Commission for a determination of tribal mem-
bership shall include the following items: 
(i) 
DESCENDANCY
ROLLS.— 
Descendancy rolls prepared by the Sec-
retary for the petitioner for purposes of 
distributing claims money, providing allot-
ments, or other purposes. 
(ii) CERTAIN
OFFICIAL
RECORDS.— 
Federal, State, or other official records or 
evidence identifying then present members 
of the petitioner, or ancestors of then 
present members of the petitioner, as being 
descendants of a historic tribe or historic 
tribes that combined and functioned as a 
single autonomous political entity. 
(iii) 
ENROLLMENT
RECORDS.— 
Church, school, and other similar enroll-
ment records identifying then present 
members or ancestors of then present 
members as being descendants of a historic 
tribe or historic tribes that combined and 
functioned as a single autonomous political 
entity. 
(iv) AFFIDAVITS OF RECOGNITION.— 
Affidavits of recognition by tribal elders,
leaders, or the tribal governing body identi-
fying then present members or ancestors of 
then present members as being descend-
ants of 1 or more historic tribes that com-
bined and functioned as a single autono-
mous political entity. 
(v) OTHER RECORDS OR EVIDENCE.— 
Other records or evidence based upon first-
hand experience of historians, anthropolo-
gists, and genealogists with established ex-
pertise on the petitioner or Indian entities 
in general, identifying then present mem-
bers or ancestors of then present members 
as being descendants of 1 or more historic 
tribes that combined and functioned as a 
single autonomous political entity. 
(c) EXCEPTIONS.—A documented petition from an 
Indian group that is able to demonstrate by a preponder-
ance of the evidence that the group was, or is the suc-
cessor in interest to, a— 
(1) party to a treaty or treaties; 
(2) group acknowledged by any agency of the 
Federal Government as eligible to participate under 
the Act of June 18, 1934 (commonly referred to as
the ‘‘Indian Reorganization Act’’) (48 Stat. 984 et 
seq., chapter 576; 25 U.S.C. 461 et seq.); 
(3) group for the benefit of which the United 
States took into trust lands, or which the Federal 
Government has treated as having collective rights 
in tribal lands or funds; or 
(4) group that has been denominated a tribe by 
an Act of Congress or Executive order, 
shall be required to establish the criteria set forth in this 
section only with respect to the period beginning on the 
date of the applicable action described in paragraph (1), 
(2), (3), or (4) and ending on the date of submission of 
the documented petition. 
(d) DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION.— 
(1) 
DOCUMENTED
PETITIONS.—No 
Indian 
group may submit a documented petition to the 
Commission after 8 years after the date of the first 
meeting of the Commission. 
(2) LETTERS OF INTENT.—In the case of a let-
ter of intent, the Commission shall publish in the 
Federal Register a notice of such receipt, including 
the name, location, and mailing address of the peti-
tioner. A petitioner who has submitted a letter of in-
tent or had a letter of intent transferred to the Com-
mission under section 5 shall be required to submit
a documented petition within 3 years after the date 
of the first meeting of the Commission to the Com-
mission. No letters of intent will be accepted by the 
Commission after 3 years after the date of the first 
meeting of the Commission. 
SEC. 6. NOTICE OF RECEIPT OF DOCUMENTED PETITION. 
(a) PETITIONER.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 
a documented petition is submitted or transferred to 
the Commission under section 5(a), the Commission 
shall— 
(A) send an acknowledgement of receipt in 
writing to the petitioner; and 
(B) publish in the Federal Register a no-
tice of that receipt, including the name, loca-
tion, and mailing address of the petitioner and 
such other information that— 
(i) identifies the entity that submitted 
the documented petition and the date the 
documented petition was received by the 
Commission; 
(ii) indicates where a copy of the doc-
umented petition may be examined; and 
(iii) indicates whether the documented 
petition is a transferred documented peti-