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Policy Watchtower/Consultation

BIA seeks public comment on Juaneño Band's supplemented tribal recognition petition

Interior DepartmentOffice of Federal AcknowledgmentConsultationOct 21, 2026

Check: Comments and evidence on the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians, Acjachemen Nation's federal acknowledgment (formal federal recognition as a tribe) petition are due by February 18, 2027.

Read in the Federal Register

What it does

The Juaneño Band of Mission Indians, Acjachemen Nation has moved its petition to the current acknowledgment regulations (25 CFR part 83) and supplemented it. The Bureau of Indian Affairs will evaluate it under the 2015 standards, so tribal governments and Native organizations that want to support or oppose the petition can submit evidence now. Portions of the petition are posted on the Office of Federal Acknowledgment website.

Why it matters for tribal funding

Directly tribal. The document is about tribes, tribal programs or Native organizations specifically.

Who it covers: Tribal governments.

What to do next

  1. Review the public narrative portions of the supplemented petition at www.bia.gov/as-ia/ofa before deciding whether to comment.
  2. Submit any comments or evidence so they are postmarked by 2027-02-18, by mail to the Office of Federal Acknowledgment or by email to the address in the notice.
  3. Ask the Office of Federal Acknowledgment to keep your organization informed of general actions on this petitioner, as the notice allows.

Sources

Every signal is built from public records. The highlighted words appear in the source exactly as shown.

  • Federal Register: tribal agenciesNoticeOct 21, 2026

    Notice of Supplemented Documented Petition for Federal Acknowledgment as an American Indian Tribe

    • Quoted from the source: “The Department seeks comments and evidence from the public on the supplemented petition.”
    • Quoted from the source: “Comments and evidence must be postmarked by February 18, 2027.”
    • Quoted from the source: “has chosen to complete the petitioning process under the current version of the acknowledgment regulations”
    Read in the Federal RegisterU.S. government record, public domain.

Terms with a dotted underline open a plain-language definition. This is guidance, not legal advice: the official text always controls. A free public service from GrantsPath, a Native-owned business.