Final Determination Announced Against Recognition of Choctaw Nation of Florida

by Native Network News Staff in Native Briefs. Discussion »

Native Brief: WASHINGTON DC - On Friday, Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk issued an announcement with the final determination not to acknowledge the petitioner known as the Choctaw Nation of Florida.

Indian Affairs

The petitioner from Marianna, Florida, has approximately 77 members. In their petition, the petitioning group maintains to be a group of Choctaw Indians who moved from North Carolina to Georgia, then to Florida after the removals in the 1830s.

This final determination follows a proposed finding against the federal recognition of the petitioner as an American Indian tribe from July 2010.

In a review of the presented evidence it was established that the petitioner did not meet mandatory Criterion 83.7(e). All the evidence clearly showed no record that identified the petitioner’s named ancestors as descending from a historical Indian tribe.

This determination shall be final, unless interested parties requests a reconsideration with the Interior Board of Appeals. A copy of the Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs’ determination will be published in the Federal Register.

Copies of the final determination and Federal Register notice will be posted on the Indian Affairs website.