merce Clause’’) gives Congress authority over Indian 
affairs. 
(2) Such authority is plenary and exclusive. 
(3) Such authority may not be exercised by the 
executive branch, except as expressly delegated by 
an Act of Congress (or by a treaty ratified by the 
Senate before March 1871). 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
As used in this Act: 
(1) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist-
ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of In-
dian Affairs, or that officer’s authorized representa-
tive. 
(2) AUTONOMOUS.—The term ‘‘autonomous’’ 
means the exercise of political influence or authority 
independent of the control of any other Indian gov-
erning entity. Autonomous must be understood in 
the context of the history, geography, culture and 
social organization of the petitioning group. 
(3) COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘Community’’ 
means any group of people which can demonstrate 
that consistent interactions and significant social re-
lationships exist within its membership and that its 
members are differentiated from and identified as 
distinct from nonmembers. Community must be un-
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derstood in the context of the history, geography, 
culture and social organization of the group. 
(4) CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES.—The term 
‘‘continental United States’’ means the contiguous 
48 States and Alaska. 
(5) CONTINUOUSLY
OR
CONTINUOUS.—The 
term ‘‘continuously or continuous’’ means extending 
from first sustained contact with non-Indians 
throughout the group’s history to the present sub-
stantially without interruption. 
(6) DOCUMENTED PETITION.—The term ‘‘docu-
mented petition’’ means the detailed arguments 
made by a petitioner to substantiate its claim to con-
tinuous existence as an Indian tribe, together with 
the factual exposition and all documentary evidence 
necessary to demonstrate that these arguments ad-
dress the mandatory criteria. 
(7) HISTORICALLY, HISTORICAL OR HISTORY.— 
The term ‘‘historically, historical or history’’ means 
dating from first sustained contact with non-Indians. 
(8) INDIAN GROUP OR GROUP.—The term ‘‘In-
dian group or group’’ means any Indian or Alaska 
Native aggregation within the continental United 
States that the Secretary of the Interior does not ac-
knowledge to be an Indian tribe. Indian tribe, also 
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referred to herein as tribe, means any Indian or 
Alaska Native tribe, band, pueblo, village, or com-
munity within the continental United States that the 
Secretary of the Interior has lawfully acknowledged 
as an Indian tribe. 
(9) 
INDIGENOUS.—The 
term 
‘‘indigenous’’ 
means native to the continental United States in 
that at least part of the petitioner’s territory at the 
time of sustained contact extended into what is now 
the continental United States. 
(10) INFORMED PARTY.—The term ‘‘informed 
party’’ means any person or organization, other than 
an interested party, who requests an opportunity to 
submit comments or evidence or to be kept informed 
of general actions regarding a specific petitioner. 
(11) INTERESTED
PARTY.—The term ‘‘inter-
ested party’’ means any person, organization or 
other entity who can establish a legal, factual or 
property interest in an acknowledgment determina-
tion and who requests an opportunity to submit 
comments or evidence or to be kept informed of gen-
eral actions regarding a specific petitioner. ‘‘Inter-
ested party’’ includes the governor and attorney gen-
eral of the State in which a petitioner is located, and 
may include, but is not limited to, local govern-
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mental units, and any recognized Indian tribes and 
unrecognized Indian groups that might be affected 
by an acknowledgment determination. 
(12) LETTER OF INTENT.—The term ‘‘letter of 
intent’’ means an undocumented letter or resolution 
by which an Indian group requests Federal acknowl-
edgment as an Indian tribe and expresses its intent 
to submit a documented petition. 
(13) 
PETITIONER.—The 
term 
‘‘petitioner’’ 
means any entity that has submitted a letter of in-
tent to the Secretary requesting acknowledgment 
that it is an Indian tribe. 
(14) POLITICAL INFLUENCE OR AUTHORITY.— 
The term ‘‘political influence or authority’’ means a 
tribal council, leadership, internal process or other 
mechanism which the group has used as a means of 
influencing or controlling the behavior of its mem-
bers in significant respects, and/or making decisions 
for the group which substantially affect its members, 
and/or representing the group in dealing with out-
siders in matters of consequence. This process is to 
be understood in the context of the history, culture 
and social organization of the group. 
(15) 
PREVIOUS
FEDERAL
ACKNOWLEDG-
MENT.—The term ‘‘previous Federal acknowledg-
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ment’’ means action by the Federal Government 
clearly premised on identification of a tribal political 
entity and indicating clearly the recognition of a re-
lationship between that entity and the United 
States. 
