Redefining Race by Eric Beckenhauer pg.165

As prescribed by the Federal Acknowledgment Act, such recognition is attained only upon satisfaction
of each of seven mandatory criteria: 
(a)The petitioner has been identified as an American Indian entity on a substantially continuous basis 
since 1900…. 
….
(b)A predominant portion of the petitioning group comprises a distinct community and has existed as a
community from historical times until the present.
….
(c)The petitioner has maintained political influence or authority over its members as an autonomous
entity from historical times until the present.
….
(d)A copy of the group’s present governing document including its membership criteria. In the absence
of a written document, the petitioner must provide a statement describing in full its membership criteria
and current governing procedures.
(e)The petitioner’s membership consists of individuals who descend from a historical Indian tribe or
from historical Indian tribes which combined and functioned as a single autonomous political entity.
….
(f)The membership of the petitioning group is composed principally of persons who are not members
of any acknowledged North American Indian tribe….
(g)Neither the petitioner nor its members are the subject of congressional legislation that has expressly
terminated or forbidden the Federal relationship.
The Statute further provides that evidence used to identify a tribe as an “American Indian entity” and
to establish descendancy from a “historical Indian tribe” may include enrollment lists, descendancy records, affidavits, and other informantion “identifying present members or ancestors of present
members as being descendants of a historical tribe. Thus, the text of the Federal Acknowledgment
Act implicitly invites the use of genetic studies as proof of Indian ancestry.
-Redefining Race: Can Genetic Testing Provide Biological Proof of Indian Ethnicity? by Eric Beckenhauer
Pg.165