I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 946

To restore Federal recognition to the Indians of the Graton Rancheria of

California.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 2, 1999

Ms. WOOLSEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Resources

A BILL

To restore Federal recognition to the Indians of the Graton

Rancheria of California.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Graton Rancheria Res5 toration Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:

8 (1) In their 1997 Report to Congress, the Advi9 sory Council on California Indian Policy specifically
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1 recommended the immediate legislative restoration

2 of the Graton Rancheria.

3 (2) The Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria

4 Tribal Council has made the express decision to re5 strict gaming consistent with the provisions of this

6 Act.

7 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

8 For purposes of this Act:

9 (1) The term ‘‘Tribe’’ means the Indians of the

10 Graton Rancheria of California.

11 (2) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

12 of the Interior.

13 (3) The term ‘‘Interim Tribal Council’’ means

14 the governing body of the Tribe specified in section

15 7.

16 (4) The term ‘‘member’’ means an individual

17 who meets the membership criteria under section

18 6(b).

19 (5) The term ‘‘State’’ means the State of Cali20 fornia.

21 (6) The term ‘‘reservation’’ means those lands

22 acquired and held in trust by the Secretary for the

23 benefit of the Tribe.

24 (7) The term ‘‘service area’’ means the counties

25 of Marin and Sonoma, in the State of California.
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1 SEC. 4. RESTORATION OF FEDERAL RECOGNITION, RIGHTS,

2 AND PRIVILEGES.

3 (a) FEDERAL RECOGNITION.—Federal recognition is

4 hereby restored to the Tribe. Except as otherwise provided

5 in this Act, all laws and regulations of general application

6 to Indians and nations, tribes, or bands of Indians that

7 are not inconsistent with any specific provision of this Act

8 shall be applicable to the Tribe and its members.

9 (b) RESTORATION OF RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES.—

10 Except as provided in subsection (d), all rights and privi11 leges of the Tribe and its members under any Federal

12 treaty, Executive order, agreement, or statute, or under

13 any other authority which were diminished or lost under

14 the Act of August 18, 1958 (Public Law 85–671; 72 Stat.

15 619), are hereby restored, and the provisions of such Act

16 shall be inapplicable to the Tribe and its members after

17 the date of the enactment of this Act.

18 (c) FEDERAL SERVICES AND BENEFITS.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Without regard to the exist20 ence of a reservation, the Tribe and its members

21 shall be eligible, on and after the date of enactment

22 of this Act for all Federal services and benefits fur23 nished to federally recognized Indian tribes or their

24 members. For the purposes of Federal services and

25 benefits available to members of federally recognized

26 Indian tribes residing on a reservation, members of
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1 the Tribe residing in the Tribe’s service area shall

2 be deemed to be residing on a reservation.

3 (2) RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.—The eligibility

4 for or receipt of services and benefits under para5 graph (1) by a tribe or individual shall not be con6 sidered as income, resources, or otherwise when de7 termining the eligibility for or computation of any

8 payment or other benefit to such tribe, individual, or

9 household under—

10 (A) any financial aid program of the

11 United States, including grants and contracts

12 subject to the Indian Self-Determination Act; or

13 (B) any other benefit to which such tribe,

14 household, or individual would otherwise be en15 titled under any Federal or federally assisted

16 program.

17 (d) HUNTING, FISHING, TRAPPING, GATHERING,

18 AND WATER RIGHTS.—Nothing in this Act shall expand,

19 reduce, or affect in any manner any hunting, fishing, trap20 ping, gathering, or water rights of the Tribe and its mem21 bers.

22 (e) CERTAIN RIGHTS NOT ALTERED.—Except as

23 specifically provided in this Act, nothing in this Act shall

24 alter any property right or obligation, any contractual

25 right or obligation, or any obligation for taxes levied.
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1 SEC. 5. TRANSFER OF LAND TO BE HELD IN TRUST.

2 (a) LANDS TO BE TAKEN IN TRUST.—Upon applica3 tion by the Tribe, the Secretary shall accept into trust for

4 the benefit of the Tribe any real property located in Marin

5 or Sonoma County, California, for the benefit of the Tribe

6 after the property is conveyed or otherwise transferred to

7 the Secretary and if, at the time of such conveyance or

8 transfer, there are no adverse legal claims to such prop9 erty, including outstanding liens, mortgages, or taxes.

10 (b) FORMER TRUST LANDS OF THE GRATON

11 RANCHERIA.—Subject to the conditions specified in this

12 section, real property eligible for trust status under this

13 section shall include Indian owned fee land held by persons

14 listed as distributees or dependent members in the dis15 tribution plan approved by the Secretary on September 17,

16 1959, or such distributees’ or dependent members’ Indian

17 heirs or successors in interest.

