Section 292.12 - How does a tribe establish connections to newly acquired lands for the purposes of the "restored lands" exception?To establish a connection to the newly acquired lands for purposes of § 292.11 , the tribe must meet the criteria in this section.
(a) The newly acquired lands must be located within the State or States where the tribe is now located, as evidenced by the tribe's governmental presence and tribal population, and the tribe must demonstrate one or more of the following modern connections to the land:(1) The land is within reasonable commuting distance of the tribe's existing reservation;(2) If the tribe has no reservation, the land is near where a significant number of tribal members reside;(3) The land is within a 25-mile radius of the tribe's headquarters or other tribal governmental facilities that have existed at that location for at least 2 years at the time of the application for land-into-trust; or(4) Other factors demonstrate the tribe's current connection to the land.(b) The tribe must demonstrate a significant historical connection to the land.(c) The tribe must demonstrate a temporal connection between the date of the acquisition of the land and the date of the tribe's restoration. To demonstrate this connection, the tribe must be able to show that either:(1) The land is included in the tribe's first request for newly acquired lands since the tribe was restored to Federal recognition; or(2) The tribe submitted an application to take the land into trust within 25 years after the tribe was restored to Federal recognition and the tribe is not gaming on other lands.