I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5236 

To extend the full measure of the Federal Government-to-government relationship between the United States and the Haliwa Saponi Tribe of North 

Carolina. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 18, 2023 

Mr. DAVIS of North Carolina (for himself and Ms. ADAMS) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To extend the full measure of the Federal Government-togovernment relationship between the United States and 

the Haliwa Saponi Tribe of North Carolina. 

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 ‘‘Haliwa Saponi Indian 

5 Tribe of North Carolina Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The Haliwa Saponi Indian Tribe of North 

9 Carolina is a confederated Tribe that is a political 


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1 successor to the historical Saponi Nation and to the 

2 Nansemond and affiliated Tribes that inhabited the 

3 Piedmont and coastal regions of what are now Vir4 ginia and North Carolina. 

5 (2) ‘‘Haliwa’’ is a geographical designation that 

6 is derived from the physical location of the Tribe, 

7 which is primarily in Halifax and Warren Counties, 

8 North Carolina. 

9 (3) In North Carolina, in 1733, the Saponi Na10 tion made peace with the Tuscarora and moved to 

11 a portion of the Tuscarora reservation in modern 

12 Bertie County, North Carolina, occupying a village 

13 known as Sapona Town. 

14 (4) In 1754, Captain William Hurst observed 

15 the residence of Saponi warriors and many women 

16 and children on Colonel William Eaton’s lands in the 

17 Granville District (modern Bertie, Granville, War18 ren, and Vance Counties, North Carolina). 

19 (5) In 1761, the Saponi Indians were living on 

20 10,000 acres of land in the Granville District on and 

21 near the Roanoke River along with the Meherrin and 

22 Tuscarora. 

23 (6) In Virginia, as acknowledged by Congress in 

24 the Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia 

25 Federal Recognition Act of 2017 (Public Law 115– 


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1 121; 132 Stat. 59 et seq.), there were two sections 

2 of the Nansemond Tribe, one of which remained in 

3 Virginia and was accorded Federal recognition in 

4 2018 concurrently with five other Tribes still resi5 dent in Virginia by that same statute. 

6 (7) Another section of the Nansemond Tribe 

7 had migrated to North Carolina due to hostilities in 

8 Virginia, and today enrolled citizens of the Haliwa 

9 Saponi Indian Tribe include lineal descendants of 

10 those Nansemond. 

11 (8) After the American Revolution (1775– 

12 1783), the Nansemond and Saponi merged together 

13 for mutual protection and survival in Halifax, War14 ren, Nash, and Franklin Counties, in an area known 

15 as ‘‘The Meadows’’. 

16 (9) Among the surrounding communities, the 

17 Haliwa Saponi Indian Tribe has often been referred 

18 to as the ‘‘Meadows Indians’’. 

19 (10) In 1889, Warren County, North Carolina 

20 resident G.B. Alston wrote to the Smithsonian Insti21 tution anthropologist James Mooney and confirmed 

22 the residence of a Tribe of 300–600 Indians in the 

23 Meadows in Halifax and Warren Counties. 


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1 (11) The Tribe has continually existed as a sep2 arate community, with leaders exhibiting clear polit3 ical authority. 

4 (12) While local non-Indians recognized the In5 dian and Tribal identity of the Haliwa Saponi, oth6 ers insisted on classifying Tribal citizens as ‘‘col7 ored’’ rather than Indian, due to segregation. 

8 (13) During the era of school segregation, the 

9 Tribe opened its own school, the Haliwa Indian 

10 School, operated with the Tribe’s own funds. 

11 (14) Since 1957 the State of North Carolina 

12 has had continuous dealings with the recognized po13 litical leaders of the Haliwa Saponi. 

14 (15) In 1957, the Tribe opened the Haliwa In15 dian School. 

16 (16) Between 1960 and 1963, students from 

17 the Haliwa Saponi Indian Tribe attended Bacone 

18 College for Indians in Muscogee, Oklahoma. 

19 (17) In 1965, the Haliwa Saponi Indian Tribe 

20 won a lawsuit against the North Carolina Division 

21 of Vital Statistics to correct the race of Haliwa 

22 Saponi citizens on official records to read ‘‘Indian’’. 

23 (18) In 1965 the State of North Carolina took 

24 formal legislative action recognizing the Haliwa 

25 Saponi Indian Tribe. 


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1 (19) The United States has been providing 

2 Federal funding to the Tribe from the Department 

3 of Education’s Office of Indian Education for half a 

4 century. 

5 (20) The United States has been providing 

6 Federal funding to the Tribe for housing and related 

7 infrastructure development from the U.S. Depart8 ment of Housing and Urban Development pursuant 

9 to the Federal Native American Housing and Self10 Determination Act for 25 years. 

11 (21) In 2000, the Tribe opened the Haliwa 

12 Saponi Tribal School, a charter school under the 

13 State of North Carolina, at the location of the origi14 nal Haliwa Indian School, and the school currently 

15 receives Federal funds from the Department of Edu16 cation, Office of Indian Education for Haliwa 

17 Saponi Indian students. 

18 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

19 In this Act: 

20 (1) MEMBER.—The term ‘‘Member’’ means a 

21 member of the Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe of North 

22 Carolina. 

23 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

24 the Secretary of the Interior. 


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1 (3) TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Tribe’’ means the 

2 Haliwa Saponi Tribe of North Carolina. 

3 SEC. 4. EXTENSION OF FULL FEDERAL GOVERNMENT-TO4 GOVERNMENT RELATIONS. 

5 The United States hereby extends to the Haliwa 

6 Saponi Indian Tribe the full measure of the Federal Gov7 ernment-to-government relationship to make all laws (in8 cluding regulations) of the United States of general appli9 cability to Indians or nations, Indian Tribes, or bands of 

10 Indians (including the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 

11 5101 et seq.)) that are not inconsistent with this Act ap12 plicable to the Tribe and Tribal members. 

13 SEC. 5. FEDERAL SERVICES AND BENEFIT. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Tribe and its members shall 

15 be eligible for all services and benefits provided by the 

16 Federal Government to federally recognized Indian Tribes 

17 without regard to the existence of a reservation for the 

18 Tribe, including services and benefits under the Act of 

19 June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 5101 et seq.). 

20 (b) SERVICE AREA.—For the purpose of the delivery 

21 of Federal services and benefits to members, the service 

22 area of the Tribe shall include Halifax, Warren, Nash, 

23 Franklin, Vance, and Granville counties in the State of 

24 North Carolina. 


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1 (c) SERVICE POPULATION.—For purpose of the deliv2 ery of Federal services and benefits described in sub3 section (a), the Tribal roll in effect on the date of enact4 ment of this Act shall, subject to verification by the Sec5 retary, define the service population of the Tribe. 

6 (d) ROLL; GOVERNING DOCUMENTS.—The member7 ship roll and government documents of the Tribe shall be 

8 the most recent membership roll and governing docu9 ments, respectively, submitted by the Tribe to the Sec10 retary before the date of enactment of this Act. 

11 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION TO TAKE LAND INTO TRUST. 

12 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Sec13 retary is authorized to take land into trust for the benefit 

14 of the Tribe and proclaim a reservation for the Tribe pur15 suant to the authorities granted to the Secretary in the 

16 Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 5101 et seq.), and lands 

17 acquired in trust for the Tribe and included in the first 

18 reservation proclamation for the Tribe shall be treated as 

19 an initial reservation that meets the requirements of Pub20 lic Law 100–497, section 20(b)(1)(B)(ii). 

Æ 


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