I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3764 

To provide that an Indian group may receive Federal acknowledgment as 

an Indian tribe only by an Act of Congress, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 20, 2015 

Mr. BISHOP of Utah introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide that an Indian group may receive Federal acknowledgment as an Indian tribe only by an Act of 

Congress, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tribal Recognition Act 

5 of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds as follows: 

8 (1) Article I, section 8, clause 3 of the Con9 stitution (commonly known as the ‘‘Indian ComVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:28 Oct 21, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3764.IH H3764

emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 3764 IH

1 merce Clause’’) gives Congress authority over Indian 

2 affairs. 

3 (2) Such authority is plenary and exclusive. 

4 (3) Such authority may not be exercised by the 

5 executive branch, except as expressly delegated by 

6 an Act of Congress (or by a treaty ratified by the 

7 Senate before March 1871). 

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

9 As used in this Act: 

10 (1) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist11 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of In12 dian Affairs, or that officer’s authorized representa13 tive. 

14 (2) AUTONOMOUS.—The term ‘‘autonomous’’ 

15 means the exercise of political influence or authority 

16 independent of the control of any other Indian gov17 erning entity. Autonomous must be understood in 

18 the context of the history, geography, culture and 

19 social organization of the petitioning group. 

20 (3) COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘Community’’ 

21 means any group of people which can demonstrate 

22 that consistent interactions and significant social re23 lationships exist within its membership and that its 

24 members are differentiated from and identified as 

25 distinct from nonmembers. Community must be unVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:49 Oct 21, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3764.IH H3764

emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 3764 IH

1 derstood in the context of the history, geography, 

2 culture and social organization of the group. 

3 (4) CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES.—The term 

4 ‘‘continental United States’’ means the contiguous 

5 48 States and Alaska. 

6 (5) CONTINUOUSLY OR CONTINUOUS.—The 

7 term ‘‘continuously or continuous’’ means extending 

8 from first sustained contact with non-Indians 

9 throughout the group’s history to the present sub10 stantially without interruption. 

11 (6) DOCUMENTED PETITION.—The term ‘‘docu12 mented petition’’ means the detailed arguments 

13 made by a petitioner to substantiate its claim to con14 tinuous existence as an Indian tribe, together with 

15 the factual exposition and all documentary evidence 

16 necessary to demonstrate that these arguments ad17 dress the mandatory criteria. 

18 (7) HISTORICALLY, HISTORICAL OR HISTORY.— 

19 The term ‘‘historically, historical or history’’ means 

20 dating from first sustained contact with non-Indians. 

21 (8) INDIAN GROUP OR GROUP.—The term ‘‘In22 dian group or group’’ means any Indian or Alaska 

23 Native aggregation within the continental United 

24 States that the Secretary of the Interior does not ac25 knowledge to be an Indian tribe. Indian tribe, also 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 3764 IH

1 referred to herein as tribe, means any Indian or 

2 Alaska Native tribe, band, pueblo, village, or com3 munity within the continental United States that the 

4 Secretary of the Interior has lawfully acknowledged 

5 as an Indian tribe. 

6 (9) INDIGENOUS.—The term ‘‘indigenous’’ 

7 means native to the continental United States in 

8 that at least part of the petitioner’s territory at the 

9 time of sustained contact extended into what is now 

10 the continental United States. 

11 (10) INFORMED PARTY.—The term ‘‘informed 

12 party’’ means any person or organization, other than 

13 an interested party, who requests an opportunity to 

14 submit comments or evidence or to be kept informed 

15 of general actions regarding a specific petitioner. 

16 (11) INTERESTED PARTY.—The term ‘‘inter17 ested party’’ means any person, organization or 

18 other entity who can establish a legal, factual or 

19 property interest in an acknowledgment determina20 tion and who requests an opportunity to submit 

21 comments or evidence or to be kept informed of gen22 eral actions regarding a specific petitioner. ‘‘Inter23 ested party’’ includes the governor and attorney gen24 eral of the State in which a petitioner is located, and 

25 may include, but is not limited to, local governVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:28 Oct 21, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3764.IH H3764

emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 3764 IH

1 mental units, and any recognized Indian tribes and 

2 unrecognized Indian groups that might be affected 

3 by an acknowledgment determination. 

4 (12) LETTER OF INTENT.—The term ‘‘letter of 

5 intent’’ means an undocumented letter or resolution 

6 by which an Indian group requests Federal acknowl7 edgment as an Indian tribe and expresses its intent 

8 to submit a documented petition. 

9 (13) PETITIONER.—The term ‘‘petitioner’’ 

10 means any entity that has submitted a letter of in11 tent to the Secretary requesting acknowledgment 

12 that it is an Indian tribe. 

13 (14) POLITICAL INFLUENCE OR AUTHORITY.— 

14 The term ‘‘political influence or authority’’ means a 

15 tribal council, leadership, internal process or other 

16 mechanism which the group has used as a means of 

17 influencing or controlling the behavior of its mem18 bers in significant respects, and/or making decisions 

19 for the group which substantially affect its members, 

20 and/or representing the group in dealing with out21 siders in matters of consequence. This process is to 

22 be understood in the context of the history, culture 

23 and social organization of the group. 

24 (15) PREVIOUS FEDERAL ACKNOWLEDG25 MENT.—The term ‘‘previous Federal acknowledgVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:28 Oct 21, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3764.IH H3764

emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 3764 IH

1 ment’’ means action by the Federal Government 

2 clearly premised on identification of a tribal political 

3 entity and indicating clearly the recognition of a re4 lationship between that entity and the United 

5 States. 

6 (16) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

7 means the Secretary of the Interior or that officer’s 

8 authorized representative. 

9 (17) SUSTAINED CONTACT.—The term ‘‘sus10 tained contact’’ means the period of earliest sus11 tained non-Indian settlement and/or governmental 

12 presence in the local area in which the historical 

13 tribe or tribes from which the petitioner descends 

14 was located historically. 

15 SEC. 4. GROUPS ELIGIBLE TO SUBMIT PETITIONS. 

16 (a) ELIGIBLE GROUPS.—Indian groups indigenous to 

17 the continental United States that are not federally recog18 nized Indian tribes on the date of the enactment of this 

19 Act may submit a petition under this Act. 

20 (b) INELIGIBLE GROUPS.—The following may not 

21 submit a petition under this Act: 

22 (1) Splinter groups, political factions, commu23 nities or groups of any character that separate from 

24 the main body of a federally recognized Indian tribe, 

25 unless they can establish clearly that they have funcVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:28 Oct 21, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3764.IH H3764

emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 3764 IH

1 tioned throughout history until the present as an au2 tonomous tribal entity, even if they have been re3 garded by some as part of or have been associated 

4 in some manner with a federally recognized Indian 

5 tribe. 

6 (2) Indian tribes, organized bands, pueblos, 

7 Alaska native villages, or communities that have 

8 been lawfully acknowledged to be federally recog9 nized Indian tribes and are receiving services from 

10 the Bureau of Indian Affairs. 

11 (3) Groups that petitioned and were denied 

12 Federal acknowledgment under part 83 of title 25, 

13 Code of Federal Regulations, including reorganized 

14 or reconstituted petitioners previously denied, or 

15 splinter groups, spin-offs, or component groups of 

16 any type that were once part of petitioners pre17 viously denied. 

18 (c) GROUPS WITH PETITIONS IN PROGRESS.—This 

19 Act, including the criteria in section 7, shall apply to any 

20 Indian group whose documented petition was submitted 

21 and not denied on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

22 SEC. 5. FILING A LETTER OF INTENT. 

23 Any Indian group in the continental United States 

24 that believes it should be acknowledged as an Indian tribe 

25 and that it can satisfy the criteria in this Act may submit 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 3764 IH

1 a letter of intent requesting acknowledgment that an In2 dian group exists as an Indian tribe. The letter of intent 

3 submitted under this section— 

4 (1) shall be filed with the Assistant Secretary— 

5 Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior; 

6 (2) may be filed in advance of, or at the same 

7 time as, a group’s documented petition; and 

8 (3) shall be produced, dated and signed by the 

9 governing body of an Indian group. 

10 SEC. 6. DUTIES OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 

11 (a) GUIDELINES.—The Assistant Secretary shall 

12 make available guidelines for the preparation of docu13 mented petitions. These guidelines shall— 

14 (1) include an explanation of the criteria, a dis15 cussion of the types of evidence which may be used 

16 to demonstrate particular criteria, and general sug17 gestions and guidelines on how and where to conduct 

18 research; 

19 (2) include an example of a documented peti20 tion format which shall provide guidance, but not 

21 preclude the use of any other format; and 

22 (3) may be supplemented or updated as nec23 essary. 

