Frequently Asked Questions FAQ

How can I find out if there is a Seminole in my family tree?

The Anthropology and Genealogy Department offers assistance to individuals who are conducting genealogical research, looking for an ancestor whom they believe may have been a Seminole. Requests come in from all over the world. In an effort to respond to the hundreds of telephone calls, letters and email requests which are received each year, the A&G Department has created the program, Relatively Speaking™ . This is a subscription service that offers researchers the 68-page booklet, So You Think There's A Seminole In Your Family Tree?, and a specially prepared Family Tree Chart that may be completed and returned to the Department for a personal evaluation.

What is Tribal Sovereignty?

Tribal sovereignty means that tribes, as the United States Supreme Court has observed, "have a right to make their own laws and be governed by them." Tribes have power to enact laws, just as states do, that may cover a wide variety of issues.

Tribes' sovereignty derives from and is a continuation of their status, which existed prior to the creation of the United States. Since tribes have come under the dominion of the United States, they retain all the power of a sovereign nation except: the right to make war, the right to make a treaty with a foreign nation, the right to sell their lands without approval of the Congress of the United States and the right to exercise criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians. They retain all other powers, but are subject to the power of Congress.

Do Indians Pay Taxes?

Yes. Individual Indians pay all federal taxes except those that derive from lands held in trust for them by the United States. In addition, the Tribe pays federal payroll taxes and unemployment insurance payments on Tribal employees. Tribes, being unique entities under the law, are not taxed for tribal revenues, just as states are not subject to taxes for state governmental revenue.

Individual Indians do not pay state taxes from income earned in instances when they both reside and work on a reservation and derive income from that work. Individual Indians are subject to any tribal tax laws that might be in effect.

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