Episode 7 [1:37:47] explores the complexities of what is known as Federal Recognition, and the Federal Recognition Process, which relate to Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination. This is an extremely complex topic, especially in relation to Native Californian Tribes. Our guests, Dr. Olivia Chilcote (a member of the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians), and Dr. Vanessa Esquivido (an enrolled member of the Nor Rel Muk Wintu Nation, who is also Hupa & Xicana), both have expertise in the process as it relates to their Tribes' attempts to achieve Federal Recognition. And yet, this conversation just scratches the surface of this complex topic.

In this episode, we depart from our usual format. This episode features a conversation about Federal Recognition between Dr. Chilcote and Dr. Esquivido, facilitated by our co-producer Dr. Martin Rizzo-Martinez and lightly edited by Daniel Stonebloom. Music by G. Gonzales.

For additional information on Federal Recognition, please see the following:

Dr. Olivia Chilcote's new book Unrecognized in California: Federal Acknowledgment and the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians is now available for pre-order!

The Process and The People: Federal Recognition in California, Native American Identity, and the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians, 2017 Dissertation by Olivia Chilcote

“Time Out of Mind”: The San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians and the Historical Origins of a Struggle for Federal Recognition, by Olivia Chilcote, California History Journal 2019.

"Unsettling evidence: an anticolonial archival approach/reproach to Federal Recognition," by María Montenegro, 2019.

"The Destruction of Identity: Cultural Genocide and Indigenous Peoples," by Lindsay Kingston, 2015.

"Creating the Space to Reimagine and Rematriate Beyond a Settler-Colonial Present: The Importance of Land Rematriation and ‘Land Back’ for Non-Federally Recognized California Native Nations," 2022 Dissertation by Cheyenne Reynoso.

"The study of indigenous political economies and colonialism in Native California: Implications for contemporary tribal groups and federal recognition,” by Kent G. Lightfoot, Lee M. Panich, Tsim D. Schneider, Sara L. Gonzalez, Matthew A Russell, Darren Modzelewski, Theresa Molino, and Elliot H. Blair, 2013.