Some authors have pointed to a connection between social identity of Native Americans and their political status as members of a tribe.rev There are 561 federally recognized tribal governments in the United States, which are recognized as having the right to establish their own legal requirements for membership. In recent times, legislation related to Indians uses the "political" definition of identifying as Indians those who are members of federally recognized tribes. Most often given is the two-part definition: an "Indian" is someone who is a member of an Indian tribe and an "Indian tribe" is any tribe, band, nation, or organized Indian community recognized by the United States.