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I can see the logic for the Native American decision; here are all these tribes living on this land mass we call America, and they have their own little realms or confederations or what have you. Meanwhile we are creating the political entity called the United States of America, and just because we are living cheek-by-jowl with these people does not make them automatically citizens of our polity, anymore than the French living in that chunk of land down south are citizens.
Then the USA embarked on a massive programme of expansion, and settled more of the landmass, and eventually ended up being the dominant state having settled, granted statehood to, and purchased territory all around them, so now the Native Americans were a minority living on the land and where exactly were they citizens of? Their own confederations were gone, they weren't foreigners so couldn't be packed off home, solution: they're American citizens (with some special circumstances added on).
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