Final Determination Against Acknowledgment of the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians, 15335-15337 [2011-6472]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Bureau of Indian Affairs

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 54 (Monday, March 21, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15335-15337]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-6472]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs


Final Determination Against Acknowledgment of the Juane[ntilde]o 
Band of Mission Indians

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Final Determination.

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SUMMARY: The Department of the Interior (Department) gives notice that 
the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs (AS-IA) has determined the 
petitioner known as the Juane[ntilde]o Band of Mission Indians is not 
an Indian tribe within the meaning of Federal law. This notice is based 
on a determination that the petitioner does not satisfy all seven of 
the criteria set forth in 25 CFR 83.7, and therefore, does not meet the 
requirements for a government-to-government relationship with the 
United States.

DATES: This determination is final and will become effective 90 days 
from publication of this notice in the Federal Register on June 20, 
2011, unless a request for reconsideration is filed before the Interior 
Board of Indian Appeals pursuant to 25 CFR 83.11.

ADDRESSES: Requests for a copy of the final determination that includes 
the summary evaluation under the criteria should be addressed to the 
Office of the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, Attention: Office of 
Federal Acknowledgment, 1951 Constitution Avenue, NW., MS: 34B-SIB, 
Washington, DC 20240, and is available at https://www.bia.gov/WhoWeAre/AS-IA/OFA/RecentCases/index.htm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: R. Lee Fleming, Director, Office of 
Federal Acknowledgment, (202) 513-7650.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to 25 CFR 83.10(h), the Department 
publishes this notice that the Juane[ntilde]o Band of Mission Indians 
(JBB), Petitioner 84B, is not an Indian tribe within the 
meaning of Federal law. The Department issued a proposed finding (PF) 
to decline to acknowledge the petitioner on November 23, 2007, and 
published notice of that preliminary determination in the Federal 
Register on December 3, 2007. This final determination (FD) affirms the 
PF that the Juane[ntilde]o Band of Mission Indians

[[Page 15336]]