(16) 
SECRETARY.—The 
term 
‘‘Secretary’’ 
means the Secretary of the Interior or that officer’s 
authorized representative. 
(17) SUSTAINED
CONTACT.—The term ‘‘sus-
tained contact’’ means the period of earliest sus-
tained non-Indian settlement and/or governmental 
presence in the local area in which the historical 
tribe or tribes from which the petitioner descends 
was located historically. 
SEC. 4. GROUPS ELIGIBLE TO SUBMIT PETITIONS. 
(a) ELIGIBLE GROUPS.—Indian groups indigenous to 
the continental United States that are not federally recog-
nized Indian tribes on the date of the enactment of this 
Act may submit a petition under this Act. 
(b) INELIGIBLE GROUPS.—The following may not 
submit a petition under this Act: 
(1) Splinter groups, political factions, commu-
nities or groups of any character that separate from 
the main body of a federally recognized Indian tribe, 
unless they can establish clearly that they have func-
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tioned throughout history until the present as an au-
tonomous tribal entity, even if they have been re-
garded by some as part of or have been associated 
in some manner with a federally recognized Indian 
tribe. 
(2) Indian tribes, organized bands, pueblos, 
Alaska native villages, or communities that have 
been lawfully acknowledged to be federally recog-
nized Indian tribes and are receiving services from 
the Bureau of Indian Affairs. 
(3) Groups that petitioned and were denied 
Federal acknowledgment under part 83 of title 25, 
Code of Federal Regulations, including reorganized 
or reconstituted petitioners previously denied, or 
splinter groups, spin-offs, or component groups of 
any type that were once part of petitioners pre-
viously denied. 
(c) GROUPS WITH PETITIONS IN PROGRESS.—This 
Act, including the criteria in section 7, shall apply to any 
Indian group whose documented petition was submitted 
and not denied on the date of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 5. FILING A LETTER OF INTENT. 
Any Indian group in the continental United States 
that believes it should be acknowledged as an Indian tribe 
and that it can satisfy the criteria in this Act may submit 
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a letter of intent requesting acknowledgment that an In-
dian group exists as an Indian tribe. The letter of intent 
submitted under this section— 
(1) shall be filed with the Assistant Secretary— 
Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior; 
(2) may be filed in advance of, or at the same 
time as, a group’s documented petition; and 
(3) shall be produced, dated and signed by the 
governing body of an Indian group. 
SEC. 6. DUTIES OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY. 
(a) GUIDELINES.—The Assistant Secretary shall 
make available guidelines for the preparation of docu-
mented petitions. These guidelines shall— 
(1) include an explanation of the criteria, a dis-
cussion of the types of evidence which may be used 
to demonstrate particular criteria, and general sug-
gestions and guidelines on how and where to conduct 
research; 
(2) include an example of a documented peti-
tion format which shall provide guidance, but not 
preclude the use of any other format; and 
(3) may be supplemented or updated as nec-
essary. 
(b) RESEARCH AND PREPARATION OF PETITION.— 
The Assistant Secretary— 
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(1) shall provide petitioners with suggestions 
and advice regarding preparation of the documented 
petition; and 
(2) shall not be responsible for the actual re-
search on behalf of the petitioner. 
SEC. 7. CRITERIA FOR FEDERAL ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 
The criteria for consideration for Federal acknowl-
edgment is, at a minimum, the following: 
(1) The petitioner has been identified as an 
American Indian entity on a substantially contin-
uous basis since 1900. Evidence that the group’s 
character as an Indian entity has from time to time 
been denied shall not be considered to be conclusive 
evidence that this criterion has not been met. Evi-
dence to be relied upon in determining a group’s In-
dian identity may include one or a combination of 
the following, as well as other evidence of identifica-
tion by other than the petitioner itself or its mem-
bers: 
(A) Identification as an Indian entity by 
Federal authorities. 
(B) Relationships with State governments 
based on identification of the group as Indian. 
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(C) Dealings with a county, parish, or 
other local government in a relationship based 
on the group’s Indian identity. 
(D) Identification as an Indian entity by 
anthropologists, historians, and/or other schol-
ars. 
(E) Identification as an Indian entity in 
newspapers and books. 
(F) Identification as an Indian entity in 
relationships with Indian tribes or with na-
tional, regional, or State Indian organizations. 
(2) A predominant portion of the petitioning 
group comprises a distinct community and has ex-
isted as a community from historical times until the 
present. 
