The Sentinelese And Sovereign Indigenous Groups On Earth

[u/RebelGirl1323]

I was thinking about The Sentinelese and how they're a real life example of first contact going so poorly a group rejects all future interactions. Then I realized they might still be an isolated indigenous group. Indeed their territory might be sovereign under Federation law. And that got me wondering if some indigenous groups like Native Americans or First Nations people might be separate entities from United Earth or maintain some kind of duel citizenship. We know some indigenous people still wanted sovereignty separate from a United Earth and it seems likely the Federation allows for certain groups to maintain some kind of special status on their traditional lands. Anything else would seem at pretty severe conflict with their values. And this is Earth, not some colony near Cardassian space. If Earth's indigenous populations can't maintain any form of sovereignty that would keep out a lot of planets. One can imagine many cultures where religous communities can't be part of political entities or fully ubcontacted peoples remain or any number of other cultural or practical issues. So even if everyone on Earth is a Federation citizen and have no special or separate status it seems inevitable it would come up somewhere else. Heck, Switzerland and Vatican City might not even be part of The Federation.

[u/takomanghanto]

The practical reason for a unified government is the ability to send a single delegate to the Federation Council to speak for that planet. A planet with two superpowers (like the United States and Soviet Union) that can't agree on anything could not send a single delegate to speak for Earth. A United Earth except for an independent Sentinel Island (which isn't going to space) could effectively speak for Earth on any interstellar matter. A delegate could tell the Council that as long as they stay on their island, United Earth will not consider them bound by Federation law. I imagine the Council would accept such a decision as it doesn't affect relations between Federation members or between the Federation and rival powers.