[1] Their subject areas are arts, cultural awareness; education, agriculture, fishing, forestry, and community and economic development .
Although not signed by the Governor or law, these resolutions expressed the sentiments of the Senate and the House in recognizing the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas as "the present-day incarnation of the clans, bands, and divisions historically known as the Lipan Apaches, who have lived in Texas and northern Mexico for 300 years"[23] and commending the people of this Tribe for their contributions to the state.
"[26] While they do not hold the same legal weight as state law or administrative recognition, concurrent legislative resolutions in Texas can “convey the sentiment of the legislature and may offer…a statement of congratulations” and simple resolutions can offer “a statement of congratulations”[27] to tribal organizations.
Such resolutions do not carry the force of law, but can serve as a means of establishing an official relationship between the State and a tribe or tribal organization.
[18]: 137 The 2009 resolutions were referenced in a 2012 U.S. Government Accountability Office report titled INDIAN ISSUES: Federal Funding for Non-Federally Recognized Tribes, which stated that the "Texas Senate and House of Representatives each adopted a simple resolution (voted on only by the house in which it was introduced and not sent to the Governor to sign) to commend and recognize the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas....
Usually accomplished through legislative action, state recognition of American Indian tribes is just one tool used to build state-tribal collaboration.
"[29] The Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas sent a letter of intent to file a petition for federal recognition on February 22, 2011.
[32][33] In August 2014, after nine years of litigation by Robert Soto (Vice-chairman of the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas) and other plaintiffs against the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI), the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found that the seizure of 50 eagle feathers during a 2006 Lipan Apache pow wow violated Robert Soto's rights as a "sincere adherent to an American Indian religion" under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) of 1993.
[34] They concluded that Congress did not specifically aim to safeguard the religious rights solely of federally recognized tribe members.
Through the settlement, the DOI granted lifetime permits to over 400 Native American plaintiffs who were not members of federally recognized tribes to "possess, carry, use, wear, give, loan, or exchange among other Indians, without compensation, all federally protected birds, as well as their parts or feathers" for their "Indian religious use," in accordance to "the terms set forth in the DOI's February 5, 1975 'Morton Policy'".
[44] A member of the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas, Gonzo Flores, served as Southern Plains Vice-President of the National Congress of American Indians in 2022.
[51] The Interstate Technology & Regulatory Council notes that the list made by the NCSL may be incomplete,[52] but as of the publication of this article there has not been an established office for said affairs in the State of Texas.