(A) This criterion may be demonstrated by 
some combination of the following evidence and/ 
or other evidence that the petitioner meets the 
definition of community: 
(i) Significant rates of marriage with-
in the group, and/or, as may be culturally 
required, patterned out-marriages with 
other Indian populations. 
(ii) Significant social relationships 
connecting individual members. 
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(iii) Significant rates of informal so-
cial interaction which exist broadly among 
the members of a group. 
(iv) A significant degree of shared or 
cooperative labor or other economic activity 
among the membership. 
(v) Evidence of strong patterns of dis-
crimination or other social distinctions by 
nonmembers. 
(vi) Shared sacred or secular ritual 
activity encompassing most of the group. 
(vii) Cultural patterns shared among 
a significant portion of the group that are 
different from those of the non-Indian pop-
ulations with whom it interacts. These pat-
terns must function as more than a sym-
bolic identification of the group as Indian. 
They may include, but are not limited to, 
language, kinship organization, or religious 
beliefs and practices. 
(viii) The persistence of a named, col-
lective Indian identity continuously over a 
period of more than 50 years, notwith-
standing changes in name. 
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(ix) A demonstration of historical po-
litical influence under the criterion in para-
graph (3) shall be evidence for dem-
onstrating historical community. 
(B) A petitioner shall be considered to 
have provided sufficient evidence of community 
at a given point in time if evidence is provided 
to demonstrate any one of the following: 
(i) More than 50 percent of the mem-
bers reside in a geographical area exclu-
sively or almost exclusively composed of 
members of the group, and the balance of 
the group maintains consistent interaction 
with some members of the community. 
(ii) At least 50 percent of the mar-
riages in the group are between members 
of the group. 
(iii) At least 50 percent of the group 
members maintain distinct cultural pat-
terns such as, but not limited to, language, 
kinship organization, or religious beliefs 
and practices. 
(iv) There are distinct community so-
cial institutions encompassing most of the 
members, such as kinship organizations, 
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formal or informal economic cooperation, 
or religious organizations. 
(v) The group has met the criterion in 
paragraph (3) using evidence described in 
paragraph (3)(B). 
(3) The petitioner has maintained political in-
fluence or authority over its members as an autono-
mous entity from historical times until the present. 
(A) This criterion may be demonstrated by 
some combination of the evidence listed below 
and/or by other evidence that the petitioner 
meets the definition of political influence or au-
thority: 
(i) The group is able to mobilize sig-
nificant numbers of members and signifi-
cant resources from its members for group 
purposes. 
(ii) Most of the membership considers 
issues acted upon or actions taken by 
group leaders or governing bodies to be of 
importance. 
(iii) There is widespread knowledge, 
communication and involvement in political 
processes by most of the group’s members. 
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(iv) The group meets the criterion in 
paragraph (2) at more than a minimal 
level. 
(v) There are internal conflicts which 
show controversy over valued group goals, 
properties, policies, processes and/or deci-
sions. 
(B) A petitioning group shall be considered 
to have provided sufficient evidence to dem-
onstrate the exercise of political influence or au-
thority at a given point in time by dem-
onstrating that group leaders and/or other 
mechanisms exist or existed which— 
(i) allocate group resources such as 
land, residence rights and the like on a 
consistent basis; 
(ii) settle disputes between members 
or subgroups by mediation or other means 
on a regular basis; 
(iii) exert strong influence on the be-
havior of individual members, such as the 
establishment or maintenance of norms 
and the enforcement of sanctions to direct 
or control behavior; and 
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(iv) organize or influence economic 
subsistence activities among the members, 
including shared or cooperative labor. 
(C) A group that has met the requirements 
in paragraph (2)(B) at a given point in time 
shall be considered to have provided sufficient 
evidence to meet this criterion at that point in 
time. 
(4) A copy of the group’s present governing 
document including its membership criteria. In the 
absence of a written document, the petitioner must 
provide a statement describing in full its member-
ship criteria and current governing procedures. 
(5) The petitioner’s membership consists of in-
dividuals who descend from a historical Indian tribe 
or from historical Indian tribes which combined and 
functioned as a single autonomous political entity. 
(A) Some types of evidence that can be 
used for this purpose include the following: 
(i) Rolls prepared by the Secretary on 
a descendancy basis for purposes of dis-
tributing claims money, providing allot-
ments, or other purposes. 
(ii) State, Federal, or other official 
records or evidence identifying present 
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members or ancestors of present members 
as being descendants of a historical tribe 
or tribes that combined and functioned as 
a single autonomous political entity. 
