103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4653

AN ACT

To settle Indian land claims within the State of Connecticut,

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 ‘‘Mohegan Nation of

5 Connecticut Land Claims Settlement Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF

7 POLICY.

8 Congress finds and declares that—
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1 (1) the Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecti2 cut has been recognized by the United States

3 through the administrative process pursuant to part

4 83 of title 25 of the Code of Federal Regulations;

5 (2) the Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecti6 cut is a successor in interest to the aboriginal entity

7 known as the Mohegan Indian Tribe which has ex8 isted in what is now the State of Connecticut from

9 time immemorial and for which certain lands were

10 sequestered as tribal lands by the Colony and State

11 of Connecticut;

12 (3) there is pending before the United States

13 District Court for the Southern District of Connecti14 cut a lawsuit by the Mohegan Indian Tribe which in15 volves certain lands within the State of Connecticut;

16 (4) the pendency of the lawsuit may result in

17 economic hardships for residents of the State of

18 Connecticut by clouding the titles to lands in the

19 State, including lands not now involved in the law20 suit;

21 (5) the State of Connecticut and the Mohegan

22 Tribe have executed agreements for the purposes of

23 resolving all disputes between them and settling the

24 lawsuit, which agreements require implementing leg25 islation by the Congress of the United States;
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1 (6) in the agreements described above, the par2 ties provide for the assumption by the State of Con3 necticut of jurisdiction over offenses by and against

4 members of the Mohegan Tribe and other Indians

5 on Indian country and to the submission of all gam6 ing-related development to the jurisdiction of the

7 State of Connecticut State Traffic Commission;

8 (7) the Town of Montville, Connecticut, will be

9 affected by the loss of tax base from, and jurisdic10 tion over, lands taken into trust on behalf of the

11 Tribe and will serve as the host community for the

12 Tribe’s gaming operations;

13 (8) the Town of Montville and the Mohegan

14 Tribe have entered into an agreement to resolve is15 sues extant between them and to establish the basis

16 for a cooperative government-to-government relation17 ship; and

18 (9) Congress shares with the parties to such

19 agreements a desire to settle all Mohegan Indian

20 claims in the State of Connecticut and to remove all

21 clouds on titles resulting from such lawsuits.

22 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

23 For purposes of this Act, the term—

24 (1) ‘‘Mohegan Tribe’’ means the Mohegan

25 Tribe of Indians of Connecticut, a tribe of American
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1 Indians recognized by the United States pursuant to

2 part 83 of title 25, Code of Federal Regulations, and

3 by the State of Connecticut pursuant to Connecticut

4 General Statutes sections 47–59a(b);

5 (2) ‘‘State of Connecticut’’ means the State of

6 Connecticut, its agencies, political subdivisions, con7 stitutional officers, officials of its agencies and sub8 divisions;

9 (3) ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of the In10 terior;

11 (4) ‘‘lands or natural resources’’ means any real

12 property or natural resources, or any interest in or

13 right involving any real property or natural re14 sources including, but not limited to, minerals and

15 mineral rights, timber and timber rights, water and

16 water rights, and rights to hunt and fish;

17 (5) ‘‘lawsuit’’ means the action in the United

18 States District Court for the District of Connecticut,

19 entitled ‘‘Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut

20 v. State of Connecticut, et al.’’, Case No. H77–434;

21 (6) ‘‘State Agreement’’ means that document

22 entitled ‘‘Agreement between the Mohegan Tribe

23 and the State of Connecticut’’ executed on May 17,

24 1994, by the Governor acting on behalf of the State

25 of Connecticut and the Chief of the Mohegan Tribe
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1 acting on behalf of the Mohegan Tribe and filed with

2 the Secretary of State of the State of Connecticut;

3 (7) ‘‘Town Agreement’’ means that document

4 executed on June 16, 1994, by the Mayor of the

5 Town of Montville and the Chief of the Mohegan

6 Tribe;

7 (8) ‘‘transfer’’ includes, but is not limited to,

8 any sale, grant, lease, allotment, partition, or con9 veyance, any transaction the purpose of which was

10 to effect a sale, grant, lease, allotment, partition, or

11 conveyance, or any event or events that resulted in

12 a change of possession or control of lands or natural

13 resources.

