Federal Acknowledgment Re-Petitioning Ban (25 CFR 83.4(d))

Regulations establishing the process and criteria for how the U.S. Department of the Interior administratively acknowledges of Indian Tribes were updated in 2015. See 25 CFR part 83. As part of that rulemaking, Interior decided not to allow groups that had previously petitioned for, but denied, Federal acknowledgment the opportunity to re-petition. Since that time, two Federal district courts ruled that Interior’s explanation for its decision to ban re-petitioning was insufficient as a matter of law under the Administrative Procedure Act.