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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 28 (Wednesday, February 12, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9434-9435]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-02510]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs

[256A2100DD AAKP300000 A0A501010.000000]

Presidential Memorandum; Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice publishes the Presidential Memorandum titled 
``Federal Recognition of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.''

DATES: The Presidential memorandum was issued on January 23, 2025.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Oliver Whaley, Director, Office of 
Regulatory Affairs and Collaborative Action, Office of the Assistant 
Secretary--Indian Affairs, (202) 738-6065.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On January 23, 2025, the President of the 
United States issued a Presidential memorandum (PM) to the Secretary of 
the Interior (Secretary) titled ``Federal Recognition of the Lumbee 
Tribe of North Carolina,'' which directs the Secretary to review ``all 
applicable authorities regarding the recognition or acknowledgement of 
Indian tribes'' and, in consultation with the leadership of the Lumbee 
Tribe of North Carolina, ``submit to the President a plan to assist the 
Lumbee Tribe in obtaining full Federal recognition through legislation 
or other available mechanisms, including the right to receive full 
Federal benefits'' within 90 days of the date of the PM. The PM further 
authorizes and directs the Secretary to publish the PM in the Federal 
Register.

Bryan Mercier,
Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Exercising the delegated authority 
of the Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.

Federal Recognition of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina

January 23, 2025

Memorandum for the Secretary of the Interior

Subject: Federal Recognition of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina

    Section 1. Purpose and Policy. The Lumbee Tribe of North 
Carolina, known as the People of the Dark Water, have a long and 
storied history. The tribe's members were descendants of several 
tribal nations from the Algonquian, Iroquoian, and Siouan language 
families, including the Hatteras, the Tuscarora, and the Cheraw. The 
waters of the Lumbee River and lands that surround it have protected 
and provided for the Lumbee people for centuries despite war, 
disease, and many other perils.

[[Page 9435]]

    In 1885, the State of North Carolina recognized the Lumbee 
people as an Indian tribe. 1885 N.C. Sess. Laws 92. In 1956, 
President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Lumbee Act (Pub. L. 84-
570, 70 Stat. 254), which recognized the Lumbee as the Lumbee 
Indians of North Carolina but denied the Lumbee Indians the Federal 
benefits associated with such recognition. Today, according to the 
State of North Carolina, the Lumbee Tribe consists of more than 
55,000 members, making it the largest tribe east of the Mississippi 
River and the ninth-largest tribe in the Nation.
    In 2024, the United States House of Representatives passed, by a 
vote of 311-96, the Lumbee Fairness Act (H.R. 1101), which would 
grant to the Lumbee Tribe full Federal recognition, but this 
legislation was not considered by the United States Senate before 
the end of the 118th Congress. Similar legislation has passed the 
House of Representatives several times.
    Considering the Lumbee Tribe's historical and modern 
significance, it is the policy of the United States to support the 
full Federal recognition, including the authority to receive full 
Federal benefits, of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.
    Sec. 2. Directive for Recognition Plan. (a) Within 90 days of 
the date of this memorandum, the Secretary of the Interior shall 
review all applicable authorities regarding the recognition or 
acknowledgement of Indian tribes and, in consultation with the 
leadership of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, shall submit to 
the President a plan to assist the Lumbee Tribe in obtaining full 
Federal recognition through legislation or other available 
mechanisms, including the right to receive full Federal benefits.
    (b) The plan shall include consideration and analysis of each 
potential legal pathway to effectuate the full Federal recognition 
of the Lumbee Tribe, including through an act of Congress, judicial 
action, or the Procedures for Federal Acknowledgement of Indian 
Tribes set forth in 25 CFR part 83.
    (c) The Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed to 
publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.

[FR Doc. 2025-02510 Filed 2-11-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4337-15-P
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