[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5236 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5236
To extend the full measure of the Federal Government-to-government
relationship between the United States and the Haliwa Saponi Tribe of
North Carolina.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 18, 2023
Mr. Davis of North Carolina (for himself and Ms. Adams) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural
Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To extend the full measure of the Federal Government-to-government
relationship between the United States and the Haliwa Saponi Tribe of
North Carolina.
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 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 Bertie,
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
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) The United States has been providing Federal funding
to the Tribe from the Department of Education's Office of
Indian Education for half a century.
(20) The United States has been providing Federal funding
to the Tribe for housing and related infrastructure development
from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
pursuant to the Federal Native American Housing and Self-
Determination Act for 25 years.
(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. EXTENSION OF FULL FEDERAL GOVERNMENT-TO-GOVERNMENT RELATIONS.
The United States hereby extends to the Haliwa Saponi Indian Tribe
the full measure of the Federal Government-to-government relationship
to make 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 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.), and lands acquired in trust for the Tribe and included in the
first reservation proclamation for the Tribe shall be treated as an
initial reservation that meets the requirements of Public Law 100-497,
section 20(b)(1)(B)(ii).
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