A tribe's tale of three identities

Many reservation residents in the United States also lack the papers needed to travel back and forth, or even to prove they were born in this country. "My people have lived here since time immemorial," says Ramon. "But many O'odham right here on the reservation are considered illegal aliens" because they lack documents. Records of birth and death, he says, "were just passed down by word-of-mouth, from generation to generation."

Without documents, tribe members in Mexico find it difficult to obtain Mexican passports. And without those passports, they're often unable to get US visas. The visa requirements were eased slightly, after a series of meetings two years ago between the federal officials, representatives from the Tohono O'odham Nation, and the Mexican government.

But Ramon says problems persist. "We were able to get 1,000 visas for the O'odham in Mexico, but people were only given a short time, one or two days, to be here. They couldn't be on this side any longer."

With his bill, Representative Grijalva hopes to put such complications to rest. It's actually identical to a bill introduced a year ago by Rep. Ed Pastor (D) of Arizona. But the measure was lost in the flurry following Sept. 11. "There was a lot of emotion, and a lot of things were put on hold," Grijalva says. "Even now, I think the biggest obstacles are security concerns, and whether it gets embroiled in the whole issue of immigration."

He contends, however, that the issue is about citizenship - not immigration - and notes that the O'odham are "federally recognized tribal members by the secretary of the interior."

Already, some immigration groups have been critical. "It's a dangerous step," says Glenn Spencer, who heads the American Border Patrol, a controversial civilian group that monitors illegal immigration in southern Arizona. Grijalva's bill, says Mr. Spencer, "would essentially give the Tohono O'odham Nation the right to grant US citizenship." He's concerned it's part of a larger political agenda to liberalize immigration laws.

Some lawmakers, such as Rep. Jim Kolbe (R) of Arizona, also oppose the proposal. Representative Kolbe has supported efforts to ease crossing requirements for tribal members, but said in an e-mail response that he "cannot support legislation that would create 'pockets' of US citizens in a foreign country and establish a US citizenship document based on tribal membership."

Ramon calls that reasoning flawed, pointing out that for centuries the O'odham passed freely through this desert region - until American treaties split their land in half. "We got caught right in the middle," he says. "I don't think it's anybody's fault. Now the only thing is to just make it right."

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