Bill > A5936

Introduced Session

This bill provides that the State of New Jersey officially recognizes the Sandhill Indian Tribe as an American Indian Tribe for the limited purpose of assisting the tribe in: establishing eligibility for federal education, job training, and housing benefits and federal protection for the sale of artwork; qualifying for public and private grants for which Indian tribes or groups, or members thereof, may be eligible; protecting the ability to engage in traditional religious practices and ceremonies and to preserve and protect burial sites and artifacts; and ensuring that handicrafts made by tribal members may be sold as "Indian made." Under the bill, its provisions would not be construed as conferring recognition for any other purpose or used as evidence that a tribe has a State compact or State approval for the purposes of the federal "Indian Gaming Regulatory Act," or to engage in the sale of motor fuels or tobacco. The limited State recognition accorded to the tribe would not be construed to affect in any way a tribe or group's case for federal recognition, confer the right upon any tribe, group, or individual to conduct gambling of any kind, or constitute an acknowledgement of any claim by any tribe, group, or individual to any ancestral, tribal or other public or private lands.

Committee Categories

JoAnn Downey (D)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee (on 06/24/2021)