(C) This document was produced at the request of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on July 18, 2019, to document the History, Anthropology, Culture, Religion, and Archaeology of The Chickamauga Nation.

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Secretary of Interior The Law of 25 CFR Part 83  

The Chickamauga Nation is Federally Recognized according to the Academic Verification required by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in 2019.  The code below is explicit in that the statutes of 25 CFR Part 83 are to be used explicitly to determine if a tribe can be “Federally Recognized.” 25 CFR Part 83 cannot be used to determine the “Federal Recognition” of the Chickamauga Nation as defined in §83.2 and §83.3 since the Chickamauga Nation has been a Federally Recognized Tribe by the United States in Code and Statue since November of 1785.

The Secretary of the Department of the Interior is required by statute to maintain a list of tribal entities recognized as eligible to receive services from the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs. This list was initiated in a subjective manner and remains incomplete and inaccurate in violation of federal law as incomplete. It continues to be subjective in regard to 25 C.F.R. § 1.2 (Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994: Section 104 (a) Publication of the List.

The Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register a list of all Indian Tribes which the Secretary recognizes to be eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians.)

The exclusion of The Chickamauga Nation from this list does not adhere to the United States’ historic and continuing acknowledgment of the Chickamauga Nation. It is firmly established in US Code and Statutes that the Chickamauga Nation already retains Federal Recognition and Acknowledgement as being a Federally Recognized Tribe of Indians.

The Chickamauga are Signatories to 22 Treaties with the United States from 1785 - 1835

The Chickamauga are Serviced by the United States Budgets from 1785 - 1835

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Secretary of Interior § 83.2 What is the purpose of the regulations in this part?

The regulations in this part implement Federal statutes for the benefit of Indian tribes by establishing procedures and criteria for the Department to use to determine whether a petitioner is an Indian tribe eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians. A positive determination will result in Federal recognition status and the petitioner's addition to the Department's list of federally recognized Indian tribes. Federal recognition:

(a) Is a prerequisite to the protection, services, and benefits of the Federal Government available to those that qualify as Indian tribes and possess a government-to-government relationship with the United States;

(b) Means the tribe is entitled to the immunities and privileges available to other federally recognized Indian tribes;

(c) Means the tribe has the responsibilities, powers, limitations, and obligations of other federally recognized Indian tribes; and

(d) Subjects the Indian tribe to the same authority of Congress and the United States as other federally recognized Indian tribes.

Secretary of Interior § 83.3 Who does this part apply to?

This part applies only to indigenous entities that are not federally recognized Indian tribes.

83.2 provides the purpose for Part 83 which is to “establishing procedures and criteria for the Department to use to determine whether a petitioner is an Indian tribe eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians.” §83.2 (a), (b), (c), and (d) clearly defines the statute is for the determination if a tribe is “federally Recognized.” § 83.3 makes it even more clear that Part 83, “applies only to indigenous entities that are not federally recognized Indian tribes.”

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Because the federal government's longstanding acknowledgement of The Chickamauga Nation is definitive, and because Congress has never terminated the United States' relationship with, or obligations to, The Chickamauga Nation, the Secretary of Interior must include The Chickamauga Nation on the List of Federally Recognized and Acknowledged Tribes. The Secretary of Interior has no alternative, in that it cannot subject The Chickamauga Nation to the administrative Federal Acknowledgment Process since The Chickamauga Nation falls outside the scope of those regulations by already possessing federal recognition.

Neither can the Secretary of Interior refuse to place The Chickamauga Nation on its list of federally acknowledged tribes since to do so would effectively terminate the Tribe in contravention of federal common and statutory law and expressly in defiance of the powers granted exclusively to the Legislative Branch.

It is overwhelmingly evident that The Chickamauga Nation more than qualifies to be placed on the Serviced Tribes Roll without further delay according the legally applicable “bright-line rule” (defined by Cornell Law as, “An objective rule that resolves a legal issue in a straightforward, predictable manner”) expressly demonstrated in the standards and factors as discussed in more detail below.

Since: The Chickamauga Nation has been federally acknowledged through the following items on the National Registry: Executive Branch of the United States by George Washington’s Fourth Annual Address to Congress, The War Department Records, The Founders’ Letters, Presidential Papers and Letters, President Jefferson’s Land Trade with the Chickamauga in 1809 (In the preamble of the 1817 Treaty), by the Legislative Branch of the United States by Negotiated Treaties with the United States, Lands granted in Treaty and trade, annuities paid to the Chickamauga, and votes by Congress to declare peace with the Chickamauga.

At no time have the Chickamauga been terminated by Congressional action, and at no time has the Department of the Interior asserted that the Tribe's status has been terminated or lapsed. The bright-line rule must be applied and The Chickamauga Nation be immediately placed on Tribal Entities Recognized as Eligible to Receive Services from the United States.

Therefore: It is time for the Secretary of Interior to place The Chickamauga Nation on the list of Federally Recognized Tribes eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians.