25 C.F.R. § 83.5 : Indians — BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR — TRIBAL GOVERNMENT — PROCEDURES FOR FEDERAL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF INDIAN TRIBES — GENERAL PROVISIONS — How does a petitioner obtain Federal acknowledgment under this part?

To be acknowledged as a federally recognized Indian tribe under this part, a petitioner must meet the Indian Entity Identification (§83.11(a)), Governing Document (§83.11(d)), Descent (§83.11(e)), Unique Membership (§83.11(f)), and Congressional Termination (§83.11(g)) Criteria and must:

(a) Demonstrate previous Federal acknowledgment under §83.12(a) and meet the criteria in §83.12(b); or
(b) Meet the Community (§83.11(b)) and Political Authority (§83.11(c)) Criteria.

25 C.F.R. § 83.5

80 FR 37887, 7/1/2015