In Alabama, Senator Richard Shelby, a ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has sponsored legislation that would grant federal recognition to the MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians, based near Mount Vernon.
It would be the second Alabama tribe to receive such a designation; the other is the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, which operates casinos in Atmore, Wetumpka and Montgomery. Federal recognition would give the tribe, which Chief Lebaron Byrd estimates at 6,000 to 7,000 members, access to millions of dollars in health care, education and economic development benefits−as well as the right to open a casino. Shelby is hoping to get the measure passed before his upcoming retirement.
Shelby called the MOWA’s efforts a “long shot,” but said federal recognition could come “during the waning days of the current lame-duck session that will end sometime before Christmas. I think they ought to be a tribe. I think they proved they are. But now politics are involved. The people who have federal recognition don’t want to share with others. That’s human nature. They are blocking others from getting it, including their cousins.”
Shelby said 141 other tribes oppose his legislation, which would be included in a federal spending package. Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Council Chairman Richard French said the tribes are concerned about “the must-pass bills that Congress is considering.” Besides the legislation recognizing the MOWA Band, retiring North Carolina U.S. Senator Richard Burr is sponsoring a bill to recognize the Lumbee Tribe.
French added, “Senators know these bills wouldn’t pass in regular order, so they hope to overcome robust opposition by attaching these measures to critical bills that fund our military and keep government operations funded.” He said Congressional approval is likely the final tool available to the MOWA tribe, whose Bureau of Indian Affairs applications have not been approved.
French noted the MOWA Band and the Lumbee Tribe have not “demonstrated that their members are even of native ancestry, let alone meet the standards to qualify as a historical sovereign tribal government. All we are saying is follow the process. Federal recognition is much more than gaming or acknowledging someone’s claimed heritage. It creates a government-to-government relationship in which tribes are empowered to set laws, collect taxes, incarcerate citizens and much more.”
Byrd, however, said gaming is not the main goal of the tribe’s pursuit of federal recognition. He said, “Our primary focus right now is to get federally recognized as it would bring economic development, health care and education and things that would benefit our tribal members and the benefits they could get. Gaming is probably pretty far down the road.”
