Findings

Congress finds the following: (1) The Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas is the political successor to historic Lipan Apache bands that maintained an independent Tribal identity and political organization within present-day Texas for centuries before and after Spanish, Mexican, Republic of Texas, and United States sovereignty. (2) The ancestors of the Tribe entered into documented agreements and government-to-government relations with Spanish, Mexican, Republic of Texas, and United States authorities, demonstrating recognition of the Lipan Apache as a distinct Tribal entity. (3) Members of the Tribe served as United States Army Indian Scouts at frontier posts in Texas, establishing direct Federal interaction and enrollment under the authority of the United States. (4) The Lipan Apache people continued to exist as a distinct community in Texas despite 19th-century displacement efforts and have preserved political, cultural, and kinship continuity into the present day. (5) The Tribe maintains an organized government, enrollment criteria, and recognized leadership representing a continuous Tribal community. (6) Federal judicial proceedings involving members of the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas acknowledged the sincerely held traditional Native American religious beliefs and practices of Tribal members in the exercise of their religious freedom under Federal law and resulted in a settlement with the Department of the Interior providing lifetime Federal permits for the possession and religious use of protected eagle feathers by certain Tribal members. (7) The State of Texas has honored the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas through legislative resolutions acknowledging the Tribe’s history and valuable contributions to the State. (8) The Tribe has continuously existed as a distinct political and cultural community to the present day. (9) The lack of Federal recognition has denied the Tribe and its members access to services and benefits provided to other federally recognized Indian Tribes.