These new Indians, who have equal footing in both the Indian and the non-Indian world, are capable of articulating the effects America has had on the development of tribal society. Over the past two decades they have been successful in litigating and in gaining passage of federal legislation ultimately to create a wide enough path for the distinct culture in Indian society to re-emerge. For the tribal courts, this means the restoration of traditional forms of adjudication. But it could not have been written any other way. It was specifically organized so as to illustrate that not every American presumption has implicit validity.
Some peoples have a different frame of reference.
I will always be an Apache man advancing the beliefs of my grandfather and his father, and all our predecessors. I am not unlike most other Indians, whether educated or not. I am willing to challenge the ineluctable death of our culture and bring it to a new life. With this essay I hope to take care of one portion of the bad side and I will leave to my medicine man his blessing for the good side. The tribal court is a relatively new phenomenon in Indian country.