Wednesday, December 7, 2005

On November 25, 2005, a new list of federally recognized tribes was published in the Federal Register. The 2005 list and the previous list (2003) are linked at the library's federal recognition resources web page.

The 2003 list includes the names of 562 tribes and Alaska Native villages. The 2005 list includes the names of 561 entities. Page 71194 of the Federal Register discusses the removal of the Delaware Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma from the 2005 list. A recent article about the Delaware Tribe of Indians is at http://www.kotv.com/main/home/stories.asp?whichpage=1&id=80046. The library tracks federal recognition news in the "Recognition and Enrollment" category of the library's Indian Law News Bulletin. U.S. regulatory action and cases relating to federal recognition can also be located in the "U.S. Regulatory Information" bulletin and federal case law bulletins found on the Indian Law Bulletin home page. If you are interested in subscribing to the Indian Law Bulletin email alert service, send an email message requesting this service to David Selden.

In addition to this change, various name changes appear in the 2005 list. Some "former" names were dropped from the listing. For example, the Resighini Rancheria, California is no longer listed with its former name Coast Indian Community of Yurok Indians of the Resighini Rancheria. Some tribal names changed slightly. For example, the Klamath Indian Tribe of Oregon is now listed as Klamath Tribes, Oregon.

Some tribal names changed in a manner that affected their alphabetical order. For example: Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake, California (formerly the Upper Lake Band of Pomo Indians of Upper Lake Rancheria of California); Wiyot Tribe, California (formerly the Table Bluff Reservation Wiyot Tribe); Kasigluk Traditional Elders Council (formerly the Native Village of Kasigluk); and Sunaq Tribe of Kodiak (formerly the Shoonaq Tribe of Kodiak).

Other federal recognition news since the 2003 list was published: Version 2 of the BIA federal acknowledgment decision database is now online. A link to the database can be found at the library's federal recognition resources web page. And there have been two federal recognition reversals regarding the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation and Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation, both in Connecticut. Neither of these tribes was included in the 2003 list. A related news story from Indian Country Today is at http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096411733.