today. (13) In 1977, the Tribe adopted formal Articles of Association to define its enrollment criteria and election of Tribal leaders. (14) Also in 1977, the Tribe petitioned and was recognized by the BIA as an adult Indian community of one-half degree of Indian blood under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 ( 25 U.S.C. 5101 et seq.). However, the Bureau of Indian Affairs made clear that this status did not give Federal recognition to the Tribe. The status did solidify that Tribal members were recognized as Indians and entitled to Federal benefits and services. (15) Even without formal Tribal recognition, the Tribe has remained a political force and the protector of Mono Lake, Kutzapaa’ which is at the center of the Tribe’s culture and history and provided its ancestors with a critical food source. On March 19, 1983, Jessie Durant, a revered Tribal elder, testified before the Subcommittee on Public Lands and National Parks on the importance of Mono Lake to the Mono Lake people and culture. Mono Lake is now known as the Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve thanks in large part to the efforts of the Tribe and the Mono Lake Foundation. (16) On April 28, 1989, the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs held hearings in Sacramento, California, on SB 611, a bill to Establish Administrative Procedures to Determine Status of Certain Indian Groups. Tribal member Richard Blaver was invited to and provided testimony on behalf of the Tribe on the difficulties encountered by tribes seeking recognition through the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ administrative acknowledgment process. (17) The Federal agencies that now manage Federal lands, some of which are the ancestral lands of the Tribe, share a deep respect for the Tribe, and acknowledge that the Kutzadika a members are the aboriginal people of the Mono Basin. Small examples can be seen from the Forest Service, that in 1991 worked with the Tribe in protecting the Tribe’s Indian cemetery located in part on Forest Service lands. (18) In 1993, the Forest Service hosted a