I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2306 

To provide for the use and distribution of the funds awarded to the Minnesota 

Chippewa Tribe, et al., by the United States Court of Federal Claims 

in Docket Numbers 18 and 188, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 14, 2007 

Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide for the use and distribution of the funds awarded 

to the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, et al., by the United 

States Court of Federal Claims in Docket Numbers 18 

and 188, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Minnesota Chippewa 

5 Tribe Judgment Fund Distribution Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) On January 22, 1948, the Minnesota Chip2 pewa Tribe, representing all Chippewa bands in Min3 nesota except the Red Lake Band, filed a claim be4 fore the Indian Claims Commission in Docket No. 

5 19 for an accounting of all funds received and ex6 pended pursuant to the Act of January 14, 1889, 25 

7 Stat. 642, and amendatory acts (hereinafter referred 

8 to as the Nelson Act). 

9 (2) On August 2, 1951, the Minnesota Chip10 pewa Tribe, representing all Chippewa bands in Min11 nesota except the Red Lake Band, filed a number of 

12 claims before the Indian Claims Commission in 

13 Docket No. 188 for an accounting of the Govern14 ment’s obligation to each of the member bands of 

15 the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe under various stat16 utes and treaties that are not covered by the Nelson 

17 Act of January 14, 1889. 

18 (3) On May 17, 1999, a Joint Motion for Find19 ings in Aid of Settlement of the claims in Docket 

20 No. 19 and 188 was filed before the Court. 

21 (4) The terms of the settlement were approved 

22 by the Court and the final judgment was entered on 

23 May 26, 1999. 

24 (5) On June 22, 1999, $20,000,000 was trans25 ferred to the Department of the Interior and deposVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:56 May 17, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2306.IH H2306

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1 ited into a trust fund account established for the 

2 beneficiaries of the funds awarded in Docket No. 19 

3 and 188. 

4 (6) The funds awarded in Docket No. 19 and 

5 188 represent additional compensation that would 

6 have been distributed per capita under the Nelson 

7 Act if the funds had been deposited into the perma8 nent account established in the U.S. Treasury for 

9 the Chippewa Indians of Minnesota. Hence, the 

10 judgment funds shall be divided pro rata among the 

11 Bands based upon the number of members enrolled 

12 with each Band. 

13 (7) Pursuant to the Indian Tribal Judgment 

14 Funds Use or Distribution Act (25 U.S.C. 1401 et 

15 seq.), the Secretary is required to submit to Con16 gress for approval an Indian judgment fund use or 

17 distribution plan. 

18 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to pro19 vide for the fair and equitable division of the judgment 

20 funds among the Bands and to provide each Band the op21 portunity to develop a use and distribution plan for its 

22 share of the funds. 

23 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

24 For the purpose of this Act: 


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1 (1) AVAILABLE FUNDS.—The term ‘‘available 

2 funds’’ means the funds awarded to the Minnesota 

3 Chippewa Tribe and interest earned and received on 

4 those funds, less the funds used for payment of at5 torney fees and litigation expenses. 

6 (2) BANDS.—The term ‘‘Bands’’ means the 

7 Bois Forte Band, Fond du Lac Band, Grand Por8 tage Band, Leech Lake Band, Mille Lacs Band, and 

9 White Earth Band. 

10 (3) JUDGMENT FUNDS.—The term ‘‘judgment 

11 funds’’ means the funds awarded on May 29, 1999, 

12 to the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe by the Court of 

13 Federal Claims in Docket No. 19 and 188. 

14 (4) MINNESOTA CHIPPEWA TRIBE.—The term 

15 ‘‘Minnesota Chippewa Tribe’’ means the Minnesota 

16 Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota composed of the Bois 

17 Forte Band, Fond du Lac Band, Grand Portage 

18 Band, Leech Lake Band, Mille Lacs Band, and 

19 White Earth Band. It does not include Red Lake 

20 Band of Chippewa Indians, Minnesota. 

21 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

22 the Secretary of the Interior. 

