The Bureau of Indian Affairs published its annual list of federally recognized tribes in the Federal Register today but once again it was late.

The Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 requires the BIA to publish the list "annually on or before every January 30." But the agency has missed the deadline for several years in a row -- in 2012, it was published in August and in 2011, it wasn't published at all.

In 2010, the BIA published the list in October and in 2009, it was published in August. The agency came close to the deadline in 2008 -- the list was published in April -- and in 2007 -- it was published in March.

The BIA didn't publish the list in 2006. In 2005, it was published in November.

The 2013 list contains 566 federally recognized tribes in the Lower 48 and Alaska.

"The listed entities are acknowledged to have the immunities and privileges available to other federally acknowledged Indian tribes by virtue of their government-to-government relationship with the United States as well as the responsibilities, powers, limitations and obligations of such tribes," the notice in the Federal Register states.

Federal Register Notice:
Indian Entities Recognized and Eligible To Receive Services From the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs (May 6, 2013)

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