14. For the season, Wilson recorded 104 tackles, two tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, four quarterback hits and one pass defended.

Marcus Epps, Las Vegas Raiders

Epps’ season came to an end in Week 3. He tore his ACL after a 10-tackle effort. Epps finished the season with 19 tackles and one tackle for loss.