Which specific tribal IDs are listed in the Federal Register as federally recognized for verification purposes?

1. What "specific tribal IDs" means in federal practice

When government websites say they accept “IDs from federally recognized Tribes,” they mean tribal membership or enrollment cards issued by any tribe that appears on the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ list published in the Federal Register — not a separate master list of card designs or serial numbers — so the determinative element is tribal federal recognition, as recorded in the Federal Register ^{[3] [4]}.

2. Where the official list lives and what it contains

The Bureau of Indian Affairs publishes an updated list of recognized Indian entities in the Federal Register; that document lists each federally recognized tribe by its current legal name and often includes previously used or “aka” names in parentheses to aid identification, and the January Federal Register notice is the authoritative source for all specific tribal names used for verification ^{[1] [5]}.

3. How many tribes are on the roster — and why counts vary

Public materials cite different totals depending on the snapshot and press release: the January 2024 Federal Register notice references 574 tribal entities in one summary passage ^[1], while a Bureau of Indian Affairs press release referenced an updated list of 566 entities in another context ^[2]; those differences reflect timing, editions, and editorial summaries, which is why agencies point users to the current Federal Register table for the specific names rather than relying on a headline count ^{[1] [2]}.

4. How federal agencies use the list when accepting tribal IDs

Transportation Security Administration guidance states that TSA accepts IDs issued by federally recognized tribes and that, if an ID cannot be electronically scanned, officers may manually inspect and cross‑reference the card against the Federal Register/BIA list — the Federal Register is therefore the document frontline personnel use to confirm a tribe’s federal status ^{[6] [3]}. Similarly, USCIS guidance directing employers on Form I‑9 notes that acceptance of tribal membership documents depends on whether the issuing tribe is federally recognized and instructs checking the Department of Interior/BIA list ^[4].

5. Practical identifiers and machine‑readable codes

For administrative and data systems, the Department of the Interior assigns six‑character BIA codes to each federally recognized tribal government (a letter for region, two digits for agency, three digits for tribe), which agencies and IT systems may use in backend verification; those codes are separate from the Federal Register list of names but are derived from BIA recognition ^[7].

6. Special designations and limits to acceptance

A handful of tribes have negotiated specific federal designations beyond mere recognition — for example, a Kickapoo tribe program produced tribal cards designated by Customs and Border Protection for land/sea entry under WHTI after separate CBP testing and a Federal Register notice announcing that designation — demonstrating that some tribal IDs can carry additional, narrow federal approvals beyond the general recognition list ^[8]. At the same time, agencies routinely warn that a tribal card may still require a secondary, machine‑readable document if it can’t be scanned, or that local personnel unfamiliar with tribal IDs can trigger manual cross‑checks ^{[6] [9]}.

7. How to get the “specific” list if the exact names are what’s needed

For anyone needing the specific tribal names that qualify a tribal ID for verification, the Federal Register notice itself (linked in the BIA press materials) is the authoritative source and contains the complete table of recognized tribal entities and former names; other useful reproductions include state election or voter‑ID guides and tribal photo ID compilations that cross‑reference the Federal Register list ^{[1] [5] [2]}.