Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe of North Carolina Recognition Act

To extend Federal recognition to the Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe of North Carolina, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe of North Carolina Recognition Act 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) The Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe of North Carolina is a confederated Tribe that is a political successor to the historical Saponi Nation and to the Nansemond and affiliated Tribes that inhabited the Piedmont and coastal regions of what are now Virginia and North Carolina. (2) Haliwa (3) In North Carolina, in 1733, the Saponi Nation made peace with the Tuscarora and moved to a portion of the Tuscarora reservation in modern Bertie County, North Carolina, occupying a village known as Sapona Town. (4) In 1754, Captain William Hurst observed the residence of Saponi warriors and many women and children on Colonel William Eaton’s lands in the Granville District (modern Granville, Warren, and Vance Counties, North Carolina). (5) In 1761, the Saponi Indians were living on 10,000 acres of land in the Granville District on and near the Roanoke River (modern-day Warren County, North Carolina), along with the Meherrin and Tuscarora. (6) In Virginia, as acknowledged by Congress in the Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act of 2017 ( Public Law 115–121 (7) Another section of the Nansemond Tribe had migrated to North Carolina due to hostilities in Virginia, and today enrolled citizens of the Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe include lineal descendants of those Nansemond. (8) After the American Revolution (1775–1783), the Nansemond and Saponi merged together for mutual protection and survival in Halifax, Warren, Nash, and Franklin Counties, in an area known as The Meadows (9) Among the surrounding communities, the Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe has often been referred to as the Meadows Indians (10) In 1889, Warren County, North Carolina resident G.B. Alston wrote to the Smithsonian Institution anthropologist James Mooney and confirmed the residence of a Tribe of 300–600 Indians in the Meadows in Halifax and Warren Counties. (11) The Tribe has continually existed as a separate community, with leaders exhibiting clear political authority. (12) While local non-Indians recognized the Indian and Tribal identity of the Haliwa-Saponi, others insisted on classifying Tribal citizens as colored (13) During the era of school segregation, the Tribe opened its own school, the Haliwa Indian School, operated with the Tribe’s own funds. (14) Since 1957 the State of North Carolina has had continuous dealings with the recognized political leaders of the Haliwa-Saponi. (15) In 1957, the Tribe opened the Haliwa Indian School. (16) Between 1960 and 1963, students from the Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe attended Bacone College for Indians in Muscogee, Oklahoma. (17) In 1965, the Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe won a lawsuit against the North Carolina Division of Vital Statistics to correct the race of Haliwa-Saponi citizens on official records to read Indian (18) In 1965 the State of North Carolina took formal legislative action recognizing the Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe. (19) In the early 1970s, local public school districts started receiving Federal funds from the Department of Education, Office of Indian Education, for Haliwa-Saponi Indian students. (20) In 1998, the Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe began receiving a formula allocation from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act. (21) In 2000, the Tribe opened the Haliwa-Saponi Tribal School, a charter school under the State of North Carolina, at the location of the original Haliwa Indian School, and the school currently receives Federal funds from the Department of Education, Office of Indian Education for Haliwa-Saponi Indian students. 3. Definitions In this Act: (1) Member The term Member (2) Secretary The term Secretary (3) Tribe The term Tribe 4. Federal recognition (a) In general Federal recognition is extended to the Tribe. (b) Applicability of laws All laws (including regulations) of the United States of general applicability to Indians or nations, Indian Tribes, or bands of Indians (including the Act of June 18, 1934 ( 25 U.S.C. 5101 et seq. 5. Federal services and benefit (a) In general The Tribe and its members shall be eligible for all services and benefits provided by the Federal Government to federally recognized Indian Tribes without regard to the existence of a reservation for the Tribe, including services and benefits under the Act of June 18, 1934 ( 25 U.S.C. 5101 et seq. (b) Service area For the purpose of the delivery of Federal services and benefits to members, the service area of the Tribe shall include Halifax, Warren, Nash, Franklin, Vance, and Granville counties in the State of North Carolina. (c) Service population For purpose of the delivery of Federal services and benefits described in subsection (a), the Tribal roll in effect on the date of enactment of this Act shall, subject to verification by the Secretary, define the service population of the Tribe. (d) Roll; governing documents The membership roll and government documents of the Tribe shall be the most recent membership roll and governing documents, respectively, submitted by the Tribe to the Secretary before the date of enactment of this Act. 6. Authorization to take land into trust Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary is authorized to take land into trust for the benefit of the Tribe and proclaim a reservation for the Tribe pursuant to the authorities granted to the Secretary in the Act of June 18, 1934 ( 25 U.S.C. 5101 et seq.

Summary: Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe of North Carolina Recognition Act This bill extends federal recognition to the Haliwa-Saponi Tribe of North Carolina. The bill makes the tribe and its members eligible for services and benefits provided to federally recognized tribes, without regard to the existence of a reservation. The service area of the tribe shall include Halifax, Warren, Nash, Franklin, Vance, and Granville Counties in North Carolina. The tribe must submit the most recent membership roll and governing documents to the Department of the Interior. The bill also authorizes Interior to take land into trust for the benefit of the tribe and proclaim a reservation for the tribe.