Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe of North Carolina Recognition Act
This bill extends federal recognition to the Haliwa-Saponi Tribe of North Carolina.
The bill makes the tribe and its members eligible for services and benefits provided to federally recognized tribes, without regard to the existence of a reservation. The service area of the tribe shall include Halifax, Warren, Nash, Franklin, Vance, and Granville Counties in North Carolina.
The tribe must submit the most recent membership roll and governing documents to the Department of the Interior.
The bill also authorizes Interior to take land into trust for the benefit of the tribe and proclaim a reservation for the tribe.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9536 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9536
To extend Federal recognition to the Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe of
North Carolina, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 14, 2022
Mr. Butterfield introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To extend Federal recognition to the Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe of
North Carolina, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe of North
Carolina Recognition Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe of North Carolina is a
confederated Tribe that is a political successor to the
historical Saponi Nation and to the Nansemond and affiliated
Tribes that inhabited the Piedmont and coastal regions of what
are now Virginia and North Carolina.
(2) ``Haliwa'' is a geographical designation that is
derived from the physical location of the Tribe, which is
primarily in Halifax and Warren Counties, North Carolina.
(3) In North Carolina, in 1733, the Saponi Nation made
peace with the Tuscarora and moved to a portion of the
Tuscarora reservation in modern Bertie County, North Carolina,
occupying a village known as Sapona Town.
(4) In 1754, Captain William Hurst observed the residence
of Saponi warriors and many women and children on Colonel
William Eaton's lands in the Granville District (modern
Granville, Warren, and Vance Counties, North Carolina).
(5) In 1761, the Saponi Indians were living on 10,000 acres
of land in the Granville District on and near the Roanoke River
(modern-day Warren County, North Carolina), along with the
Meherrin and Tuscarora.
(6) In Virginia, as acknowledged by Congress in the
Thomasina E. Jordan Indian Tribes of Virginia Federal
Recognition Act of 2017 (Public Law 115-121; 132 Stat. 59 et
seq.), there were two sections of the Nansemond Tribe, one of
which remained in Virginia and was accorded Federal recognition
in 2018 concurrently with five other Tribes still resident in
Virginia by that same statute.
(7) Another section of the Nansemond Tribe had migrated to
North Carolina due to hostilities in Virginia, and today
enrolled citizens of the Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe include
lineal descendants of those Nansemond.
(8) After the American Revolution (1775-1783), the
Nansemond and Saponi merged together for mutual protection and
survival in Halifax, Warren, Nash, and Franklin Counties, in an
area known as ``The Meadows''.
(9) Among the surrounding communities, the Haliwa-Saponi
Indian Tribe has often been referred to as the ``Meadows
Indians''.
(10) In 1889, Warren County, North Carolina resident G.B.
Alston wrote to the Smithsonian Institution anthropologist
James Mooney and confirmed the residence of a Tribe of 300-600
Indians in the Meadows in Halifax and Warren Counties.
(11) The Tribe has continually existed as a separate
community, with leaders exhibiting clear political authority.
(12) While local non-Indians recognized the Indian and
Tribal identity of the Haliwa-Saponi, others insisted on
classifying Tribal citizens as ``colored'' rather than Indian,
due to segregation.
(13) During the era of school segregation, the Tribe opened
its own school, the Haliwa Indian School, operated with the
Tribe's own funds.
(14) Since 1957 the State of North Carolina has had
continuous dealings with the recognized political leaders of
the Haliwa-Saponi.
(15) In 1957, the Tribe opened the Haliwa Indian School.
(16) Between 1960 and 1963, students from the Haliwa-Saponi
Indian Tribe attended Bacone College for Indians in Muscogee,
Oklahoma.
(17) In 1965, the Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe won a lawsuit
against the North Carolina Division of Vital Statistics to
correct the race of Haliwa-Saponi citizens on official records
to read ``Indian''.
(18) In 1965 the State of North Carolina took formal
legislative action recognizing the Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe.
(19) In the early 1970s, local public school districts
started receiving Federal funds from the Department of
Education, Office of Indian Education, for Haliwa-Saponi Indian
students.
(20) In 1998, the Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe began
receiving a formula allocation from the Department of Housing
and Urban Development, Native American Housing Assistance and
Self Determination Act.
(21) In 2000, the Tribe opened the Haliwa-Saponi Tribal
School, a charter school under the State of North Carolina, at
the location of the original Haliwa Indian School, and the
school currently receives Federal funds from the Department of
Education, Office of Indian Education for Haliwa-Saponi Indian
students.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Member.--The term ``Member'' means a member of the
Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe of North Carolina.
(2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior.
(3) Tribe.--The term ``Tribe'' means the Haliwa-Saponi
Tribe of North Carolina.
SEC. 4. FEDERAL RECOGNITION.
(a) In General.--Federal recognition is extended to the Tribe.
(b) Applicability of Laws.--All laws (including regulations) of the
United States of general applicability to Indians or nations, Indian
Tribes, or bands of Indians (including the Act of June 18, 1934 (25
U.S.C. 5101 et seq.)) that are not inconsistent with this Act shall be
applicable to the Tribe and Tribal members.
SEC. 5. FEDERAL SERVICES AND BENEFIT.
(a) In General.--The Tribe and its members shall be eligible for
all services and benefits provided by the Federal Government to
federally recognized Indian Tribes without regard to the existence of a
reservation for the Tribe, including services and benefits under the
Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 5101 et seq.).
(b) Service Area.--For the purpose of the delivery of Federal
services and benefits to members, the service area of the Tribe shall
include Halifax, Warren, Nash, Franklin, Vance, and Granville counties
in the State of North Carolina.
(c) Service Population.--For purpose of the delivery of Federal
services and benefits described in subsection (a), the Tribal roll in
effect on the date of enactment of this Act shall, subject to
verification by the Secretary, define the service population of the
Tribe.
(d) Roll; Governing Documents.--The membership roll and government
documents of the Tribe shall be the most recent membership roll and
governing documents, respectively, submitted by the Tribe to the
Secretary before the date of enactment of this Act.
SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION TO TAKE LAND INTO TRUST.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary is
authorized to take land into trust for the benefit of the Tribe and
proclaim a reservation for the Tribe pursuant to the authorities
granted to the Secretary in the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 5101 et
seq.).
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.
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