[Foundation-l] Native American Tribes Policy

[geni]

On 5/15/07, Jeffrey V. Merkey <jmerkey at wolfmountaingroup.com> wrote:
> Wikipedia needs to exclude these fake tribe from the project.  Any of
> these tribes can bring legal action against the Foundation, as can the
> Federal Government if fake groups are allowed to claim they are indian
> tribes, then use Wikipedia as a basis to claim credibility and break the
> law.

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. If that doesn't apply
the foundation has other bigger worries.

>This can have two possible outcomes.   The genuine tribes (who
> have Federal support and Federal funding) can withdraw financial support
> from the project

I wasn't aware we got any significant amounts of financial support. In
any case wikipedia cannot afford to be influenced by donors in that
way.


> and/or Wikipedia can be exposed to negative publicity
> and loss of public trust by the legitimate tribes,

Can live with that.

>as well as being
> exposed to Federal Prosecution if these groups use the project to
> violate US laws.

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

>I am of Cherokee, German, and English ancestry, but I do not claim I am
>a citizen of Germany or the UK., even though I am of these bloodlines as
>well as Cherokee.

UK doesn't have citizens.

>The same applies to Native Tribes recognized by the
> US Government.  These tribes are sovereign governments,

Can they declare war? In any case the kingdom I live in does not
recognise them as such.


> I will be unable to garner support from the tribes to publicly support
> Wikipedia from other tribes if such a policy does not exist, since any
> fake group can claim they are an indian tribe when they are not.

No that would be original research. Of course if they get their claim
published in a reliable source we will report that

> Please
> read the text of the policy, and the Foundation needs to make a decision
> about this matter.

Attempting to appeal to the foundation to try and overcome local
consensus is not a good ploy.

>Tribes which are not Federally recognized in the US
> are NOT indian tribes, and numerous legal liabilities are created if we
> allow these groups to post false information into the project.

The view of the US goverment is mearly one POV. There are others.


-- 
geni