18 (c) LANDS TO BE PART OF RESERVATION.—Any

19 real property taken into trust for the benefit of the Tribe

20 pursuant to this Act shall be part of the Tribe’s reserva21 tion.

22 (d) GAMING RESTRICTED.—Notwithstanding sub23 section (c), real property taken into trust for the benefit

24 of the Tribe pursuant to this Act shall not be exempt

25 under section 20(b) of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act

26 (25 U.S.C. 2719(b)).
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1 (e) LANDS TO BE NONTAXABLE.—Any real property

2 taken into trust for the benefit of the Tribe pursuant to

3 this section shall be exempt from all local, State, and Fed4 eral taxation as of the date that such land is transferred

5 to the Secretary.

6 SEC. 6. MEMBERSHIP ROLLS.

7 (a) COMPILATION OF TRIBAL MEMBERSHIP ROLL.—

8 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of

9 this Act, the Secretary shall, after consultation with the

10 Tribe, compile a membership roll of the Tribe.

11 (b) CRITERIA FOR MEMBERSHIP.—

12 (1) Until a tribal constitution is adopted under

13 section 8, an individual shall be placed on the

14 Graton membership roll if such individual is living,

15 is not an enrolled member of another federally rec16 ognized Indian tribe, and if—

17 (A) such individual’s name was listed on

18 the Graton Indian Rancheria distribution list

19 compiled by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and

20 approved by the Secretary of the Interior on

21 September 17, 1959, under Public Law 85–

22 671;

23 (B) such individual was not listed on the

24 Graton Indian Rancheria distribution list, but

25 met the requirements that had to be met to be
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1 listed on the Graton Indian Rancheria distribu2 tion list;

3 (C) such individual is identified as an In4 dian from the Graton, Marshall, Bodega,

5 Tomales, or Sebastopol, California, vicinities, in

6 documents prepared by or at the direction of

7 the Bureau of Indian Affairs, or in any other

8 public or California mission records; or

9 (D) such individual is a lineal descendant

10 of an individual, living or dead, identified in

11 subparagraph (A), (B), or (C).

12 (2) After adoption of a tribal constitution under

13 section 8, such tribal constitution shall govern mem14 bership in the Tribe.

15 (c) CONCLUSIVE PROOF OF GRATON INDIAN ANCES16 TRY.—For the purpose of subsection (b), the Secretary

17 shall accept any available evidence establishing Graton In18 dian ancestry. The Secretary shall accept as conclusive

19 evidence of Graton Indian ancestry information contained

20 in the census of the Indians from the Graton, Marshall,

21 Bodega, Tomales, or Sebastopol, California, vicinities, pre22 pared by or at the direction of Special Indian Agent John

23 J. Terrell in any other roll or census of Graton Indians

24 prepared by or at the direction of the Bureau of Indian

25 Affairs and in the Graton Indian Rancheria distribution
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1 list compiled by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and ap2 proved by the Secretary on September 17, 1959.

3 SEC. 7. INTERIM GOVERNMENT.

4 Until the Tribe ratifies a final constitution consistent

5 with section 8, the Tribe’s governing body shall be an In6 terim Tribal Council. The initial membership of the In7 terim Tribal Council shall consist of the members serving

8 on the date of enactment of this Act, who have been elect9 ed under the tribal constitution adopted May 3, 1997. The

10 Interim Tribal Council shall continue to operate in the

11 manner prescribed under such tribal constitution. Any va12 cancy on the Interim Tribal Council shall be filled by indi13 viduals who meet the membership criteria set forth in sec14 tion 6(b) and who are elected in the same manner as are

15 Tribal Council members under the tribal constitution

16 adopted May 3, 1997.

17 SEC. 8. TRIBAL CONSTITUTION.

18 (a) ELECTION; TIME; PROCEDURE.—After the com19 pilation of the tribal membership roll under section 6(a),

20 upon the written request of the Interim Council, the Sec21 retary shall conduct, by secret ballot, an election for the

22 purpose of ratifying a final constitution for the Tribe. The

23 election shall be held consistent with sections 16(c)(1) and

24 16(c)(2)(A) of the Act of June 18, 1934 (commonly

25 known as the Indian Reorganization Act; 25 U.S.C.
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1 476(c)(1) and 476(c)(2)(A), respectively). Absentee voting

2 shall be permitted regardless of voter residence.

3 (b) ELECTION OF TRIBAL OFFICIALS; PROCE4 DURES.—Not later than 120 days after the Tribe ratifies

5 a final constitution under subsection (a), the Secretary

6 shall conduct an election by secret ballot for the purpose

7 of electing tribal officials as provided in such tribal con8 stitution. Such election shall be conducted consistent with

9 the procedures specified in subsection (a) except to the

10 extent that such procedures conflict with the tribal con11 stitution.

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