BIA fails to publish a list of federally recognized entities on time

Tuesday, July 24, 2012  

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has failed to publish a list of federally recognized tribes as required by law.

The Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 requires the BIA to publish the list "annually on or before every January 30." Nearly six months later, the list is nowhere to be found.

“This is clearly a violation of a law – and not a symbolic law – as there is real purpose behind it,” a spokesperson for Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs, told Indian Country Today.

A BIA spokesperson said the list is being finalized but didn't explain the reason for the delay, the first since 1994.

Get the Story:
Interior Breaks Another Federal Law Involving Tribes and Indians (Indian Country Today 7/23)

BIA holding back yet another employment report for reservations (7/6)