PASCAGOULA, Miss. (AP) - The Vancleave Live Oak Choctaw tribe can now take steps toward becoming a federally recognized tribe.
On Wednesday, a Mississippi judge officially signed off on a settlement between two factions of the tribe. The factions agreed on a constitution and bylaws and created a provisional council to handle tribal matters.
Jackson County Chancery Judge D. Neil Harris said the tribe can now file an application and documents with the Interior Department for federal recognition.
“This is a huge hurdle to get past,” Dustin Thomas, the attorney for a portion of the tribe descendants, told The Sun Herald (https://bit.ly/1qYlyMJ ).
Thomas said the biggest benefit to federal recognition may be health care.
“They really need this,” Thomas said of the tribe. “They are so poor.”
He said the group can trace its ancestry to four women and a French trader in the 1700s. The tribe numbers about 1,500, most living in South Mississippi.
The group also is associated with a school established in Vancleave in the early 1900s called the Indian Creole school.
“We’re just so proud that a court recognizes them,” Thomas said. “These people are so happy.”
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Information from: The Sun Herald, https://www.sunherald.com
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