24 (b) RESEARCH AND PREPARATION OF PETITION.— 

25 The Assistant Secretary— 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 3764 IH

1 (1) shall provide petitioners with suggestions 

2 and advice regarding preparation of the documented 

3 petition; and 

4 (2) shall not be responsible for the actual re5 search on behalf of the petitioner. 

6 SEC. 7. CRITERIA FOR FEDERAL ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 

7 The criteria for consideration for Federal acknowl8 edgment is, at a minimum, the following: 

9 (1) The petitioner has been identified as an 

10 American Indian entity on a substantially contin11 uous basis since 1900. Evidence that the group’s 

12 character as an Indian entity has from time to time 

13 been denied shall not be considered to be conclusive 

14 evidence that this criterion has not been met. Evi15 dence to be relied upon in determining a group’s In16 dian identity may include one or a combination of 

17 the following, as well as other evidence of identifica18 tion by other than the petitioner itself or its mem19 bers: 

20 (A) Identification as an Indian entity by 

21 Federal authorities. 

22 (B) Relationships with State governments 

23 based on identification of the group as Indian. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 3764 IH

1 (C) Dealings with a county, parish, or 

2 other local government in a relationship based 

3 on the group’s Indian identity. 

4 (D) Identification as an Indian entity by 

5 anthropologists, historians, and/or other schol6 ars. 

7 (E) Identification as an Indian entity in 

8 newspapers and books. 

9 (F) Identification as an Indian entity in 

10 relationships with Indian tribes or with na11 tional, regional, or State Indian organizations. 

12 (2) A predominant portion of the petitioning 

13 group comprises a distinct community and has ex14 isted as a community from historical times until the 

15 present. 

16 (A) This criterion may be demonstrated by 

17 some combination of the following evidence and/ 

18 or other evidence that the petitioner meets the 

19 definition of community: 

20 (i) Significant rates of marriage with21 in the group, and/or, as may be culturally 

22 required, patterned out-marriages with 

23 other Indian populations. 

24 (ii) Significant social relationships 

25 connecting individual members. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
11 

•HR 3764 IH

1 (iii) Significant rates of informal so2 cial interaction which exist broadly among 

3 the members of a group. 

4 (iv) A significant degree of shared or 

5 cooperative labor or other economic activity 

6 among the membership. 

7 (v) Evidence of strong patterns of dis8 crimination or other social distinctions by 

9 nonmembers. 

10 (vi) Shared sacred or secular ritual 

11 activity encompassing most of the group. 

12 (vii) Cultural patterns shared among 

13 a significant portion of the group that are 

14 different from those of the non-Indian pop15 ulations with whom it interacts. These pat16 terns must function as more than a sym17 bolic identification of the group as Indian. 

18 They may include, but are not limited to, 

19 language, kinship organization, or religious 

20 beliefs and practices. 

21 (viii) The persistence of a named, col22 lective Indian identity continuously over a 

23 period of more than 50 years, notwith24 standing changes in name. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
12 

•HR 3764 IH

1 (ix) A demonstration of historical po2 litical influence under the criterion in para3 graph (3) shall be evidence for dem4 onstrating historical community. 

5 (B) A petitioner shall be considered to 

6 have provided sufficient evidence of community 

7 at a given point in time if evidence is provided 

8 to demonstrate any one of the following: 

9 (i) More than 50 percent of the mem10 bers reside in a geographical area exclu11 sively or almost exclusively composed of 

12 members of the group, and the balance of 

13 the group maintains consistent interaction 

14 with some members of the community. 

15 (ii) At least 50 percent of the mar16 riages in the group are between members 

17 of the group. 

18 (iii) At least 50 percent of the group 

19 members maintain distinct cultural pat20 terns such as, but not limited to, language, 

21 kinship organization, or religious beliefs 

22 and practices. 

23 (iv) There are distinct community so24 cial institutions encompassing most of the 

25 members, such as kinship organizations, 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
13 

•HR 3764 IH

1 formal or informal economic cooperation, 

2 or religious organizations. 

3 (v) The group has met the criterion in 

4 paragraph (3) using evidence described in 

5 paragraph (3)(B). 

6 (3) The petitioner has maintained political in7 fluence or authority over its members as an autono8 mous entity from historical times until the present. 

