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The ancestors of the enrolled members of the Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe have participated in colonial era treaties on behalf of their tribal communities.  These treaties, and a court battle in 1965 against the state of North Carolina, have affirmed the position of the Haliwa-Saponi Tribe as a recognized Indian nation, locally and in the state of North Carolina.  However, the Haliwa-Saponi remain excluded from the federally recognized tribes list as maintained and published by the Assistant Secretary of the Interior-Indian Affairs at the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).

 

The Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe submitted its letter of intent to petition under the federal acknowledgement criteria at 25 CFR Part 83 in 1979.  Since then, the Tribe has submitted a draft of volume 1 of its petition (1988) and received a technical assistance letter from the BIA (1992) in response.

 

The Federal Acknowledgement Committee of the Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe was formed by the Haliwa-Saponi Tribal Council with the specific charge to recommend, devise, lead and coordinate the efforts and strategies of the Tribe to permanently secure acknowledgement of the Tribe’s inherent sovereign rights as a federally recognized Indian tribe.  To accomplish this goal, the specific duties of the committee include;

 

(1)   Recommending, implementing and directing the Tribe’s strategy to complete and file a petition for active consideration with the Bureau of Indian Affairs in accordance with 25 CFR Part 83 of the United States Code of Federal Regulations as amended.

 

(2)   Recommending, implementing and coordinating the Tribe’s efforts in the United States branches of the federal government and its many states to affirm the status of the Haliwa-Saponi as a federally recognized Indian tribe.

 

(3)   Recommending, implementing and coordinating the Tribe’s efforts in the State of North Carolina and its subdivisions and municipalities to affirm the status of the Haliwa-Saponi as a federally recognized Indian tribe.

 

(4)   Recommending, implementing and coordinating internal tribal government efforts that will assist the Tribe in furthering its mission and in fulfilling the purpose of the Committee.

 

(5)   Recommending, implementing and coordinating the Tribe’s relationships with other Indian tribes.

 

The committee meets monthly and includes many tribal members with various skills, talents and interests.  The committee reports to Tribal Council regularly and provides oversight in the research and documentation processes.