Executive order halts shift in federal recognition process for indigenous tribes

KENT — A rule passed in January that may allow the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation to reapply for federal acknowledgment is now on pause due to an inauguration day regulatory freeze issued by President Trump.

The executive order states, “any rules that have been published in the Federal Register, or any rules that have been issued in any manner but have not taken effect, for the purpose of reviewing any questions of fact, law, and policy that the rules may raise,” will be postponed for 60 days.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs, a federal agency within the Department of Interior, published a rule on Jan. 15 which “revises the regulations governing the process through which the Secretary [of the Interior] acknowledges an Indian Tribe, creating a conditional, time-limited opportunity to re-petition for federal acknowledgement,” according to the Federal Register.

The regulation was scheduled to take effect on Feb. 14, but is now held for the 60 day review period by the new administration.

President Trump has nominated former North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum as Secretary of the Interior, who would replace Deb Haaland, Secretary of the Interior under President Biden and an enrolled member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe. If Burgum is confirmed in the position, which he is expected to be, the DOI will be under his control as it oversees the review of the re-petition rule.

The DOI has held an express ban on re-petitioning since a 1994 revision of the regulations surrounding federal acknowledgement. The ban was upheld in a 2015 revision, with the DOI citing issues of efficiency, timeliness and fairness to other petitioners who have not yet been reviewed as reasons to maintain the ban.

Two cases brought by former petitioners in 2020 challenged the 2015 ruling and were upheld in their federal district courts, encouraging the DOI to reconsider its position.

Following several years of consultation with various stakeholders including former, present and prospective petitioners, federally recognized tribes, and various government representatives and officials, the DOI published a proposed rule on July 12, 2024 to implement a limited exception to the ban.

As presented in the Federal Register, the final Jan. 15 rule states that previously denied petitioners may re-petition if approved by an authorization process in which an unsuccessful petitioner must “plausibly allege” that a previous negative outcome would become positive based on the reconsideration of changes in regulations due to the 1978, 1994 or 2015 revisions, or the presentation of new evidence.

The rule opens a potential pathway for the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation (STN), which was granted federal recognition in 2004 but was stripped of it a year later, to formally re-petition the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Republican American quoted Chief Richard Velky at a September 2024 press conference: “We believe the time has come to correct this injustice, to right the wrong, and finally stand with our brothers and sisters who have also been recognized by the federal government.”

The Schaghticoke were recognized by the colonial Connecticut General Assembly in 1736, which issued the tribe a reservation in the same year.

Among the oldest in the U.S., the reservation once totaled approximately 2,500 acres, spanning both shores of the Housatonic River.

The reservation now sits on about 400 acres of steep, rugged terrain on the west side of the river just north of Bulls Bridge in Kent.