(iii) Church, school, and other similar 
enrollment 
records 
identifying 
present 
members or ancestors of present members 
as being descendants of a historical tribe 
or tribes that combined and functioned as 
a single autonomous political entity. 
(iv) Affidavits of recognition by tribal 
elders, leaders, or the tribal governing body 
identifying present members or ancestors 
of present members as being descendants 
of a historical tribe or tribes that combined 
and functioned as a single autonomous po-
litical entity. 
(v) Other records or evidence identi-
fying present members or ancestors of 
present members as being descendants of a 
historical tribe or tribes that combined and 
functioned as a single autonomous political 
entity. 
(B) The petitioner must provide an official 
membership list, separately certified by the 
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group’s governing body, of all known current 
members of the group. This list must include 
each member’s full name (including maiden 
name), date of birth, and current residential ad-
dress. The petitioner must also provide a copy 
of each available former list of members based 
on the group’s own defined criteria, as well as 
a statement describing the circumstances sur-
rounding the preparation of the current list 
and, insofar as possible, the circumstances sur-
rounding the preparation of former lists. 
(6) The membership of the petitioning group is 
composed principally of persons who are not mem-
bers of any acknowledged North American Indian 
tribe. However, under certain conditions a peti-
tioning group may be acknowledged even if its mem-
bership is composed principally of persons whose 
names have appeared on rolls of, or who have been 
otherwise associated with, an acknowledged Indian 
tribe. The conditions are that the group must estab-
lish that it has functioned throughout history until 
the present as a separate and autonomous Indian 
tribal entity, that its members do not maintain a bi-
lateral political relationship with the acknowledged 
tribe, and that its members have provided written 
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confirmation of their membership in the petitioning 
group. 
(7) Neither the petitioner nor its members are 
the subject of congressional legislation that has ex-
pressly terminated or forbidden the Federal relation-
ship. 
SEC. 8. PREVIOUS FEDERAL ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Unambiguous previous Federal 
acknowledgment shall be acceptable evidence of the tribal 
character of a petitioner to the date of the last such pre-
vious acknowledgment. If a petitioner provides substantial 
evidence of unambiguous Federal acknowledgment, the pe-
titioner shall only be required to demonstrate that it meets 
the requirements of section 7 to the extent required by 
this section. A determination of the adequacy of the evi-
dence of previous Federal action acknowledging tribal sta-
tus shall be made during the technical assistance review 
of the documented petition conducted pursuant to section 
10(b). 
(b) EVIDENCE.—Evidence to demonstrate previous 
Federal acknowledgment includes evidence that the 
group— 
(1) has had treaty relations with the United 
States; 
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(2) has been denominated a tribe by an Act of 
Congress or Executive order; and 
(3) has been treated by the Federal Govern-
ment as having collective rights in tribal lands or 
funds. 
SEC. 9. NOTICE OF RECEIPT OF A PETITION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after re-
ceiving a letter of intent, or a documented petition if a 
letter of intent has not previously been received and no-
ticed, the Assistant Secretary shall acknowledge to the 
sender such receipt in writing. Notice under this sub-
section shall— 
(1) include the name, location, and mailing ad-
dress of the petitioner and such other information to 
identify the entity submitting the letter of intent or 
documented petition and the date it was received; 
(2) serve to announce the opportunity for inter-
ested parties and informed parties to submit factual 
or legal arguments in support of or in opposition to 
the petitioner’s request for acknowledgment or to re-
quest to be kept informed of all general actions af-
fecting the petition; and 
(3) indicate where a copy of the letter of intent 
and the documented petition may be examined. 
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(b) NOTICE TO STATE GOVERNMENTS.—The Assist-
ant Secretary shall notify, in writing— 
(1) the Governor and Attorney General of the 
State or States in which a petitioner is located; and 
(2) any recognized tribe and any other peti-
tioner that— 
(A) appears to have a historical or present 
relationship with the petitioner; or 
(B) may otherwise be considered to have a 
potential interest in the acknowledgment deter-
mination. 
(c) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 60 days after re-
ceiving a letter of intent, or a documented petition if a 
letter of intent has not previously been received and no-
ticed, the Assistant Secretary shall have the notice re-
quired under this section published— 
(1) in the Federal Register; and 
(2) in a major newspaper or newspapers of gen-
eral circulation in the town or city nearest to the pe-
titioner. 
SEC. 10. PROCESSING OF THE DOCUMENTED PETITION. 
