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Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas

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Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas
Named afterLipan Apache people, State of Texas
Formation2007[1]
TypeNonprofit organization[1]
US Texas TIN 13311748407[1]
EIN 33-1174840[2]
Legal statusactive
PurposeCultural awareness; Agriculture, fishing and forestry; History museums[2]
Location
Official language
English
Websitelipanapache.org

The Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas is a cultural heritage organization of individuals who identify as descendants of Lipan Apache people, based in McAllen, Texas.[2]

The Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas is an unrecognized organization. They are neither a federally recognized tribe[3] nor a state-recognized tribe[4]. Regardless of this fact, they have support from federally recognized Apache tribal leaders, such as former Chairwoman Gwendena-Lee Gatewood of the White Mountain Apache Tribe and Chairman Terry Rambler of the San Carlos Apache Tribe. [5] [6]

They should not be confused with other unrecognized organizations who also identify as Lipan Apache descendants, including the Apache Council of Texas (Alice), Cuelgahen Nde Lipan Apache of Texas (Three Rivers), Lipan Apache Band of Texas (Brackettville), and Lipan Apache Nation (San Antonio).

Organizations

The Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas, Inc., became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 2007.[7][1] It is based in McAllen, Texas.[1]

Their subject areas are cultural awareness; agriculture, fishing, and forestry; and history museums.[2] In 2013, the organization held $10,013 in assets.[2]

Bernard F. Barcena Jr. is the registered agent.[1]

Officers of the organization include:

  • Director and agent: Bernard F. Barcena Jr.
  • Director: Robert Soto
  • Officer: Erika Sauseda
  • Officer: Juan S. Garcia[1]

The Lipan Apache Tribe Cemetery Association, another 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, was registered in 2023.[8][better source needed] Bernard F. Barcena of San Antonio is also the registered agent of this organization.[8]

Resolution and bill

In 2009, the Texas state senate passed Senate Resolution 438, a congratulatory resolution authored by State Senator Juan Hinojosa.[9]

On March 18, 2009, SR 438 titled "Recognizing the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas" was adopted in the Texas Senate, legislative session 81(R). Jointly, on the same day, HR 812 titled "Recognizing the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas" was adopted in the Texas House of Representatives. Although not signed by the Governor or law, these resolutions expressed the views of the Senate and the House in recognizing the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas as "the present-day incarnation of the clans, bands, and divisions historically known as the Lipan Apaches, who have lived in Texas and northern Mexico for 300 years"[10] and commending the people of this Tribe for their contributions to the state.[11]

Congratulatory resolutions such as SR No. 438 are not the same as state-recognition.[12][a] Texas has "no legal mechanism to recognize tribes."[15] This organization has neither filed a petition for federal recognition as a Native American tribe, nor sent a letter of intent to file a petition for federal recognition.[16]

State senator Hinojosa introduced Texas Senate Bill 27, introduced in January 2021, to formally recognize this group. The bill died in committee.[17]

Court case

In August 2014, after nine years of litigation by Robert Soto (Vice-chairman of the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas) and other plaintiffs against the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI), the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found that the seizure of 50 eagle feathers during a 2006 Lipan Apache pow wow violated Robert Soto's rights as a "sincere adherent to an American Indian religion" under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) of 1993.[18] They concluded that Congress did not specifically aim to safeguard the religious rights solely of federally recognized tribe members.[19] The Court accepted that he was "without dispute an [American] Indian" and a member of the Lipan Apache Tribe acknowledged to have "long historical roots" in Texas and who had a history of "government-to-government" relationships with the Republic of Texas, State of Texas, and the United States.[19] The opinion was limited only to "Soto's RFRA claim based on his and his tribe's status".[20] They remanded to the lower district court for proceedings consistent with their opinion, and the case was cabined to "Native American co-religionists" (referring to the "religious practices of real Native Americans")[20] The DOI and the plaintiffs settled the case on June 3, 2016. Through the settlement, the DOI granted lifetime permits to over 400 Native Americans plaintiffs who were not members of federally recognized tribes to "possess, carry, use, wear, give, loan, or exchange among other Indians, without compensation, all federally protected birds, as well as their parts or feathers" for their "Indian religious use", in accordance to "the terms set forth in the DOI's February 5, 1975 'Morton Policy'". The case was officially closed on February 17, 2017.[21]

Cemetery

In 2021, officials in Presidio and Presidio County, Texas, donated a late 18th- and 19th-century cemetery, Cementerio del Barrio de los Lipanes, to the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas.[22] The Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas partnered with the Big Bend Conservation Alliance to protect and study the site in the Lipan Apache Cemetery project, funded in part by the Mellon Foundation.[23]

