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John Ross, long-time leader of the Cherokee Nation, was born on October 3, 1790, in Cherokee territory now part of Alabama. He grew up near

John Marshall was born on September 24, 1755, in Germantown, Virginia. Following service in the Revolutionary War, he attended a course of law


Federal Recognition

"Acknowledgement of tribal existence by the [U.S.] Department [of the Interior] is a prerequisite to the protection, services, and benefits of the Federal government available to Indian tribes by virtue of their status as tribes."

The Bureau of Indian Affairs, within the U.S. Department of the Interior, is responsible for staffing the recognition process and for maintaining the official listing of recognized tribes.

The listing  of "Indian Entities Recognized and Eligible To Receive Services from the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs," is published in the Federal Register.  The most recent listing was published in Federal Register, Vol. 73, No. 66, April 4, 2008, pages 18553-18557. 

Documents
Federal Register listing of recognized tribes (pdf)

The recognition procedures as published in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 25--Indians, Part 83--Procedures for Establishing That an American Indian Group Exists as an Indian Tribe, April 1, 2003, are listed in the 6 documents below.

Links
Title 25 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Vol. 1, Chapter 1, Part 83

Documents
Definitions, Purpose, Scope (pdf)

Letter of Intent, Dept. Duties (pdf)

Provisions, Criteria, Previous Acknowledgement (pdf)

Processing petition (pdf)

Review, Reconsideration, Final Action (pdf)

Implementation, Information Collection (pdf)


More information is available at http://www.doi.gov/enrollment.html .
 

 

A nationally recognized social worker, community organizer, activist, and political leader, Ada Deer is a champion of Indian rights

Billy Frank, Jr. of the Nisqually Indian Tribe, has been Chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission (NWIFC) for

William O. Douglas was born in Maine, Minnesota, on October 16, 1898, and raised in Yakima, Washington. He entered Whitman College in

John Echohawk, a member of the Pawnee Tribe of Oklahoma, has served as the Executive Director of the

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