(a) REVIEW.—Upon receipt of a documented petition, 
the Assistant Secretary— 
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(1) shall cause a review to be conducted to de-
termine the extent to which the petitioner has met 
the criteria set forth in section 7; 
(2) shall include consideration of the docu-
mented petition and the factual statements con-
tained therein; 
(3) may initiate other research for any purpose 
relative to analyzing the documented petition and 
obtaining additional information about the peti-
tioner’s status; and 
(4) may consider any evidence which may be 
submitted by interested parties or informed parties. 
(b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 
(1) Prior to review of the documented petition 
under subsection (a), the Assistant Secretary shall 
conduct a preliminary review of the petition in order 
to provide technical assistance to the petitioner. 
(2) The review under paragraph (1) shall be a 
preliminary review for the purpose of providing the 
petitioner an opportunity to supplement or revise the 
documented petition prior to the review under para-
graph (1). Insofar as possible, technical assistance 
reviews under this paragraph will be conducted in 
the order of receipt of documented petitions. How-
ever, technical assistance reviews will not have pri-
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ority over active consideration of documented peti-
tions. 
(3) After the technical assistance review, the 
Assistant Secretary shall notify the petitioner by let-
ter of any obvious deficiencies or significant omis-
sions apparent in the documented petition and pro-
vide the petitioner with an opportunity to withdraw 
the documented petition for further work or to sub-
mit additional information. 
(4) If a petitioner’s documented petition claims 
previous Federal acknowledgment or includes evi-
dence of previous Federal acknowledgment, the tech-
nical assistance review shall also include a review to 
determine whether that evidence is sufficient to meet 
the requirements of previous Federal acknowledg-
ment. 
(c) RESPONSE
TO TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE RE-
VIEW.— 
(1) Petitioners may respond in part or in full 
to the technical assistance review letter or request, 
in writing, that the Assistant Secretary proceed with 
the active consideration of the documented petition 
using the materials already submitted. 
(2) If the petitioner requests that the materials 
submitted in response to the technical assistance re-
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view letter be again reviewed for adequacy, the As-
sistant Secretary shall provide the additional review. 
(3) If the assertion of previous Federal ac-
knowledgment under section 8 cannot be substan-
tiated during the technical assistance review, the pe-
titioner may respond by providing additional evi-
dence. A petitioner that claims previous Federal ac-
knowledgment and fails to respond to a technical as-
sistance review letter under this subsection, or whose 
response fails to establish the claim, shall have its 
documented petition considered on the same basis as 
documented petitions submitted by groups not claim-
ing previous Federal acknowledgment. Petitioners 
that fail to demonstrate previous Federal acknowl-
edgment after a review of materials submitted in re-
sponse to the technical assistance review shall be so 
notified. Such petitioners may submit additional ma-
terials concerning previous acknowledgment during 
the course of active consideration. 
(d) CONSIDERATION OF DOCUMENTED PETITIONS.— 
The Assistant Secretary shall— 
(1) review documented petitions in the order 
that they are determined ready for review; 
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(2) establish and maintain a numbered register 
of documented petitions which have been determined 
ready for active consideration; 
(3) maintain a numbered register of letters of 
intent or incomplete petitions based on the original 
date received by the Department of the Interior; and 
(4) use the register of letters of intent or in-
complete petitions to determine the order of review 
by the Assistant Secretary if two or more docu-
mented petitions are determined ready for review on 
the same date. 
(e) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after notifying 
the petitioner that review of the documented petition has 
begun, the Assistant Secretary shall— 
(1) submit a report including a summary of the 
evidence, findings, petition, and supporting docu-
mentation, to the Committee on Natural Resources 
of the House of Representatives and the Committee 
on Indian Affairs of the Senate; 
(2) notify the petitioner and interested parties 
that the review is complete and the report required 
under paragraph (1) has been submitted; 
(3) provide copies of the report to the petitioner 
and interested parties; and 
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(4) provide copies of the report to informed 
parties and others upon written request. 
SEC. 11. CLARIFICATION OF FEDERAL RECOGNITION AU-
THORITY. 
(a) ACT OF CONGRESS REQUIRED.—An Indian group 
may receive Federal acknowledgment (or reacknowledg-
ment) as an Indian tribe only by an Act of Congress. The 
Secretary may not grant Federal acknowledgment (or re-
acknowledgment) to any Indian group. 
(b) PREVIOUS ACKNOWLEDGMENT.—This Act shall 
not affect the status of any Indian tribe that was lawfully 
federally acknowledged before the date of the enactment 
of this Act. 
SEC. 12. FORCE AND EFFECT OF REGULATIONS. 
Part 83 of title 25, Code of Federal Regulations, 
shall have no force or effect. 
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