Friday, Oct. 4, 2002 | 11:07 a.m.
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs submitted to Congress Wednesday a plan for changing the federal process for recognizing Indian tribes.
Neal McCaleb, the U.S. Interior Department's assistant secretary for Indian affairs, said the plan would make the recognition process more consistent by providing clearer regulatory guidelines than now exist.
Information would be more available to petitioners and the public through the use of CD-ROMs and the Internet, McCaleb said. He also recommended increasing staff for BIA's branch of acknowledgment and research, which works on recognition petitions, and using contractors for tasks such as data-entry, responding to information requests and preparing records for litigation.
Tribes have long complained that the recognition process, which typically takes years and sometimes decades, is too sluggish. Others say casino gambling is the motive behind some questionable tribal recognition petitions.
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