Federal Recognition

Abstract

Indian tribes that are federally recognized and listed on the official list published by the Department of the Interior have retained and acknowledged sovereign status. Consequently they enjoy a government-to-government relationship with the United States. In addition, the tribes qualify for funding and services from the Bureau of Indian Affairs,; funding which can be channeled into programs for the benefit of tribal members. Federal recognition exempts a tribe from state and local jurisdiction and laws including laws relating to taxation and gambling, and it sustains the trust relationship between the federal government and the tribes which allows lands to be held in trust for tribes by the US.