The Little Shell Tribe has waited 31 years for this Wednesday, as a U.S. Senate Committee holds a hearing into the government's process for tribal recognition.
Montana's Little Shell tribe filed its petition for federal recognition in 1978, the same year the that the current process was put in place by Congress.
The Litlle Shell is one of several tribes to see its petition sit for decades without a decision from the Interior Department.
The Little Shell finally received a negative decision from the Bureau of Indian Affairs last week, a decision that Montana's congressional leaders are trying to overturn.
John Sinclair, Chairman of the tribe states, "We ask the Congress to do what the BIA should have done and recognize the Little Shell Tribe. Senator Tester has introduced S. 1936 that would extend federal recognition to the Little Shell Tribe. On behalf of the Little Shell Tribe, I urge the committee to report out Senator Tester's bill while it deliberates on what it might do to establish a new recognition process."
Gaining federal recognition would allow the Little Shell tribe to receive housing grants, economic assistance, and other government benefits.
Senators Tester and Baucus have introduced legislation to recognize the tribe.