Recognition Criteria.

The Commission may recommend that an eligible petitioning group be formally recognized under Regulation .08 of this chapter as a Maryland Indian tribe, band, group, or clan if the petitioning group establishes, taking into account the special circumstances of Native Americans indigenous to Maryland, that: A. The group has been: (1) Identified as Native American from before 1790 until the present, and (2) Part of a continuous Native American community from before 1790 until the present; B. The members of the group are descendants from a tribe that: (1) Existed before 1790, (2) Is indigenous to Maryland, and (3) Inhabited a specific area in Maryland before 1790; and C. The membership of the group is composed principally of persons who are not members of any other acknowledged or recognized Native American tribe, band, group, or clan.