9 (A) This criterion may be demonstrated by 

10 some combination of the evidence listed below 

11 and/or by other evidence that the petitioner 

12 meets the definition of political influence or au13 thority: 

14 (i) The group is able to mobilize sig15 nificant numbers of members and signifi16 cant resources from its members for group 

17 purposes. 

18 (ii) Most of the membership considers 

19 issues acted upon or actions taken by 

20 group leaders or governing bodies to be of 

21 importance. 

22 (iii) There is widespread knowledge, 

23 communication and involvement in political 

24 processes by most of the group’s members. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
14 

•HR 3764 IH

1 (iv) The group meets the criterion in 

2 paragraph (2) at more than a minimal 

3 level. 

4 (v) There are internal conflicts which 

5 show controversy over valued group goals, 

6 properties, policies, processes and/or deci7 sions. 

8 (B) A petitioning group shall be considered 

9 to have provided sufficient evidence to dem10 onstrate the exercise of political influence or au11 thority at a given point in time by dem12 onstrating that group leaders and/or other 

13 mechanisms exist or existed which— 

14 (i) allocate group resources such as 

15 land, residence rights and the like on a 

16 consistent basis; 

17 (ii) settle disputes between members 

18 or subgroups by mediation or other means 

19 on a regular basis; 

20 (iii) exert strong influence on the be21 havior of individual members, such as the 

22 establishment or maintenance of norms 

23 and the enforcement of sanctions to direct 

24 or control behavior; and 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
15 

•HR 3764 IH

1 (iv) organize or influence economic 

2 subsistence activities among the members, 

3 including shared or cooperative labor. 

4 (C) A group that has met the requirements 

5 in paragraph (2)(B) at a given point in time 

6 shall be considered to have provided sufficient 

7 evidence to meet this criterion at that point in 

8 time. 

9 (4) A copy of the group’s present governing 

10 document including its membership criteria. In the 

11 absence of a written document, the petitioner must 

12 provide a statement describing in full its member13 ship criteria and current governing procedures. 

14 (5) The petitioner’s membership consists of in15 dividuals who descend from a historical Indian tribe 

16 or from historical Indian tribes which combined and 

17 functioned as a single autonomous political entity. 

18 (A) Some types of evidence that can be 

19 used for this purpose include the following: 

20 (i) Rolls prepared by the Secretary on 

21 a descendancy basis for purposes of dis22 tributing claims money, providing allot23 ments, or other purposes. 

24 (ii) State, Federal, or other official 

25 records or evidence identifying present 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
16 

•HR 3764 IH

1 members or ancestors of present members 

2 as being descendants of a historical tribe 

3 or tribes that combined and functioned as 

4 a single autonomous political entity. 

5 (iii) Church, school, and other similar 

6 enrollment records identifying present 

7 members or ancestors of present members 

8 as being descendants of a historical tribe 

9 or tribes that combined and functioned as 

10 a single autonomous political entity. 

11 (iv) Affidavits of recognition by tribal 

12 elders, leaders, or the tribal governing body 

13 identifying present members or ancestors 

14 of present members as being descendants 

15 of a historical tribe or tribes that combined 

16 and functioned as a single autonomous po17 litical entity. 

18 (v) Other records or evidence identi19 fying present members or ancestors of 

20 present members as being descendants of a 

21 historical tribe or tribes that combined and 

22 functioned as a single autonomous political 

23 entity. 

24 (B) The petitioner must provide an official 

25 membership list, separately certified by the 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
17 

•HR 3764 IH

1 group’s governing body, of all known current 

2 members of the group. This list must include 

3 each member’s full name (including maiden 

4 name), date of birth, and current residential ad5 dress. The petitioner must also provide a copy 

6 of each available former list of members based 

7 on the group’s own defined criteria, as well as 

8 a statement describing the circumstances sur9 rounding the preparation of the current list 

10 and, insofar as possible, the circumstances sur11 rounding the preparation of former lists. 

12 (6) The membership of the petitioning group is 

13 composed principally of persons who are not mem14 bers of any acknowledged North American Indian 

15 tribe. However, under certain conditions a peti16 tioning group may be acknowledged even if its mem17 bership is composed principally of persons whose 

18 names have appeared on rolls of, or who have been 

19 otherwise associated with, an acknowledged Indian 

20 tribe. The conditions are that the group must estab21 lish that it has functioned throughout history until 

22 the present as a separate and autonomous Indian 

23 tribal entity, that its members do not maintain a bi24 lateral political relationship with the acknowledged 

25 tribe, and that its members have provided written 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
18 

•HR 3764 IH

1 confirmation of their membership in the petitioning 

2 group. 