Activities

The Lipan Apache Tribe's Nde Daa and Dakee Si Pow Wows, are set up primarily as a social space for the Lipan people where they can socialize, celebrate, and learn with friends and family. Traditionally, the Lipan Apache had social gatherings where their people from extended family and different Lipan band groups would gather together to celebrate important events such as a good hunt, the coming of springtime, the fall harvest, and major life events. With the 1970 pow wows, the Nde Daa and Dakee Si Pow Wows celebrated fifty years in 2020. [24]

The Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas held the first public ceremonial Badger Run, which is a run and not a race, in 2018. The Badger Run starts the Lipan Apache Tribe’s annual Nde Daa Homecoming Pow-Wow (March) or the Fall Dak Éé Sí Pow-Wow (October) and symbolizes an event portrayed in the Lipan Apache Tribe’s Creation story. [25]

A member of the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas, Gonzo Flores, served as Southern Plains Vice-President of the National Congress of American Indians in 2022.[26] He was succeeded by Reggie Wassana (Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes).[27]

The Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas attend the yearly Apache Alliance summit meetings, alongside other federally recognized Apache tribes such as the San Carlos Apache Tribe and the Jicarilla Apache Tribe. [28]

Notable members

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The state of Texas has no office to manage Indian affairs[13] and no state-recognized tribes.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas Inc". OpenCorporates. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas, Inc". GuideStar. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  3. ^ "Indian Entities Recognized by and Eligible to Receive Services From the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs". Indian Affairs Bureau. Federal Register. January 21, 2022. pp. 7554–58. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  4. ^ "State Recognized Tribes". National Conference of State Legislatures. Archived from the original on September 1, 2022. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  5. ^ "Apache Alliance meeting today in San Carlos AZ".
  6. ^ "We had a great Apache Alliance today at the Apache Gold Casino".
  7. ^ "Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas Inc". Texas Company Directory. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  8. ^ a b "The Lipan Apache Tribe Cemetery Association". Bizapedia. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  9. ^ "Senate Resolution 438". Senate Journal 587. Austin, Texas. March 18, 2009. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  10. ^ "SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 438". Senate of the State of Texas. 2009.
  11. ^ "Lipan Apache Tribe wins recognition in Texas". IndianZ. March 24, 2009.
  12. ^ "Indian Issues: Federal Funding for Non-Federally Recognized Tribes" (PDF). Highlights. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Accountability Office. April 2012. p. 8. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  13. ^ "State Committees and Commissions on Indian Affairs". National Conference of State Legislatures. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  14. ^ "State Recognized Tribes". National Conference of State Legislatures. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  15. ^ Brewer, Graham Lee; Ahtone, Tristan (July 17, 2022). "In Texas, a group claiming to be Cherokee faces questions about authenticity". NBC News. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  16. ^ "Petitions Resolved". Indian Affairs. US Department of the Interior. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  17. ^ "Texas Senate Bill 274". TX SB274, 2021–2022, 87th Legislature. LegiScan. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  18. ^ "SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 438". Texas State Senate. 2014.
  19. ^ a b Smith, Adair Martin (April 2018). "Native American Use of Eagle Feathers Under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act". University of Cincinnati Law Review. 84 (2): 575.
  20. ^ a b "McAllen Grace Brethren Church v. Salazar". Casetext. August 20, 2014. p. 23.
  21. ^ Keim, Adèle Auxier (2023). "The Religious Freedom Restoration Act and Indian Act: From Individual Advocacy to Collective Action". Journal of Appellate Practice and Process. 23 (1): 186 – via Gale General Onefile.
  22. ^ Bubenik, Travis (October 9, 2023). "Big Bend group awarded a grant for Lipan Apache cemetery project and "land reclamation" study". Marfa Public Radio. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  23. ^ Karas, Sam (October 11, 2023). "Lipan Apache Cemetery project to be completed with Mellon Foundation grant". Big Bend Sentinel. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  24. ^ "Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas Powwows".
  25. ^ "About The Lipan Apache Tribe's Badger Run".
  26. ^ Estus, Joaqlin. "NCAI heads into midyear conference short its CEO". ICT. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
  27. ^ "National Congress of American Indians Swears in Newly Elected 2023-2025 Executive Committee". Native News Online. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
  28. ^ "13th Annual Apache Alliance held in San Carlos".
  29. ^ Solomon, Dan (December 13, 2021). "Darcie Little Badger's Engrossing New Novel Blends Lipan Apache Folklore and Oceanography". Texas Monthly. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  30. ^ Maffly, Brian (August 20, 2019). "Feds make it easier for Native Americans to collect eagle feathers, but Utes fear change could go too far". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
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