Poarch Band of Creek Indians Parity Act

The Poarch Band of Creek Indians Parity Act would clarify and reaffirm the relationship between the Poarch Band of Creek Indians and the federal government under the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA). Specifically, it states that the Poarch Band is to be considered “now under Federal jurisdiction” for purposes of the IRA as of June 18, 1934, effectively ensuring IRA applicability to the tribe. It also reaffirms and ratifies all lands that had been taken into trust by the United States for the Poarch Band before the bill’s enactment, recognizing those lands as trust land and validating the Interior Department’s actions to place them in trust under the IRA. The bill seeks parity with other tribes in terms of IRA applicability and existing trust-land status. In short, the bill codifies IRA applicability to the Poarch Band and solidifies the trust status of lands acquired for them in the past, aiming to prevent questions or challenges to their federal-tribal status and land-held-in-trust under IRA provisions.