The
Louisiana Office of Indian Affairs oversees state–tribal relations, and there are 11
state-recognized tribes in Louisiana Four
federally recognized tribes are headquartered in Louisiana. State and Federal Recognition of Tribes serves as a tool to identify tribal communities that can exist as sovereign entities under the
Trust Responsibility and is not a declaration of a tribe's historical legitimacy. In 2019, Senator
Gerald Long introduced Louisiana Senate
Concurrent Resolution 9, titled "Recognizes the Apalachee Indians' Talimali Band as a tribe in the state of Louisiana," which died in committee that same year. This organization tried and failed to gain state recognition from Louisiana in 2022. Regarding the band's attempts to receive state recognition, Louisiana State Senator
Louie Bernard stated: "All of us have this lingering thing that we’ve had forever, that anybody that seeks recognition and in this fashion has another motive in mind. And we all know what that is. But I guess I’m just naive enough to believe that some of these tribes really are not interested in that. They are interested solely in having the pride of having been recognized by their state as who they say they are." == Legal issues ==