3 (7) Neither the petitioner nor its members are 

4 the subject of congressional legislation that has ex5 pressly terminated or forbidden the Federal relation6 ship. 

7 SEC. 8. PREVIOUS FEDERAL ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Unambiguous previous Federal 

9 acknowledgment shall be acceptable evidence of the tribal 

10 character of a petitioner to the date of the last such pre11 vious acknowledgment. If a petitioner provides substantial 

12 evidence of unambiguous Federal acknowledgment, the pe13 titioner shall only be required to demonstrate that it meets 

14 the requirements of section 7 to the extent required by 

15 this section. A determination of the adequacy of the evi16 dence of previous Federal action acknowledging tribal sta17 tus shall be made during the technical assistance review 

18 of the documented petition conducted pursuant to section 

19 10(b). 

20 (b) EVIDENCE.—Evidence to demonstrate previous 

21 Federal acknowledgment includes evidence that the 

22 group— 

23 (1) has had treaty relations with the United 

24 States; 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
19 

•HR 3764 IH

1 (2) has been denominated a tribe by an Act of 

2 Congress or Executive order; and 

3 (3) has been treated by the Federal Govern4 ment as having collective rights in tribal lands or 

5 funds. 

6 SEC. 9. NOTICE OF RECEIPT OF A PETITION. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after re8 ceiving a letter of intent, or a documented petition if a 

9 letter of intent has not previously been received and no10 ticed, the Assistant Secretary shall acknowledge to the 

11 sender such receipt in writing. Notice under this sub12 section shall— 

13 (1) include the name, location, and mailing ad14 dress of the petitioner and such other information to 

15 identify the entity submitting the letter of intent or 

16 documented petition and the date it was received; 

17 (2) serve to announce the opportunity for inter18 ested parties and informed parties to submit factual 

19 or legal arguments in support of or in opposition to 

20 the petitioner’s request for acknowledgment or to re21 quest to be kept informed of all general actions af22 fecting the petition; and 

23 (3) indicate where a copy of the letter of intent 

24 and the documented petition may be examined. 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
20 

•HR 3764 IH

1 (b) NOTICE TO STATE GOVERNMENTS.—The Assist2 ant Secretary shall notify, in writing— 

3 (1) the Governor and Attorney General of the 

4 State or States in which a petitioner is located; and 

5 (2) any recognized tribe and any other peti6 tioner that— 

7 (A) appears to have a historical or present 

8 relationship with the petitioner; or 

9 (B) may otherwise be considered to have a 

10 potential interest in the acknowledgment deter11 mination. 

12 (c) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 60 days after re13 ceiving a letter of intent, or a documented petition if a 

14 letter of intent has not previously been received and no15 ticed, the Assistant Secretary shall have the notice re16 quired under this section published— 

17 (1) in the Federal Register; and 

18 (2) in a major newspaper or newspapers of gen19 eral circulation in the town or city nearest to the pe20 titioner. 

21 SEC. 10. PROCESSING OF THE DOCUMENTED PETITION. 

22 (a) REVIEW.—Upon receipt of a documented petition, 

23 the Assistant Secretary— 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
21 

•HR 3764 IH

1 (1) shall cause a review to be conducted to de2 termine the extent to which the petitioner has met 

3 the criteria set forth in section 7; 

4 (2) shall include consideration of the docu5 mented petition and the factual statements con6 tained therein; 

7 (3) may initiate other research for any purpose 

8 relative to analyzing the documented petition and 

9 obtaining additional information about the peti10 tioner’s status; and 

11 (4) may consider any evidence which may be 

12 submitted by interested parties or informed parties. 

13 (b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

14 (1) Prior to review of the documented petition 

15 under subsection (a), the Assistant Secretary shall 

16 conduct a preliminary review of the petition in order 

17 to provide technical assistance to the petitioner. 

