Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Office of Federal Acknowledgment (OFA) within the Office of the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs of the Department of the Interior (DOI) implements Part 83 of Title 25 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Procedures for Establishing that an American Indian Group Exists as an Indian Tribe. The acknowledgment process is the Department’s administrative process by which petitioning groups that meet the criteria are “acknowledged” as Indian tribes and their members become eligible to receive services provided to members of federally recognized Indian tribes. GAPSI provides records management, research assistance, and FOIA assistance to support the OFA in the acknowledgement process. GAPSI continues to develop and maintain custom-developed Information Technology systems utilized for Document Management and Analysis.