[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: 25CFR83.5]

[Page 260-261]
 
                            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. 83.5  Duties of the Department.

    (a) The Department shall publish in the Federal Register, no less 
frequently than every three years, a list of all Indian tribes entitled 
to receive services from the Bureau by virtue of their status as Indian 
tribes. The list may be published more frequently, if the Assistant 
Secretary deems it necessary.

    (b) The Assistant Secretary shall make available revised and 
expanded guidelines for the preparation of documented petitions by 
September 23, 1994. These guidelines will include an explanation of the 
criteria and other provisions of the regulations, a discussion of the 
types of evidence which may be used to demonstrate particular criteria 
or other provisions of the regulations, and general suggestions and 
guidelines on how and where to conduct research. The guidelines may be 
supplemented or updated as necessary. The Department's example of a 
documented petition format, while preferable, shall not preclude the use 
of any other format.

    (c) The Department shall, upon request, provide petitioners with 
suggestions and advice regarding preparation of the documented petition. 
The Department shall not be responsible for

[[Page 261]]

the actual research on behalf of the petitioner.
    (d) Any notice which by the terms of these regulations must be 
published in the Federal Register, shall also be mailed to the 
petitioner, the governor of the state where the group is located, and to 
other interested parties.

    (e) After an Indian group has filed a letter of intent requesting 
Federal acknowledgment as an Indian tribe and until that group has 
actually submitted a documented petition, the Assistant Secretary may 
contact the group periodically and request clarification, in writing, of 
its intent to continue with the petitioning process.

    (f) All petitioners under active consideration shall be notified, by 
April 16, 1994, of the opportunity under Sec. 83.3(g) to choose whether 
to complete their petitioning process under the provisions of these 
revised regulations or the previous regulations as published, on 
September 5, 1978, at 43 FR 39361.

    (g) All other groups that have submitted documented petitions or 
letters of intent shall be notified of and provided with a copy of these 
regulations by July 25, 1994.