Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas

The Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas is a state-recognized tribe   and nonprofit organization in Texas. Members of the tribe descend from the Lipan Apache, a Southern Athabaskan Indigenous people. The Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas is headquartered in McAllen, Texas.

The Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas incorporated as a non-profit in 2007. In a lawsuit against the Department of the Interior (DOI) initiated by a Lipan tribe member, a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit resulted in a settlement with the DOI, which granted over 400 Native American plaintiffs access to eagle feathers. The City of Presidio, Texas, and County of Presidio Texas transferred a historic Lipan Apache cemetery back to the Tribe. The Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas attend the yearly Apache Alliance summit meetings.

They are not a federally recognized American Indian tribe. State-recognition status can take different forms, including by state law and by legislation. The Texas government has not developed a process of recognition. The Tribe has been recognized by legislation, which does not carry the force of law.

Organizations
The Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas, Inc., became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 2007. It is based in McAllen, Texas.

Their subject areas are arts, cultural awareness; education, agriculture, fishing, forestry, and community and economic development. In 2013, the organization held $10,013 in assets.

Bernard F. Barcena Jr. is the registered agent of this tribe.

Officers of the organization include:
 * Director and agent: Bernard F. Barcena Jr.
 * Director: Robert Soto
 * Officer: Erika Sauseda
 * Officer: Juan S. Garcia

The Lipan Apache Tribe Cemetery Association, another 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, was registered in 2023. Bernard F. Barcena of San Antonio is also the registered agent of this organization.

Resolution and bill
On March 18, 2009, SR 438, titled "Recognizing the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas," a congratulatory resolution authored by State Senator Juan Hinojosa, was adopted in the Texas Senate, legislative session 81(R). Jointly, on the same day, HR 812, titled "Recognizing the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas," was adopted in the Texas House of Representatives. Although not signed by the Governor or law, these resolutions expressed the sentiments of the Senate and the House in recognizing the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas as "the present-day incarnation of the clans, bands, and divisions historically known as the Lipan Apaches, who have lived in Texas and northern Mexico for 300 years" and commending the people of this Tribe for their contributions to the state.

In 2019, the State of Texas 86th Legislature adopted concurrent resolutions, Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 61 (SCR 61) and House Concurrent Resolution No. 171 (HCR 171), that affirmed the Texas Legislature's views that the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas was "the present-day incarnation of a proud people who have lived in Texas and northern Mexico for more than 300 years." In addition, the resolutions commended the people of this Tribe for their contribution to the state. The Senate, House, and the Governor signed each concurrent resolution.

There are alternative forms and means for States to recognize tribes, including by state law and by legislation. Texas has "no legal mechanism to recognize tribes." While they do not hold the same legal weight as state law or administrative recognition, concurrent legislative resolutions in Texas can “convey the sentiment of the legislature and may offer…a statement of congratulations” and simple resolutions can offer “a statement of congratulations” to tribal organizations. Such resolutions do not carry the force of law, but can serve as a means of establishing an official relationship between the State and a tribe or tribal organization. The 2009 resolutions were referenced in a 2012 U.S. Government Accountability Office report titled INDIAN ISSUES: Federal Funding for Non-Federally Recognized Tribes, which stated that the "Texas Senate and House of Representatives each adopted a simple resolution (voted on only by the house in which it was introduced and not sent to the Governor to sign) to commend and recognize the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas.... According to Texas officials, such simple resolutions do not go beyond the bounds and the authority of the house that acts on it and do not officially establish any group as a state recognized tribe." In 2016, the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) stated that "States’ government- to-government relationships with tribes continue to evolve, taking many forms, including formal recognition. Usually accomplished through legislative action, state recognition of American Indian tribes is just one tool used to build state-tribal collaboration."

The Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas sent a letter of intent to file a petition for federal recognition on February 22, 2011. It has thus far not filed a petition for federal recognition as a Native American tribe.

State senator Hinojosa introduced Texas SB 274 in January 2021 and SB 231 in November 2022 "[r]elating to state recognition of the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas." The bills died in committee.

Court case
In August 2014, after nine years of litigation by Robert Soto (Vice-chairman of the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas) and other plaintiffs against the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI), the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found that the seizure of 50 eagle feathers during a 2006 Lipan Apache pow wow violated Robert Soto's rights as a "sincere adherent to an American Indian religion" under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) of 1993. They concluded that Congress did not specifically aim to safeguard the religious rights solely of federally recognized tribe members. The Court accepted that he was "without dispute an [American] Indian" and a member of the Lipan Apache Tribe acknowledged to have "long historical roots" in Texas and who had a history of "government-to-government" relationships with the Republic of Texas, State of Texas, and the United States. The opinion was limited only to "Soto's RFRA claim based on his and his tribe's status". They remanded to the lower district court for proceedings consistent with their opinion, and the case was cabined to "Native American co-religionists" (referring to the "religious practices of real Native Americans"). The DOI and the plaintiffs settled the case on June 3, 2016. Through the settlement, the DOI granted lifetime permits to over 400 Native American plaintiffs who were not members of federally recognized tribes to "possess, carry, use, wear, give, loan, or exchange among other Indians, without compensation, all federally protected birds, as well as their parts or feathers" for their "Indian religious use," in accordance to "the terms set forth in the DOI's February 5, 1975 'Morton Policy'". The case was officially closed on February 17, 2017.

Cemetery
In 2021, officials in Presidio and Presidio County, Texas, transferred a late 18th- and 19th-century cemetery, Cementerio del Barrio de los Lipanes, to the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas. The Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas partnered with the Big Bend Conservation Alliance to protect and study the site in the Lipan Apache Cemetery project. The project was funded in part by the Mellon Foundation, which supported the project with a grant of $650,000 to be used to complete the protective structure and to install interpretive signage at the site, as well as to support a study to help understand the needs of Indigenous peoples in West Texas. The architect firm MASS Design Group designed the boundary structure, to help protect and delineate the burial site. MASS is known for building architecture that "promotes justice and human dignity," such as the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, a memorial to victims of lynching nationwide. The Lipan Apache Cemetery project was marked as completed on March 23, 2024.

Activities
The Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas hosts two annual powwows in Alton, Texas.

A member of the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas, Gonzo Flores, served as Southern Plains Vice-President of the National Congress of American Indians in 2022. He was succeeded by Reggie Wassana (Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes).

The Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas attend the yearly Apache Alliance summit meetings, alongside federally recognized Apache tribes such as the San Carlos Apache Tribe and the Jicarilla Apache Tribe. They have support from two federally recognized Apache tribal leaders who attended the Apache Alliance meetings, former Chairwoman Gwendena-Lee Gatewood of the White Mountain Apache Tribe (Apache Alliance meeting, 2019) and Chairman Terry Rambler of the San Carlos Apache Tribe (Apache Alliance meeting, 2021).

Notable members

 * Darcie Little Badger, novelist, oceanographer
 * Robert Soto, pastor, powwow dancer