One of the many issues the students in my Indian Law and Public Policy course struggle with is the concept of federal recognition.  The 1978 statute and the process is complicated enough, but there is also the legislative route some tribes have followed, like the Pamunkey and their neighbors in Virginia.  Students in New York State have little concept that there are native peoples who belong to “unrecognized” tribes.  Kelvin Sampson, the head coach of the University of Houston Cougars basketball team, is one of them. There is a nice profile on Deadspin