{
  "id": "R43051",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "R43051",
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  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
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      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 431634,
      "date": "2014-05-28",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-06T22:58:55.466192",
      "title": "The Administrative Process by Which Groups May Be Acknowledged as Indian Tribes by the Department of the Interior",
      "summary": "In 1978, the Department of the Interior (Department) adopted a final rule setting forth the process by which a group may be recognized (also acknowledged) as an Indian tribe by the Department. Prior to that time, the Department made decisions on an ad hoc basis. However, in the wake of the treaty fishing rights case United States v. Washington and eastern land claims, more groups started seeking recognition as Indian tribes, and the Department could no longer manage the recognition requests on a case-by-case basis. The acknowledgement process, codified in 25 C.F.R. Part 83, sets forth a uniform process and uniform criteria for acknowledging that groups exist as Indian tribes.\nThe key to federal acknowledgment under the current regulations is continuous political existence of an Indian group from historical times to the present. The federal acknowledgment process does not create tribes, and it does not give groups sovereignty. Rather, it acknowledges a political entity that already exists. To do this, 25 C.F.R. Section 83.7 provides seven mandatory criteria that groups must satisfy in order to establish that they exist and have existed as an autonomous political entity. First, in order to be acknowledged, a group must establish that it has been identified as an Indian entity from 1900 to the present. Second, it must establish that it has existed as a community from historical times to the present. Third, it must establish that it has exercised political control over its members from historical times to the present. Fourth, the group must provide a copy of its governing document, including membership criteria. Fifth, the group must establish that its members descend from a historical Indian tribe or historical Indian tribes that combined and functioned as a single autonomous political entity. Sixth, the membership must be composed principally of persons who are not members of a federally recognized tribe. Finally, the group must establish that it is not the subject of congressional legislation terminating or forbidding the federal-tribal relationship.\nThe current regulations assign responsibility to the Assistant Secretary\u2014Indian Affairs (Assistant Secretary) to issue initial proposed findings and then final determinations. The Office of Federal Acknowledgment (OFA) makes recommendations to the Assistant Secretary on the proposed findings and the final determinations. A final determination may be appealed on limited grounds to the Interior Board of Indian Appeals.\nAcknowledgment as an Indian tribe means that the group becomes a federally recognized tribe with which the United States has a government-to-government relationship. This relationship makes the tribe and its members eligible for certain benefits, as well as subject to certain protections. It also means that the tribe may exercise jurisdiction over its territory and members generally free from state law, subject to limitations of federal law.\nAfter years of criticism of the acknowledgment process, the Department of the Interior has proposed several changes to the acknowledgment regulations. First, the proposed rule would change some of the criteria. Second, the proposed rule would assign responsibility for the proposed findings to OFA but keep responsibility for the final determinations with the Assistant Secretary. In rendering the proposed finding, OFA would consider the criteria in stages. Petitioners could appeal a negative proposed finding at any of the stages. The appeal would be heard by a judge within the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) who would issue a recommended decision for the Assistant Secretary to consider in issuing the final determination. The Assistant Secretary\u2019s decision would be final for the Department.",
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    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc817606/",
      "id": "R43051_2013Apr26",
      "date": "2013-04-26",
      "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26",
      "title": "The Administrative Process by Which Groups May Be Acknowledged as Indian Tribes by the Department of the Interior",
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      "type": "CRS Report",
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