14 SEC. 4. FINDINGS BY THE SECRETARY.

15 Section 5 of this Act shall not take effect until the

16 following events have occurred and the Secretary so

17 finds—

18 (1) the State of Connecticut has entered into a

19 binding compact with the Mohegan Tribe providing

20 for Class III tribal gaming operations, in accordance

21 with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C.

22 2701 et seq.), and the compact has received all the

23 Federal approvals required to be fully effective; and

24 (2) title to lands described in Exhibit B to the

25 Agreement has vested in the United States in trust
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1 for the Mohegan Tribe to be used as the Mohegan

2 Tribe’s initial Indian reservation.

3 SEC. 5. APPROVAL OF PRIOR TRANSFERS AND EXTIN4 GUISHMENT OF CLAIMS AND ABORIGINAL

5 TITLE INVOLVING THE MOHEGAN TRIBE.

6 (a) If the Secretary finds that the conditions set forth

7 in section 4 of this Act have been satisfied, he shall publish

8 such findings and the State Agreement in the Federal

9 Register, and upon such publication:

10 (1) The transfers, waivers, releases,

11 relinquishments, and other commitments made by

12 the Mohegan Tribe in paragraph (1) of its Agree13 ment with the State of Connecticut shall be of full

14 force and effect on the terms and conditions therein

15 stated.

16 (2) The transfers, waivers, releases,

17 relinquishments, and other commitments validated

18 by paragraph (1) of the Agreement and of this sec19 tion and the transfers and extinguishments approved

20 and validated by subsection (b)(1) and (2) shall be

21 deemed to have been made in accordance with the

22 United States Constitution and all laws of the

23 United States that are specifically applicable to

24 transfers of lands or natural resources from, by, or

25 on behalf of any Indian, Indian nation, or tribe of
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1 Indians (including but not limited to the Trade and

2 Intercourse Act of 1790, Act of July 22, 1790, ch.

3 33, sec. 4, 1 Stat. 137, and any amendments thereto

4 and all subsequent versions thereof), and Congress

5 does hereby approve any such transfers effective as

6 of the date of said transfers.

7 (b)(1) All claims to lands within the State of Con8 necticut based upon aboriginal title by the Mohegan Tribe

9 are hereby extinguished, as are any and all other claims

10 the Mohegan Tribe might have to any public or private

11 lands or natural resources in Connecticut, such as claims

12 or rights based on recognized title, including but not lim13 ited to—

14 (A) any claim the Mohegan Tribe might have to

15 the tribal sequestered lands bounded out to the

16 Tribe in 1684, consisting of some 20,480 acres lying

17 between the Thames River, New London bounds,

18 Norwich bounds, and Colchester bounds;

19 (B) any claim the Mohegan Tribe might have

20 based on a survey under the authority of the Con21 necticut General Assembly in 1736 of lands reserved

22 and sequestered by the General Assembly for the

23 sole use and improvement of the Mohegan Indian

24 Tribe; and
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1 (C) any claim the Mohegan Tribe might have

2 based on any action by the State in 1860, 1861, or

3 otherwise to allot, reallot, and/or confirm any lands

4 of the Mohegan Tribe to individual Indians or other

5 persons. Any transfer of lands or natural resources

6 located anywhere within the State of Connecticut in7 cluding, but not limited to, transfers pursuant to the

8 statute or treaty of or with any State or the United

9 States, by, from, or on behalf of the Mohegan Tribe,

10 or any predecessor or successor in interest, shall be

11 deemed to be in full force and effect, as provided in

12 subsection (a)(2): Provided, however, That nothing

13 herein shall be construed as extinguishing any ab14 original right, title, interest, or claim to lands or

15 natural resources solely to the extent of the rights

16 or interests defined as ‘‘excepted interests’’ in para17 graph 1a of the Agreement between the Mohegan

18 Tribe and the State of Connecticut.

19 (2) By virtue of the approval of a transfer of lands

20 or natural resources effected by this section, or an extin21 guishment of aboriginal title effected thereby, all claims

22 against the United States, any State or subdivision there23 of, or any other person or entity, by the Mohegan Tribe,

24 arising subsequent to the transfer and based upon any in25 terest in or right involving the claims described in para-
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1 graph (1) above in lands or natural resources, including,

2 but not limited to, claims for trespass damages or claims

3 for use and occupancy, shall be regarded as extinguished

4 as of the date of the transfer, provided that this limitation

5 shall not apply to any interest in lands or natural re6 sources subsequently and lawfully acquired by the Mohe7 gan Tribe or its members.

