Federal recognition for Abenaki a continuing process

Written by Rep. Carolyn Branagan, Franklin-1

Thursday, 17 November 2005

Wow! The feds moved a lot faster than I thought they would on the Abenaki petition for federal recognition.

When the Bureau of Indian Affairs announced last winter that they were placing the application under active consideration, I expected the first findings to arrive around February 2006. My constituents and other interested Franklin County residents should know that these findings are not the end of the road for Abenaki recognition, as the TV report indicated. Instead, they are only the next step in a fairly long process, most of which is yet to come. Briefly, this is how it works:

The preliminary findings are part of a lengthy process outlined in federal law for Indians to follow if they wish to receive recognition by the United States government. After an Indian group submits an application, the federal government places it in active consideration and responds with preliminary findings. These preliminary findings are the initial response by the feds, a first look through the document and citing of shortcomings. This is the document received by the Abenaki a few days ago.

After preliminary findings are known, there is a comment period of 180 days during which anyone, including the Abenaki and the Attorney General, can comment on the application and the findings and submit more information. Six months from now is mid-May. Then the Abenaki have an additional 60 days to comment on everyone else's comments. That gives them until mid-July 2006.

Then the federal government issues its final determination after considering all the comments and new data. That final determination could be as early as mid-September 2006. Then there is a remediation time of 90 days allowed, during which all parties try to find some common ground, but the feds have final say. Of course, any final outcome can be challenged in court.

So you can see, we have a long way to go with this issue of Abenaki recognition by the federal government.

In considering an application for recognition, there are seven criteria for federal acknowledgment listed in federal law. The seven criteria are :

• the tribe has to be identified as an American Indian entity on a substantially continuous basis since 1900. Evidence that the group's character has been denied for some of the time is not necessarily conclusive. The federal law lists six ways an Indian group can meet this criteria, but the group is not limited to these six ways;

• most of the Indian groups petitioning for recognition has to comprise a distinct community and has to have existed as a community from historic times to the present;

• the Indian group has to have maintained political influence or authority over its members from historical times to the present;

• they have to include a copy of the governing document and membership criteria;

• the membership has to consist of individuals who descend from an historical Indian tribe or tribes which combined and functioned as a single entity.

• membership has to be made up of people who are not members of any other acknowledged Indian tribes;

• the tribe cannot have members who were previously denied recognition.

Keep in mind that federal recognition is very different from state recognition. More on state recognition later!

Carolyn Branagan represents Franklin-1 (Fairfax, Georgia) in the Vermont House of Representatives

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Last updated on November 22, 2005