Inherent Tribal Sovereignty and Non-federally Recognized Tribes in California

Olivia Chilcote, PhD, will discuss her research about non-federally recognized tribes in California and how they exercise inherent tribal sovereignty via government-to-government relations with the state of California. Utilizing the definition of a “California Native American tribe” codified in state statutes, tribes are empowered in their efforts toward community self-determination and cultural persistence.

Chilcote is an assistant professor of American Indian studies at San Diego State University and an Indigenous woman from the Luiseño San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians — a tribal nation based in Oceanside. With 18 federally recognized tribes, San Diego has the most significant number of tribes living within one county throughout the United States. Although the San Luis Rey Band was among the first California tribes to sign treaties with the U.S. government, the U.S. never ratified the treaty. As a result, they were never granted a reservation. Tribes that are not recognized also miss out on various educational and social-service benefits and cannot have the government-to-government relationship that federally recognized tribes have. 

Before being hired as an assistant professor at SDSU four years ago, she earned a bachelor’s degree in ethnic and women’s studies from Cal Poly Pomona, followed by master’s and doctoral degrees in ethnic studies from UC Berkeley. Chilcote has been honored as an emerging scholar by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education, a national magazine.

Zoom link: https://clu.zoom.us/j/93594687865.