Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians Reaffirmation Act - Reaffirms federal recognition and the rights and privileges of the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians (Cheboigan or Cheboygan Band, in Michigan). Entitles such Band to the federal services and benefits provided to recognized Indians. Provides for lands to be acquired and held in trust for the Band by the Secretary of the Interior.
[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4802 Introduced in House (IH)]
109th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4802
To reaffirm and clarify the Federal relationship of the Burt Lake Band
as a distinct federally recognized Indian Tribe, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 16, 2006
Mr. Stupak introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To reaffirm and clarify the Federal relationship of the Burt Lake Band
as a distinct federally recognized Indian Tribe, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and
Chippewa Indians Reaffirmation Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds as follows:
(1) The members of the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and
Chippewa Indians, whose historic name is the Cheboigan (or
Cheboygan) Band, are descendants and political successors to
signatories of the 1836 Treaty of Washington and the 1855
Treaty of Detroit. The Band was twice recognized by the United
States, on a government-to-government relationship basis,
through the execution and ratification of those treaties.
(2) The 1836 Treaty of Washington provided that the
Cheboigan Band would receive a reservation of 1,000 acres on
the Cheboigan, within its aboriginal territory, but the United
States failed to provide that reservation. The 1855 Treaty of
Detroit provided for the withdrawal of unsold lands in 2
Michigan townships 35 North and 36 North Range 3 West for the
use of the Cheboygan Band, but due to the Federal Government's
failure to act, those members who selected allotments within
that area were not awarded those individual land holdings until
3 years after a special Act of Congress was passed in 1872.
(3) Between 1845 and 1850 the Band's members used treaty
annuity payments to purchase land for the Band in Burt
Township, Cheboygan County, Michigan. That land, called
Colonial Point, was placed in trust with the Governor of
Michigan on the advice of Federal Indian agents.
(4) During the next 50 years, questions arose regarding the
taxability of the property, and the acreage was ultimately sold
for back taxes in 1900.
(5) After the Band was forcibly evicted from Colonial Point
and its village was burned to the ground by its new owner, John
McGinn, the majority of the Band's families took up residency
on nearby Indian Road on lands which other Band members had
purchased or received as treaty allotments or homesteads.
(6) In 1911, the United States filed suit in the United
States Federal District Court for Eastern Michigan seeking to
regain possession of the Colonial Point Lands (United States v.
McGinn, Equity No. 94, filed June 11, 1911). In its complaint,
the United States advised the Court that it was suing on behalf
of the: ``Cheboygan band of Indians [which] is now and was at
all the times mentioned in this bill of complaint a tribe of
indians [sic] under the care, control, and guardianship of the
plaintiff and said band is now and was at all times mentioned
in this bill of complaint recognized by the plaintiff through
its chiefs or head men which it annually elects.''.
(7) In 1917, the Federal District Court decided the McGinn
case against the United States finding that the language in the
Colonial Point deeds did not prevent the Colonial Point land
from being taxed.
(8) Over the next 20 years, members of the Band asked the
United States to appeal, or otherwise rectify the District
Court's decision, but no Federal action was taken. Throughout
this period, the United States continued to provide the Band
and its members with many of the same Federal services that
were being provided to other Indian tribes in Michigan.
(9) The Act of June 18, 1934 (hereafter in this Act
referred to as the ``Indian Reorganization Act''), authorized
and directed the Bureau of Indian Affairs to provide technical
assistance and Federal funds to petitioning tribes to assist
them in reorganizing their governments and improving their
economies. Members of the Cheboigan Band, as well as members of
other landless treaty Tribes in Michigan, submitted petitions
to receive that assistance. Similar petitions were also
submitted by 4 Michigan bands that still held communal lands.
Possession of a tribal land base was a prerequisite to the
receipt of most of the Federal funds and services provided for
in the Indian Reorganization Act.
(10) While the Indian Reorganization Act directed the
Secretary to assist landless bands, like Burt Lake, and
authorized Federal funds to acquire land for landless tribes,
no Federal funds were appropriated to acquire new tribal lands
for any of the landless bands in Michigan. After struggling
with this dilemma, the Bureau of Indian Affairs extended the
benefits of the Indian Reorganization Act to only those 4
Michigan tribes that had an existing land base on the date of
the enactment of the Indian Reorganization Act. Of the Ottawa
and Chippewa Tribes who signed the 1836 and 1855 Treaties, only
1 group, the Bay Mills Indian Community was reaffirmed.
