[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 25, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2001]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 25CFR83.3]

[Page 259-260]
 
                            TITLE 25--INDIANS
 
     CHAPTER I--BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
 
PART 83--PROCEDURES FOR ESTABLISHING THAT AN AMERICAN INDIAN GROUP EXISTS AS AN INDIAN TRIBE--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 83.3  Scope.

    (a) This part applies only to those American Indian groups 
indigenous to the continental United States which are not currently 
acknowledged as Indian tribes by the Department. It is intended to apply 
to groups that can establish a substantially continuous tribal existence 
and which have functioned as autonomous entities throughout history 
until the present.
    (b) Indian tribes, organized bands, pueblos, Alaska Native villages, 
or communities which are already acknowledged as such and are receiving 
services from the Bureau of Indian Affairs may not be reviewed under the

[[Page 260]]

procedures established by these regulations.
    (c) Associations, organizations, corporations or groups of any 
character that have been formed in recent times may not be acknowledged 
under these regulations. The fact that a group that meets the criteria 
in Sec. 83.7 (a) through (g) has recently incorporated or otherwise 
formalized its existing autonomous political process will be viewed as a 
change in form and have no bearing on the Assistant Secretary's final 
decision.
    (d) Splinter groups, political factions, communities or groups of 
any character that separate from the main body of a currently 
acknowledged tribe may not be acknowledged under these regulations. 
However, groups that can establish clearly that they have functioned 
throughout history until the present as an autonomous tribal entity may 
be acknowledged under this part, even though they have been regarded by 
some as part of or have been associated in some manner with an 
acknowledged North American Indian tribe.
    (e) Further, groups which are, or the members of which are, subject 
to congressional legislation terminating or forbidding the Federal 
relationship may not be acknowledged under this part.
    (f) Finally, groups that previously petitioned and were denied 
Federal acknowledgment under these regulations or under previous 
regulations in part 83 of this title, may not be acknowledged under 
these regulations. This includes reorganized or reconstituted 
petitioners previously denied, or splinter groups, spin-offs, or 
component groups of any type that were once part of petitioners 
previously denied.
    (g) Indian groups whose documented petitions are under active 
consideration at the effective date of these revised regulations may 
choose to complete their petitioning process either under these 
regulations or under the previous acknowledgment regulations in part 83 
of this title. This choice must be made by April 26, 1994. This option 
shall apply to any petition for which a determination is not final and 
effective. Such petitioners may request a suspension of consideration 
under Sec. 83.10(g) of not more than 180 days in order to provide 
additional information or argument.