18 (2) The review under paragraph (1) shall be a 

19 preliminary review for the purpose of providing the 

20 petitioner an opportunity to supplement or revise the 

21 documented petition prior to the review under para22 graph (1). Insofar as possible, technical assistance 

23 reviews under this paragraph will be conducted in 

24 the order of receipt of documented petitions. How25 ever, technical assistance reviews will not have priVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:49 Oct 21, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3764.IH H3764

emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
22 

•HR 3764 IH

1 ority over active consideration of documented peti2 tions. 

3 (3) After the technical assistance review, the 

4 Assistant Secretary shall notify the petitioner by let5 ter of any obvious deficiencies or significant omis6 sions apparent in the documented petition and pro7 vide the petitioner with an opportunity to withdraw 

8 the documented petition for further work or to sub9 mit additional information. 

10 (4) If a petitioner’s documented petition claims 

11 previous Federal acknowledgment or includes evi12 dence of previous Federal acknowledgment, the tech13 nical assistance review shall also include a review to 

14 determine whether that evidence is sufficient to meet 

15 the requirements of previous Federal acknowledg16 ment. 

17 (c) RESPONSE TO TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE RE18 VIEW.— 

19 (1) Petitioners may respond in part or in full 

20 to the technical assistance review letter or request, 

21 in writing, that the Assistant Secretary proceed with 

22 the active consideration of the documented petition 

23 using the materials already submitted. 

24 (2) If the petitioner requests that the materials 

25 submitted in response to the technical assistance reVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:28 Oct 21, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3764.IH H3764

emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
23 

•HR 3764 IH

1 view letter be again reviewed for adequacy, the As2 sistant Secretary shall provide the additional review. 

3 (3) If the assertion of previous Federal ac4 knowledgment under section 8 cannot be substan5 tiated during the technical assistance review, the pe6 titioner may respond by providing additional evi7 dence. A petitioner that claims previous Federal ac8 knowledgment and fails to respond to a technical as9 sistance review letter under this subsection, or whose 

10 response fails to establish the claim, shall have its 

11 documented petition considered on the same basis as 

12 documented petitions submitted by groups not claim13 ing previous Federal acknowledgment. Petitioners 

14 that fail to demonstrate previous Federal acknowl15 edgment after a review of materials submitted in re16 sponse to the technical assistance review shall be so 

17 notified. Such petitioners may submit additional ma18 terials concerning previous acknowledgment during 

19 the course of active consideration. 

20 (d) CONSIDERATION OF DOCUMENTED PETITIONS.— 

21 The Assistant Secretary shall— 

22 (1) review documented petitions in the order 

23 that they are determined ready for review; 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
24 

•HR 3764 IH

1 (2) establish and maintain a numbered register 

2 of documented petitions which have been determined 

3 ready for active consideration; 

4 (3) maintain a numbered register of letters of 

5 intent or incomplete petitions based on the original 

6 date received by the Department of the Interior; and 

7 (4) use the register of letters of intent or in8 complete petitions to determine the order of review 

9 by the Assistant Secretary if two or more docu10 mented petitions are determined ready for review on 

11 the same date. 

12 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after notifying 

13 the petitioner that review of the documented petition has 

14 begun, the Assistant Secretary shall— 

15 (1) submit a report including a summary of the 

16 evidence, findings, petition, and supporting docu17 mentation, to the Committee on Natural Resources 

18 of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

19 on Indian Affairs of the Senate; 

20 (2) notify the petitioner and interested parties 

21 that the review is complete and the report required 

22 under paragraph (1) has been submitted; 

23 (3) provide copies of the report to the petitioner 

24 and interested parties; and 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
25 

•HR 3764 IH

1 (4) provide copies of the report to informed 

2 parties and others upon written request. 

3 SEC. 11. CLARIFICATION OF FEDERAL RECOGNITION AU4 THORITY. 

5 (a) ACT OF CONGRESS REQUIRED.—An Indian group 

6 may receive Federal acknowledgment (or reacknowledg7 ment) as an Indian tribe only by an Act of Congress. The 

8 Secretary may not grant Federal acknowledgment (or re9 acknowledgment) to any Indian group. 

10 (b) PREVIOUS ACKNOWLEDGMENT.—This Act shall 

11 not affect the status of any Indian tribe that was lawfully 

12 federally acknowledged before the date of the enactment 

13 of this Act. 

14 SEC. 12. FORCE AND EFFECT OF REGULATIONS. 

15 Part 83 of title 25, Code of Federal Regulations, 

16 shall have no force or effect. 

Æ 


emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS