WASHINGTON — Chief Gilbert Blue of South Carolina’s Catawba tribe ticks off the good things that have happened to his people since the federal government granted them recognition a decade ago.

More than 220 homes have been built. More than 125 Catawbas have received college scholarships. A new health clinic is going up at Green Earth, the Catawba housing development near their Rock Hill reservation.

“Up until recognition we didn’t hardly have (postage) stamps,” said Blue. “Our housing was dilapidated. The Indian Health Service, when we got recognized, came down and condemned almost every building on the reservation.”

Though thousands of people can trace their ancestry to the Native American tribes that once predominated in the land now called South Carolina, only one tribe within the state — the Catawbas — enjoys federal recognition.

Six S.C. tribes, however, could soon enjoy state recognition — a designation somewhat easier to achieve than federal recognition. South Carolina is among a handful of states that do not now provide such recognition. But last year, Gov. Mark Sanford signed into law a bill spelling out the criteria to recognize tribes.

The state Commission on Minority Affairs is reviewing applications, and within the next few months is expected to announce state recognition for as many as six tribes, allowing them to apply for federal grants now unavailable to them.

On the federal level, recognition means the U.S. government considers a tribe a sovereign nation — with the right to govern and tax itself — though members of tribes still pay federal taxes. A recognized tribe decides who belongs to the tribe and how its lands will be used.

Recognition also entitles a tribe to apply for federal assistance that may only be used for Native Americans — Bureau of Indian Affairs scholarships, for example. Recognition in some cases allows tribes to set up potentially lucrative gaming operations, such as the Catawbas’ high-stakes bingo parlor in Rock Hill.

Why this special relationship between the federal government and tribes?

History, said USC anthropology professor Alice Kasakoff.

The United States, until 1870, signed treaties with native tribes that granted them rights, benefits, and reservations in exchange for giving up the rest of their land.

“They were here first. They have been treated as sovereign nations throughout our history,” she said.

There is also the matter of the United States’ word, said Kasakoff. “Other nations trust us to keep up our end of the bargain when we sign treaties with them,” she said.

Today, the U.S. government recognizes 562 tribes. An additional 296 are pursuing recognition, said Nedra Darling, spokesman for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington. Of those, 10 are in South Carolina, she said.

Experts on Native Americans have identified as many as 30 tribes within the state.

Federal recognition doesn’t come easy.

The seven criteria for recognition have proven impossible for some native groups to meet. Other tribes have worked for decades to gain recognition. The recently recognized Cowlitz tribe of Washington state, for example, pursued recognition for 27 years.

The criteria include proof that:

• A substantial portion of the group has inhabited a specific area viewed as Native American and distinct from other populations.

• The group has maintained tribal political influence over its members throughout history.

• The group is composed principally of people who are not members of any other tribe.

Chief Vernon Tanner of the Chikasaw said his tribe’s application for federal recognition has stalled.

“You have to hire anthropologists, genealogists, lawyers,” he said. “We can’t afford it. We’re going to concentrate on state recognition.”

The Chikasaw, who live mostly in the Pee Dee, especially around Indiantown, are likely to be among the groups receiving state recognition.

To qualify for state recognition, tribes must show a historical presence in South Carolina for the last century, and have at least 150 members. In addition to helping tribes qualify for federal grants, state recognition could help Tanner, a medicine man, to petition to use eagle feathers and parts of other protected animals in his practice.

The hassle and expense aside, some Native Americans have decided that federal recognition is not worth the benefits.

Will Moreau Goins, a leader of the Cherokees in South Carolina, said tribes have trouble meeting federal criteria for recognition because non-Native people who came to rule the United States destroyed tribes. They forced Native Americans off lands, forced assimilation and, in many cases, killed them.

“Our language and our culture has been beaten out of us. Five hundred years later how can they ask us, ‘where is your language?’” Goins said.

It’s wrong, Goins continued, that Native Americans are made to petition the Bureau of Indian Affairs “for a validation of our ‘Indianess.’”

But he said he does not blame the Catawbas or any other tribe that pursues federal recognition. The money recognition brings can be used to help a tribe improve its health, educate its children and preserve its culture.

“They are doing the best for their people,” he said.

Reach Markoe at (202) 383-6023 or lmarkoe@washingtonbureau.com.

Staff writer Joey Holleman contributed to this report.