Chief Little Shell was a leader of the Little Shell Tribe in the late 1800s. Photo from Turtle Mountain Chippewa Heritage Center
The House Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs will take up two federal recognition bills at a hearing on Tuesday. H.R.286, the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians Restoration Act, extends recognition to the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Montana. The tribe went through the Office of Federal Acknowledgment at the Bureau of Indian Affairs but saw a setback that would be corrected if Congress enacts the bill. The Senate Indian Affairs Committee approved S.35, the Senate version of the bill, at a business meeting in March. The Obama administration does not oppose it.
Historic photo of Mattaponi students at the original Sharon Indian School in Virginia. Photo from Upper Mattaponi Tribe
The second bill is H.R.872, the Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal Recognition Act. The bill extends recognition to the the Chickahominy Tribe, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe - Eastern Division, the Upper Mattaponi Tribe, the Rappahannock Tribe, the Monacan Nation and the Nansemond Tribe. The tribes could follow the BIA process but their situation is complicated by a racist state law that required their Indian identities to be expunged from official records The Senate Indian Affairs Committee approved S.465, the Senate version, in March. The Obama administration took a neutral position when a prior version of the bill came up during the last session of Congress. Congress has not passed a stand-alone federal recognition bill since the mid-1990s. Two tribes were able to secure legislative recognition in 2000 as part of an omnibus Indian package that passed in the final days of the 106th Congress and was signed into law during the final days of the Clinton presidency. The hearing tomorrow takes place at 2pm in Room 1324 of the Longworth House Office Building. The witness list follows:
Kevin WashburnCommittee Notice:
Assistant Secretary
Bureau of Indian Affairs
U.S. Department of the Interior
Washington, D.C.
The Honorable Gerald Gray
Chairman
Little Shell Chippewa Tribe
Great Falls, MT
The Honorable Stephen R. Adkins
Chief of the Chickahominy Indian Tribes
Providence Forge, VA
Legislative Hearing on Federal Recognition Extension (September 29, 2015)
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