“Who is an Indian?” and “What is a Tribe?” are questions that the United States government has treated as problematic. These two questions have had a profound effect on people and communities having and claiming Indian ancestry. The resolution that the federal government pursued to accommodate colonial settlers, redress politicians, and appease Native peoples was to isolate, assimilate, and ignore; then empower. The tribal–federal relationship is based on the recognition of tribes—First Nations or Indian tribes are sovereign, a distinct community, governed by their own laws and exercising dominion over their territory; and that there is a need to quantify tribal or Indian identity by establishing a process to determine “Indian-ness” by ancestry or degree of blood. Miller tackles these lofty and tumultuous issues.

Claiming Tribal Identity provides an informative narrative on who is an Indian and what is a tribe, and neither advocates nor opposes the standards created by the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), with tribal collaboration. Rather the author's research reflects the opinions of tribal members, nonmembers, and government officials on the status of groups purporting Native heritage in the southeastern parts of the United States. Miller provides examples of the real effect of politics, economics/money, race, racism, and identity driving the conflicts between federally recognized tribes and other groups seeking recognition.

The book incorporates some of the history of the Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, and Seminoles, often referenced as the “Five Civilized Tribes,” placed in the context of these tribes confronting what they sincerely believe is the misappropriation of their history and tribal identities by others. The author balances the content of the book with detailed discussions with and research quoted by groups asserting tribal heritage and identity, although not recognized or fully recognized by the United States government and in some cases not recognized by other federally recognized tribes. The text, although well written, struggles to identify its audience. The novice reader will enjoy (or be provoked) and educated by the insight, background, and comprehensive attention to narratives of the Five Tribes, Jena Band of Choctaw, MOWA Choctaw, Lower Muskogee Creek, and Lumbee peoples. The academic, social worker, activist, or lawyer working within the fields of tribal affairs or Indian law will find some of the information repetitive and basic.

The book deals mainly with tribal identity, and focuses mostly on the “federal acknowledgement process,” within the BIA, which was created in 1978. It is painstakingly written with details and observations that the reader should admire. The collection of interviews, topical research, published accounts, government records, and individual narratives lends substantial clarity to the author's ideas. The text will make for meaningful discussions. Miller gives an honest assessment of what has been written, and successfully portrays what he has learned and what others report, observe, and experience.

Miller also provides insight into the dynamics of the politics of the period from the 1930s to the 1970s about what it means to be Indian or what it takes to establish an Indian identity under the federal acknowledgement process. He offers the reader the facts and hints at suggested lines of reasoning, but he does not draw the conclusions. The text is beneficial and an in-depth examination of southern and southeastern federal Indian politics within and outside the tribal community. It offers a window into the intraracial attitudes of the period, primarily pervasive in the southeast. There is documented assimilation by Native Americans, and acculturation by the BIA in adopting a sociological and cultural position as to the inferiority of African Americans (blacks) within the tribal community. Although this position is possibly not widespread, Miller discusses how state, federal and tribal officials give passing attention to a person of mixed European and Native ancestry, whereas the same people and governments diminish and dismiss peoples of Black/African–Native ancestry. Almost as if the inter-racial and intraracial dynamics were a side note, the book exposes and records the actions of tribal members, as well as BIA and tribal governments’ racial hostility and perpetuation of racial animus during “Jim Crow” America. Although the tribal communities have been and are welcoming, the reality and politics of tribal recognition are not immune from the remnants of slavery and the stain of racial supremacy that color American history.

Claiming Tribal Identity, on multiple levels, is a beneficial and an informative read. For the seasoned individual involved in tribal affairs, the text may seem simplistic. To the novice, student, layperson, or average individual with little to no information about this country's surviving tribal population, this text is a valuable source of information. I venture that this text will prove a sound work and a valued composition of Native, southeast, and American history.