I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4933

To require the prompt review by the Secretary of the Interior of the longstanding petition by the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe for Federal recognition, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 22, 2004

Mr. DELAHUNT (for himself, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. FRANK of 

Massachusetts, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. OLVER, 

and Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Resources 

A BILL

To require the prompt review by the Secretary of the Interior 

of the long-standing petition by the Mashpee Wampanoag 

Tribe for Federal recognition, 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; FINDINGS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Petition Act’’. 

6 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe is an 

8 American Indian tribe as recognized by the State of 
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1 Massachusetts with a main land base consisting of 

2 55 tribally owned acres in the town of Mashpee, 

3 Massachusetts, which is located near the south4 western end of Cape Cod. 

5 (2) On November 9, 1620, the Mashpee 

6 Wampanoag Tribe greeted 102 pilgrims from Plym7 outh, England, at what became known as ‘‘Plymouth 

8 Rock’’. 

9 (3) After teaching the Pilgrims to survive and 

10 flourish in their new land, the Mashpee Wampanoag 

11 Tribe hosted the first Thanksgiving in 1621. 

12 (4) In 1685, King James II of England allotted 

13 16,500 acres to the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. In 

14 1835, an additional allotment of approximately 

15 10,000 acres was granted to individual Mashpee 

16 Wampanoags by an act of the General Court of 

17 Massachusetts. 

18 (5) In 1976, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe 

19 submitted a petition for Federal recognition to the 

20 Secretary of the Interior. 

21 (6) In 1996, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe 

22 was placed on the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ ‘‘ready, 

23 waiting for active consideration’’ list. 

24 (7) In December 2001, a United States district 

25 court ruled that the Bureau of Indian Affairs unduly 
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1 delayed the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s Federal 

2 recognition petition and ordered the Bureau to reach 

3 an initial decision on recognition within six months. 

4 (8) Notwithstanding the order of the district 

5 court, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe still awaits a 

6 decision on Federal recognition 28 years after peti7 tioning the Secretary of the Interior and 384 years 

8 after welcoming the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock. 

9 SEC. 2. PROMPT CONSIDERATION OF MASHPEE 

10 WAMPANOAG TRIBE PETITION REQUESTING 

11 FEDERAL RECOGNITION AS AN INDIAN 

12 TRIBE. 

13 (a) TIME PERIOD FOR PROPOSED FINDING.—Not 

14 later than four months after the date of the enactment 

15 of this Act, the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for In16 dian Affairs shall publish a proposed finding with respect 

17 to the petition for Federal recognition as an Indian tribe 

18 by the Secretary of the Interior consistent with part 83 

19 of title 25, Code of Federal Regulations, submitted by the 

20 Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe in 1976. 

21 (b) TIME PERIOD FOR FINAL DETERMINATION.—

22 Not later than one year after the date of the enactment 

23 of this Act, the Assistant Secretary of the Interior for In24 dian Affairs shall publish a final determination with re-
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1 spect to the petition for Federal recognition described in 

2 subsection (a). 

3 (c) NUMBER OF MEMBERS NOT A FACTOR.—The 

4 number of persons listed on the membership roll contained 

5 in the petition for Federal recognition described in sub6 section (a) shall not be taken into account in considering 

7 the petition, except that the Assistant Secretary of the In8 terior for Indian Affairs may review the eligibility of indi9 vidual members or groups listed in the petition in accord10 ance with the provisions of part 83 of title 25, Code of 

11 Federal Regulations. 

12 (d) EFFECT OF FAILURE TO COMPLY.—If the Assist13 ant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs fails to 

14 publish the proposed finding required by subsection (a) 

15 or the final determination required by subsection (b) by 

16 the end of the time period required for the proposed find17 ing or final determination by such subsections, the Mash18 pee Wampanoag Tribe may—

19 (1) treat such failure as final agency action re20 fusing to recognize the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe 

21 as an Indian tribe; and 

22 (2) seek in United States district court a deter23 mination of whether the petitioner should be recog24 nized as an Indian tribe in accordance with the cri-
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1 teria specified in section 83.7 of title 25, Code of 

2 Federal Regulations. 

3 (e) REVIEW OF ADVERSE DECISION.—If the final de4 termination required by subsection (b) refuses to recognize 

5 the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe as an Indian tribe, the 

6 Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe may seek, during the one-year 

7 period beginning on the date on which the final determina8 tion is published, a review of the determination in a 

9 United States district court notwithstanding the avail10 ability of other administrative remedies. 

11 SEC. 3. NO DELAY FOR PETITIONS AWAITING ACTIVE CON12 SIDERATION. 

13 It is the sense of the Congress that the prompt review 

14 of the petition for Federal recognition described in section 

15 2(a) will not unnecessarily delay the review of pending 

16 fully documented petitions for Federal recognition as an 

17 Indian tribe awaiting active consideration as of the date 

18 of the enactment of this Act.

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