On Monday, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) announced the public release of the final rule regarding changes made to the process and criteria for “Federal Acknowledgment of American Indian Tribes.”
In their announcement, the BIA discussed the substantive changes made to the final rule based upon the public comments they received on the proposed rule. The BIA received over 300 individual substantive comments, including comments prepared and submitted by RCRC.
The final rule makes several changes to the proposed rule. The proposed rule was widely criticized for lowering the burden of proof on potential tribes. For instance, the proposed rule would have allowed tribes seeking recognition to prove existence to the year 1934. Current regulation forces tribes to identify back to 1789 or the year of first sustained European contact, a regulation RCRC supported in comments to the agency regarding the proposal. The final rule, however, will utilize the year 1900 instead as the date for which tribes must begin to prove continual existence. The final rule will also utilize the year 1900 as the end date for the term “historical times.” Tribes seeking recognition will need to prove they descend from a tribe that existed in “historical times,” meaning 1899 or prior. The final rule will also not allow for limited re-petitioning for federal recognition from previously denied tribes as was originally proposed. This is considered a major change to the rule; a change supported by RCRC, state and local governments, and currently recognized tribes alike.
BIA also made specific changes from current and proposed regulation that would benefit local government entities. The final rule includes regulations mandating the following: publication of petitions online for public viewing, notification of County-level officials of receipt of new petition from tribal entity located within the County, and protection of County governments’ status as interested third-parties to petition decisions. RCRC supported these changes in it comment letter to the BIA.
The final rule has not been published in the Federal Register. The final regulation will take effect 30 days after publication.