23 SEC. 4. LOAN REIMBURSEMENTS TO CERTAIN BANDS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—(1) The Secretary is authorized 

25 to reimburse each Band the amount of funds plus interest 


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1 earned to the date of reimbursement that the Band con2 tributed for payment of litigation expenses and expert wit3 ness fees associated with the litigation of Docket No. 19 

4 and 188 before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. 

5 (2) Reimbursement to a Band shall only be for litiga6 tion expenses and expert witness fees incurred prior to 

7 June 22, 1999. 

8 (b) CLAIMS.—The Band’s claim for reimbursement 

9 of funds expended shall be— 

10 (1) presented to the Secretary within 90 days 

11 of the date of enactment of this Act, 

12 (2) itemized and supported by invoices and re13 ceipts, 

14 (3) certified by the Band as being unreim15 bursed to the Band from other funding sources, and 

16 (4) paid with interest calculated at the rate of 

17 5.5 percent per annum, simple interest, from the 

18 date the funds were expended to the date the funds 

19 are reimbursed to the Band. 

20 (c) REVIEW.—The Secretary shall review the claims 

21 and determine if the fees and expenses are properly docu22 mented and incurred in the litigation of the claims before 

23 the Court in Docket No. 19 and 188. All claims approved 

24 by the Secretary for reimbursement to the Band shall be 


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1 paid from the judgment funds prior to the division of the 

2 funds under section 5. 

3 SEC. 5. DIVISION OF JUDGMENT FUNDS. 

4 (a) MEMBERSHIP ROLLS.—The Bands shall update 

5 their membership rolls to include all enrolled members liv6 ing on the date of enactment of this Act. The membership 

7 rolls shall be subject to the review and approval of the 

8 Secretary. 

9 (b) DIVISIONS.—After all funds have been reim10 bursed as provided under section 4, and the membership 

11 rolls have been updated, reviewed, and approved under 

12 subsection (a) of this section, the Secretary shall divide 

13 the available judgment funds among the Bands in propor14 tion to the number of members enrolled with each Band. 

15 (c) SEPARATE ACCOUNTS.—The Secretary shall es16 tablish a separate account for each Band and deposit each 

17 Band’s proportionate share of the available judgment 

18 funds into their respective account. 

19 SEC. 6. DEVELOPMENT OF TRIBAL PLANS FOR THE USE OR 

20 DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS. 

21 (a) DISTRIBUTION PLANS.—The Secretary shall have 

22 no more than 180 days from the date that the funds are 

23 divided among the Bands under section 5 to prepare and 

24 submit to the Congress, in a manner otherwise consistent 

25 with the Indian Tribal Judgment Funds Use or DistribuVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:56 May 17, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2306.IH H2306

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1 tion Act (25 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.), separate plans for the 

2 use and distribution of each Band’s respective share of 

3 the available funds. 

4 (b) WITHDRAWAL.—Once a distribution plan be5 comes effective in accordance with subsection (a), a Band 

6 may withdraw all or part of the monies in its account in 

7 accordance with the Band’s distribution plan. 

8 (c) LIABILITY.—If a Band exercises the right to with9 draw monies from its account, the Secretary shall not re10 tain any liability for the expenditure or investment of the 

11 monies withdrawn. 

12 SEC. 7. GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

13 (a) PREVIOUS OBLIGATIONS.—Funds disbursed 

14 under this Act shall not be liable for the payment of pre15 viously contracted obligations of any recipient as provided 

16 in Public Law 98–64 (25 U.S.C. 117b(a)). 

17 (b) INDIAN JUDGMENT FUNDS DISTRIBUTED ACT.— 

18 All funds distributed under this Act are subject to the pro19 visions in the Indian Judgment Funds Distributed Act (25 

20 U.S.C. 1407). 

Æ 


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