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Native American Tribe Sues New Jersey for Recognition

A Native American tribe is suing New Jersey officials to demand it be recognized by the state government.

The Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation filed a federal civil rights suit on Monday saying that not having recognition hurts its members psychologically and financially.

The tribe, which is based in Bridgeton, traces its history in the area back 12,000 years and says it now has 3,000 members - the majority of them living in the state. New Jersey made the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape its third recognized tribe with legislation in 1982.

But the tribe says that's now at risk because of a report the state submitted to the federal government in 2012 that said New Jersey had not recognized tribes - a change that could also affect the Powhatan-Renape Nation and the Ramapough Mountain Indians, which also had been designated by the state.

The status is important to the tribe because without recognition, it says, its members cannot sell crafts including beadwork, walking sticks, drums, headdresses, regalia, and pottery as "Indian made," an issue that could cost more than $250,000 a year. And the tribe says it could lose $600,000 in grants, tribal jobs and scholarships that are tied to its designation as a recognized tribe.

"State recognition of a tribe has little to no impact on a state budget, except that it may provide tribes access to certain federal benefits that save the state from spending its own dollars," the tribe contends in the suit.

The state government has not responded to the claims in court.

The state Assembly passed a bill in 2011 on procedures for recognizing tribes, but the measure never received a vote in the Senate.

A spokesman for John Hoffman, the state acting attorney general, did not immediately return an email seeking comment. The office generally does not talk with reporters about lawsuits it faces.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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