(11) The failure of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to grant
Indian Reorganization Act benefits to the Cheboigan Band did
not terminate the band's government-to-government relationship
with the United States, and Congress has never taken any action
to terminate the Federal acknowledgment of the Burt Lake Band.
(12) The Bureau of Indian Affairs lacked and lacks the
legal authority to terminate a tribe that has been acknowledged
by an Act of Congress.
(13) In recent years, the Federal recognition of the
following Michigan tribes, who were also denied the benefits of
the Indian Reorganization Act, has been reaffirmed:
(A) The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa was
reaffirmed by a Memorandum of the Commissioner of
Indian Affairs on September 7, 1972.
(B) The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa
Indians was reaffirmed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs
Branch of Acknowledgment on May 27, 1980.
(C) The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indian
and the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians each had
its Federal status reaffirmed by an Act of Congress on
September 21, 1994.
(D) The Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior
Chippewa Indians had its Federal status reaffirmed by
an Act of Congress at the request of the Administration
on September 8, 1988.
(E) The Pokagon Indian Nation had its Federal
status reaffirmed by an Act of Congress on September
21, 1994.
(F) The Huron Potawatomi Nation had its Federal
status reaffirmed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs'
Branch of Acknowledgment and Research on March 17,
1996.
(G) The Gun Lake Tribe (Match-She-Be-Nash-She-Wish)
had its Federal status reaffirmed by the Bureau of
Indian Affairs' Office of Federal Acknowledgment on
August 23, 1999.
(14) The Band has been consistently recognized by third
parties as a distinct Indian community since well before 1900.
(15) All of the Band's adult members are the children,
grandchildren, or great grandchildren of Indian persons who
resided on or near Colonial Point or Indian Road at the time of
the Burn Out. Most of the Band's adult members grew up on or
near Indian Road or had an immediate family member who did. As
the result, the Band's members have maintained very close
social and political ties.
(16) The Band's families have and continue to provide
mutual aid to each other, visit each other regularly, mobilize
to assist each other in times of need, practice traditional
arts and crafts, gather for Ghost Suppers, decorate the graves
of their ancestors, and participate in other traditional tribal
ceremonies and events.
(17) Since 1829 the Band's members have attended and
consistently mobilized to maintain the Indian Mission Church of
St. Mary's, first on Colonial Point and later on Indian Road.
The Band's members have also worked together to maintain the
Tribe's 2 Indian cemetaries. They have also dug the graves and
buried their relatives in those 2 Indian cemeteries for almost
200 years.
(18) The Band's members have throughout time made formal
and informal decisions for the community. The Band has also
organized its own modern tribal government without the
assistance of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
(19) The majority of the Band's elders have a high degree
of Indian blood and continue to speak the Ottawa language when
they gather with each other. Before World War II, more than 50
percent of the Burt Lake families were still speaking the
traditional language in their homes, and more than 50 percent
of those tribal members who were married were married to other
Ottawa and Chippewa individuals.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act--
(1) the term ``Band'' or ``Tribe'' means the Burt Lake Band
of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians which was previously called the
Cheboigan or Cheboygan Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians;
(2) the term ``Burn Out'' means the destruction of the
Colonial Point Indian Village of the Burt Lake Band in 1900;
(3) the term ``OFA'' means the Office of Federal
Acknowledgment, a Branch of the United States Department of
Interior's Bureau of Indian of Indian Affairs; and
(4) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the
Interior.
SEC. 4. FEDERAL RECOGNITION.
(a) Federal Recognition.--Federal recognition of the Burt Lake Band
of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians is hereby reaffirmed. All laws and
regulations of the United States of general application to Indians or
nations, tribes, or bands of Indians including the Act of June 18, 1934
(25 U.S.C. 461 et seq., commonly referred to as the ``Indian
Reorganization Act''), which are inconsistent with any specific
provision of this Act shall not be applicable to the Band and its
members.
(b) Federal Services and Benefits.--
(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Band and
its members shall be eligible for all services and benefits
provided by the Federal Government to Indians because of their
status as federally recognized Indians without regard to the
existence of a reservation or the location of the residence of
any member on or near any Indian reservation.
(2) Service area.--For purposes of the delivery of Federal
services to the enrolled members of the Band and to other
Indians, all of Cheboygan County Michigan, and any area in the
State of Michigan that is outside of Cheboygan County, but
located within 25 miles of the Tribe's Cemetery at the St.
Mary's Indian Mission Church, shall be deemed to be within the
Service Area of the Burt Lake Band. Nothing contained herein
shall prohibit the Federal Government from providing services
to members of the Band who reside or are domiciled outside this
Service Area, or from otherwise expanding the Band's Service
Area in compliance with applicable Federal law and policy. If
any part of the Band's service area overlaps with the service
area of another federally recognized Indian tribe, that overlap
shall be addressed in compliance with existing Federal policies
and regulations.
SEC. 5. REAFFIRMATION OF RIGHTS.
(a) In General.--All rights and privileges of the Band and its
members, which may have been abrogated or diminished before the date of
the enactment of this Act are hereby reaffirmed.
(b) Existing Rights of Tribe.--Nothing in this Act shall be
construed to diminish any right or privilege of the Band or of its
members that existed before the date of the enactment of this Act.
Except as otherwise specifically provided in any other provision of
this Act, nothing in this Act shall be construed as altering or
affecting any legal or equitable claim the Band may have to enforce any
right or privilege reserved by or granted to the Band which was
wrongfully denied to or taken from the Band before the enactment of
this Act.
SEC. 6. TRIBAL LANDS.
The Secretary shall acquire real property in Cheboygan County in
trust for the benefit of the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa
Indians, if at the time of such acceptance by the Secretary, there are
no adverse legal claims on such property including outstanding liens,
mortgages or taxes owed. Such lands shall become part of the initial
reservation of the Band at the request of the Band. The Secretary is
also authorized to acquire and accept real property in other geographic
areas into trust for the benefit of the Band and to declare those lands
to be a part of the Band's Reservation or Initial Reservation to the
full extent otherwise authorized by applicable law.
SEC. 7. MEMBERSHIP.
(a) In General.--Membership in the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and
Chippewa Indians shall consist of persons who can present evidence,
acceptable to the Tribe, showing that they meet the requirements of
subsection (b), and persons who meet such other requirements as are
specified by the Tribe in its Tribe's Constitution and Enrollment
Ordinance as the same may be from time to time amended.
(b) Membership Criteria.--
(1) To qualify for membership in the Burt Lake Band of
Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, a person must be able to
demonstrate through evidence acceptable to the Tribe that the
person meets at least one of the following requirements:
(A) The person descends from one or more tribal
members who were domiciled at Colonial Point, Burt
Township, Cheboygan County, Michigan before or at the
time that the Tribe's village was burned in October
1900, as said tribal members are identified in the
United States v. McGinn litigation and related
documents, and/or the 1950 Albert Shananaquet list of
Colonial Point Residents.
(B) The person descends from one or more tribal
members who are listed on the 1900 and/or the 1910 Burt
Lake Township Federal Census, Indian Enumeration
Schedule.
(C) The person has an Indian ancestor who was,
prior to 1910, living in tribal relations with the Burt
Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians as the Burt
Lake Band is defined in this Act.
(D) The person descends from Rose Midwagon Moses.
(2) In addition to the requirements under paragraph (1), to
qualify for membership in the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and
Chippwa Indians, a person must be able to demonstrate through
evidence acceptable to the Tribe that the person meets all of
the following criteria:
(A) That the person is in tribal relations with
other Burt Lake Band members.
(B) That the person's ancestors have lived in
tribal relations with other Burt Lake Band members on a
substantially continuous basis from 1910 to the
present.
(C) That the person has a completed tribal
membership enrollment file as prescribed by the Tribal
Enrollment Ordinance.
(D) That the person's membership application has
been processed and that the person has been approved
for membership in the Burt Lake Band in the manner
prescribed by the Tribal Enrollment Ordinance.
(c) Base Roll.--The base roll of the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and
Chippewa Indians shall consist of the 320 persons whose names were
listed on the official roll of the Burt Lake Band which were members
submitted by the Band to the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Office of
Federal Acknowledgment on May 2, 2005, and shall also include the
biological sons and daughters who were born to those members between
the submission of that list and the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 8. CONSTITUTION.
The initial Constitution of the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and
Chippewa Indians shall be the Constitution which the Band submitted to
the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Office of Federal Acknowledgment on May
2, 2005.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Resources.
Executive Comment Requested from Interior.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line