A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to amend the statutory provisions recognizing the indian tribes of north carolina to provide all state‑recognized tribes with uniform recognition.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 71A‑3 reads as rewritten:
"§ 71A‑3.  Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina; rights, privileges, immunities, obligations and duties.
The Indians now residing in Robeson and adjoining counties of North Carolina, originally found by the first white settlers on the Lumbee River in Robeson County, and claiming joint descent from remnants of early American Colonists and certain tribes of Indians originally inhabiting the coastal regions of North Carolina, who have previously been known as "Croatan Indians," "Indians of Robeson County," and "Cherokee Indians of Robeson County," shall, from and after April 20, 1953, be designated and officially recognized as Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina and they shall continue to enjoy all their rights, privileges, and immunities as an American Indian Tribe with a recognized tribal governing body carrying out and exercising substantial governmental duties and powers similar to the State, being recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 71A‑4 reads as rewritten:
"§ 71A‑4.  Waccamaw Siouan Tribe of North Carolina; rights, privileges, immunities, obligations and duties.
The Indians now living in Bladen and Columbus and adjoining counties of North Carolina, originally found by the first white settlers in the region of the Cape Fear River, Lake Waccamaw, and the Waccamaw Indians, a Siouan Tribe which inhabited the areas surrounding the Waccamaw, Pee Dee, and Lumber Rivers in North and South Carolina, shall, from and after July 20, 1971, be designated and officially recognized as the Waccamaw Siouan Tribe of North Carolina and they shall continue to enjoy all their rights, privileges, and immunities as an American Indian Tribe with a recognized tribal governing body carrying out and exercising substantial governmental duties and powers similar to the State, being recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians."
SECTION 3.  G.S. 71A‑6 reads as rewritten:
"§ 71A‑6.  Coharie Tribe of North Carolina; rights, privileges, immunities, obligations and duties.
The Indians now living in Harnett and Sampson and adjoining counties of North Carolina, originally found by the first white settlers on the Coharie River in Sampson County, and claiming descent from certain tribes of Indians originally inhabiting the coastal regions of North Carolina, shall, from and after July 20, 1971, be designated and officially recognized as the Coharie Tribe of North Carolina and they shall continue to enjoy all their rights, privileges, and immunities as an American Indian Tribe with a recognized tribal governing body carrying out and exercising substantial governmental duties and powers similar to the State, being recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians."
SECTION 4.  G.S. 71A‑7 reads as rewritten:
"§ 71A‑7.  The Sappony; rights, privileges, immunities, obligations, and duties.
The Indian Tribe now residing in Person County, officially recognized as the Indians of Person County by Chapter 22 of the Public‑Local Laws of 1913, who are descendants of those Indians living in Person County for whom the High Plains Indian School was established, shall, from and after February 3, 1913, be designated and officially recognized as Sappony, and they shall continue to enjoy all their rights, privileges, and immunities as an American Indian Tribe with a recognized tribal governing body carrying out and exercising substantial governmental duties and powers similar to the State, being recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians."
SECTION 5.  G.S. 71A‑7.1 reads as rewritten:
"§ 71A‑7.1.  Meherrin Tribe of North Carolina; rights, privileges, immunities, obligations and duties.
The Indians now residing in small communities in Hertford, Bertie, Gates, and Northampton Counties, who in 1726 were granted reservational lands at the mouth of the Meherrin River in the vicinity of present‑day Parker's Ferry near Winton in Hertford County, and who are of the same linguistic stock as the Cherokee, Tuscarora, and other tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy of New York and Canada, shall, from and after July 20, 1971, be designated and officially recognized as the Meherrin Tribe of North Carolina, and they shall continue to enjoy all their rights, privileges, and immunities as an American Indian Tribe with a recognized tribal governing body carrying out and exercising substantial governmental duties and powers similar to the State, being recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians."
SECTION 6.  G.S. 71A‑7.2 reads as rewritten:
"§ 71A‑7.2.  Occaneechi Band of Saponi Nation in North Carolina; rights, privileges, immunities, obligations and duties.
The Indians now living primarily in the old settlement of Little Texas in Pleasant Grove Township, Alamance County, who are lineal descendants of the Saponi and related Indians who occupied the Piedmont of North Carolina and Virginia in precontact times, and specifically of those Saponi and related Indians who formally became tributary to Virginia under the Treaties of Middle Plantation in 1677 and 1680, and who under the subsequent treaty of 1713 with the Colony of Virginia agreed to join together as a single community, shall, from and after July 20, 1971, be designated and officially recognized as the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation of North Carolina, and they shall continue to enjoy all their rights, privileges, and immunities as an American Indian Tribe with a recognized tribal governing body carrying out and exercising substantial governmental duties and powers similar to the State, being recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians."
SECTION 7.  This act is effective when it becomes law.