[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 25, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2001]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 25CFR83.7]

[Page 261-264]
 
                            TITLE 25--INDIANS
 
     CHAPTER I--BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
 
PART 83--PROCEDURES FOR ESTABLISHING THAT AN AMERICAN INDIAN GROUP EXISTS AS AN INDIAN TRIBE--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 83.7  Mandatory criteria for Federal acknowledgment.

    The mandatory criteria are:  

    (a) The petitioner has been identified as an American Indian entity 
on a substantially continuous 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. Evidence to be relied upon in determining a group's 
Indian identity may include one or a combination of the following, as 
well as other evidence of identification by

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other than the petitioner itself or its members.
    (1) Identification as an Indian entity by Federal authorities.
    (2) Relationships with State governments based on identification of 
the group as Indian.
    (3) Dealings with a county, parish, or other local government in a 
relationship based on the group's Indian identity.
    (4) Identification as an Indian entity by anthropologists, 
historians, and/or other scholars.
    (5) Identification as an Indian entity in newspapers and books.
    (6) Identification as an Indian entity in relationships with Indian 
tribes or with national, regional, or state Indian organizations.

    (b) A predominant portion of the petitioning group comprises a 
distinct community and has existed as a community from historical times 
until the present.
    (1) This criterion may be demonstrated by some combination of the 
following evidence and/or other evidence that the petitioner meets the 
definition of community set forth in Sec. 83.1:
    (i) Significant rates of marriage within the group, and/or, as may 
be culturally required, patterned out-marriages with other Indian 
populations.
    (ii) Significant social relationships connecting individual members.
    (iii) Significant rates of informal social 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 discrimination or other social 
distinctions by non-members.
    (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 populations with 
whom it interacts. These patterns must function as more than a symbolic 
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, collective Indian identity 
continuously over a period of more than 50 years, notwithstanding 
changes in name.
    (ix) A demonstration of historical political influence under the 
criterion in Sec. 83.7(c) shall be evidence for demonstrating historical 
community.
    (2) 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 members reside in a geographical 
area exclusively 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 marriages in the group are between 
members of the group;
    (iii) At least 50 percent of the group members maintain distinct 
cultural patterns such as, but not limited to, language, kinship 
organization, or religious beliefs and practices;
    (iv) There are distinct community social institutions encompassing 
most of the members, such as kinship organizations, formal or informal 
economic cooperation, or religious organizations; or
    (v) The group has met the criterion in Sec. 83.7(c) using evidence 
described in Sec. 83.7(c)(2).

    (c) The petitioner has maintained political influence or authority 
over its members as an autonomous entity from historical times until the 
present.
    (1) 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 authority in Sec. 83.1.
    (i) The group is able to mobilize significant numbers of members and 
significant 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 Sec. 83.7(b) at more than a 
minimal level.
    (v) There are internal conflicts which show controversy over valued 
group goals, properties, policies, processes and/or decisions.
    (2) A petitioning group shall be considered to have provided 
sufficient evidence to demonstrate the exercise of political influence 
or authority at a given point in time by demonstrating 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 behavior of individual members, 
such as the establishment or maintenance of norms and the enforcement of 
sanctions to direct or control behavior;
    (iv) Organize or influence economic subsistence activities among the 
members, including shared or cooperative labor.
    (3) A group that has met the requirements in paragraph 83.7(b)(2) at 
a given point in time shall be considered to have provided sufficient 
evidence to meet this criterion at that point in time.

    (d) 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 membership 
criteria and current governing procedures.

    (e) The petitioner's membership consists of individuals who descend 
from a historical Indian tribe or from historical Indian tribes which 
combined and functioned as a single autonomous political entity.
    (1) Evidence acceptable to the Secretary which can be used for this 
purpose includes but is not limited to:
    (i) Rolls prepared by the Secretary on a descendancy basis for 
purposes of distributing claims money, providing allotments, or other 
purposes;
    (ii) State, Federal, or other official records or evidence 
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.
    (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 political entity.
    (v) Other records or evidence 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.
    (2) The petitioner must provide an official membership list, 
separately certified by the 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 address. 
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 surrounding the preparation of 
the current list and, insofar as possible, the circumstances surrounding 
the preparation of former lists.

    (f) The membership of the petitioning group is composed principally 
of persons who are not members of any acknowledged North American Indian 
tribe. However, under certain conditions a petitioning group may be 
acknowledged even if its membership 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 establish that it has functioned throughout history until 
the present as a separate and autonomous Indian tribal entity, that its 
members do not maintain a bilateral political relationship with the 
acknowledged tribe, and

[[Page 264]]

that its members have provided written confirmation of their membership 
in the petitioning group.

    (g) Neither the petitioner nor its members are the subject of 
congressional legislation that has expressly terminated or forbidden the 
Federal relationship.