(JBB), c/o Joe Ocampo, 1108 E. Fourth Street, Santa Ana, California 
92701 and Sonia Johnston, P.O. Box 25628, Santa Ana, California 92799, 
does not satisfy all seven of the criteria set forth in part 83 of 
title 25 of the Code of Federal Regulations (25 CFR part 83), 
specifically criteria at 83.7(a), 83.7(b), 83.7(c), and 83.7(e), and 
therefore does not meet the requirements for a government-to-government 
relationship with the United States.
    The acknowledgment process is based on the regulations at 25 CFR 
part 83. Under these regulations, the petitioner has the burden to 
present evidence that it meets the seven mandatory criteria in section 
83.7. The JBB petitioner does not satisfy criteria 83.7(a), 83.7(b), 
83.7(c), and 83.7(e). The JBB petitioner meets the requirements of 
criteria 83.7(d), 83.7(f), and 83.7(g).
    Criterion 83.7(a) requires that external observers have identified 
the petitioner as an American Indian entity on a substantially 
continuous basis since 1900. The evidence in the record does not 
demonstrate that external observers identified the petitioner, or a 
group from which the petitioner evolved, as an American Indian entity 
on a substantially continuous basis from 1900 to 1997. There are 
identifications of the JBB petitioner as an American Indian entity 
between 1997 and 2005. Because the petitioner, or a group from which 
the petitioner has evolved, has not been identified as an American 
Indian entity on a substantially continuous basis since 1900, the 
petitioner does not meet the requirements of criterion 83.7(a).
    Criterion 83.7(b) requires that a predominant portion of the 
petitioning group has comprised a distinct community from historical 
times to the present. The evidence in the record demonstrates that the 
JBB petitioner did not evolve from the historical SJC Indian tribe as a 
distinct community. The FD concludes that evidence in the record 
indicates that a community of SJC Indians persisted around and at the 
former SJC Mission until 1862, when a smallpox epidemic killed almost 
half the estimated Indian population (88 of 200) in a period of less 
than 3 months. No evidence in the record indicates that the community 
was able to recover from this event. The petitioner, as it is currently 
constituted, consists of members whose ancestors functioned as part of 
the general population of SJC residents since the mid-19th century. 
There is no evidence in the record that the petitioner's SJC Indian 
ancestors were distinct within this community after 1862, or were part 
of an Indian entity that evolved from the SJC Indian tribe in 1834; 
rather they appear to have been Indian individuals who became absorbed 
into the general, ethnically-mixed population of Old Mexican/Californio 
families, as well as with non-SJC Indians who moved to the town prior 
to 1900. The totality of the evidence does not demonstrate that the 
petitioner's mid-19th century ancestors formed a distinct SJC Indian 
community within a larger Spanish-speaking, Catholic, Old Mexican/
Californio community after 1862, nor does it demonstrate that the 
petitioner's SJC Indian ancestors formed a distinct community from 
which the current JBB petitioner evolved since 1862. Therefore, the JBB 
petitioner does not meet the requirements of criterion 83.7(b).
    Criterion 83.7(c) requires that the petitioning group has 
maintained political influence over its members as an autonomous entity 
from historical times to the present. The evidence submitted for the 
FD, in combination with the evidence already in the record for the PF, 
is insufficient to satisfy the requirements of criterion 83.7(c) for 
any time from 1835 to the present. The petitioner's comments on the PF 
did not provide evidence sufficient to satisfy the requirements of 
criterion 83.7(c) and new documents related to Clarence Lobo's 
leadership between the late 1940s and 1965 provided little information 
on the political composition of the group or a bilateral relationship 
between leaders and members. Third party comments included in the 
record largely agree with the conclusions reached in the PF. After 
1834, there is insufficient evidence that there were any internal 
processes or other mechanisms that the group used as a means of 
influencing or controlling the behavior of its members in significant 
respects, or made decisions for the group which substantially affected 
its members, or represented the group in dealing with outsiders in 
matters of consequence. Therefore, the petitioner does not meet the 
requirements of criterion 83.7(c).
    Criterion 83.7(d) requires that the petitioner provide a copy of 
its governing document including its membership criteria. The 
petitioner submitted a copy of its governing document which includes 
its membership criteria. Therefore, the JBB petitioner meets the 
requirements of criterion 83.7(d).
    Criterion 83.7(e) requires that the petitioner's members descend 
from a historical Indian tribe or from historical Indian tribes which 
combined and functioned as a single autonomous political entity. The 
February 28, 2009, JBB membership list includes 455 living members, 
both adults and minors. The evidence in the record indicates that 85 
percent of the petitioner's members claim descent from individuals who 
were members of the historical Indian tribe at SJC Mission as it 
existed between 1776 and 1834. However, the FD finds that only 53 
percent (241 of 455) of JBB members have demonstrated such descent. The 
petitioner has not demonstrated for this FD that its members descend 
from an historical Indian tribe. Therefore, the JBB petitioner does not 
meet the requirements of criterion 83.7(e).
    Criterion 83.7(f) requires that the petitioner's membership be 
composed principally of persons who are not members of another 
federally recognized Indian tribe. A review of the membership rolls of 
those Indian tribes in California that would most likely include the 
JBB petitioner's members revealed that the petitioner's membership is 
composed principally of persons who are not members of any federally 
acknowledged North American Indian tribe. Therefore, the JBB petitioner 
meets the requirements of criterion 83.7(f).
    Criterion 83.7(g) requires that the petitioner not be subject to 
congressional legislation that has terminated or forbidden the Federal 
relationship. A review of the available documentation showed no 
evidence that the petitioning group was the subject of congressional 
legislation to terminate or prohibit a Federal relationship as an 
Indian tribe. Therefore, the JBB petitioner meets the requirements of 
criterion 83.7(g).
    Based on this final determination, the Department determines not to 
extend Federal acknowledgment as an Indian tribe to the petitioner 
known as the Juane[ntilde]o Band of Mission Indians (JBB).
    A copy of the FD that includes the summary evaluation under the 
criteria and summarizes the evidence, reasoning, and analyses that are 
the basis for the FD will be provided to the petitioner and interested 
parties, and is available to other parties upon written request. It 
will be posted on the Bureau of Indian Affairs Web site https://www.bia.gov/WhoWeAre/AS-IA/OFA/RecentCases/index.htm. Requests for a 
copy of the FD should be addressed to the Federal Government as 
instructed in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.
    After the publication of notice of the FD in the Federal Register, 
the petitioner or any interested party may file a request for 
reconsideration with the Interior Board of Indian Appeals (IBIA) under 
the procedures set forth in section 83.11 of the regulations. The

[[Page 15337]]

IBIA must receive this request no later than 90 days after the 
publication of the FD in the Federal Register. The FD will become 
effective as provided in the regulations 90 days from the Federal 
Register publication unless a request for reconsideration is received 
within that time.

    Dated: March 15, 2011.
Larry Echo Hawk,
Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2011-6472 Filed 3-18-11; 8:45 am]
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