8 (c) No provision of this section shall be construed to

9 offset or eliminate the personal claim of any individual In10 dian which is pursued under any law of general applicabil11 ity that protects Indians as well as non-Indians.

12 SEC. 6. CONVEYANCE OF LANDS TO THE UNITED STATES IN

13 TRUST FOR THE MOHEGAN TRIBE.

14 (a) The Secretary of the Interior is authorized and

15 directed, subject to the satisfaction of environmental re16 quirements otherwise applicable to actions under part 151

17 of title 25, Code of Federal Regulations, to accept the con18 veyance of title to lands described in Exhibits A and B

19 of the State Agreement to be taken in the name of the

20 United States of America in trust for the use and benefit

21 of the Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut. The lands

22 shall be the Mohegan Tribe’s Initial Indian reservation.

23 (b) With regard to any tracts of land subject to Ex24 hibit B of the State Agreement but not specifically identi25 fied therein, the Secretary shall consult with the Town of
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1 Montville with respect to the impact on the Town resulting

2 from the removal of the land from the tax rolls and juris3 dictional problems and potential conflicts of land use

4 which may arise. With respect to all lands not subject to

5 Exhibits A and B of the State Agreement, nothing in this

6 Act shall diminish or otherwise affect the Town’s rights

7 under applicable law to participate in the decisionmaking

8 process on trust acquisition requests involving these lands.

9 SEC. 7. ASSUMPTION BY STATE OF JURISDICTION OVER

10 CRIMES.

11 The consent of the United States is hereby given to

12 the State of Connecticut to assume by affirmative legisla13 tion jurisdiction over offenses committed by or against In14 dians on the Mohegan Indian reservation or Indian coun15 try owned by the Mohegan tribe or its members. Such ju16 risdiction shall be to the same extent that the State has

17 over such offenses committed elsewhere within the State,

18 and the criminal laws of the State shall have the same

19 force within such reservation and Indian country as they

20 have elsewhere in the State. Such exercise of criminal ju21 risdiction by the State shall not affect the Tribe’s concur22 rent jurisdiction over such matters.
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1 SEC. 8. GENERAL DISCHARGE AND RELEASE OF STATE OF

2 CONNECTICUT.

3 Except as expressly provided herein and in the State

4 Agreement and the Town Agreement, this Act shall con5 stitute a general discharge and release of all obligations

6 of the State of Connecticut and all of its political subdivi7 sions, agencies, departments, and all of the officers or em8 ployees thereof arising from any treaty or agreement with,

9 or on behalf of the Tribe of the United Sates as trustee

10 therefor.

11 SEC. 9. REVOCATION OF STATE AGREEMENT.

12 In the event that, within 15 years of the date of the

13 publication of the notice required by section 5(a), the

14 Agreement between the Mohegan Tribe and the State of

15 Connecticut is invalidated, or if the gaming compact pro16 vided in section 4(1) of this Act, or any implementing

17 agreements between the parties thereto, is invalidated by

18 a court of competent jurisdiction, the transfers, waivers,

19 releases, relinquishments and other commitments made by

20 the Mohegan Tribe in paragraph 1a of the State Agree21 ment shall no longer be of any force or effect, section 5

22 of this Act shall be inapplicable to the lands, interests in

23 lands or natural resources of the Mohegan Tribe and its

24 members as if never enacted, and the approvals of prior

25 transfers and the extinguishment of claims and aboriginal

26 title of the Mohegan Tribe otherwise effected by section
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1 5 shall be void ab initio. In any such event, the Mohegan

2 Tribe shall have the right to reinstate its land claim within

3 a reasonable time, which period shall be defined as the

4 later of 6 months after the Mohegan Tribe receives written

5 notice of such determination, or if appealed, 6 months

6 after entry of judgment by the court of last resort, and,

7 if the suit is reinstated within that time, no defense, such

8 as laches, statute of limitations, law of the case, res judi9 cata, or prior disposition shall be asserted based on the

10 withdrawal of the lawsuit and commencement of the re11 sumed litigation, nor shall the substance of discussions

12 leading to the State Agreement be admissible in any sub13 sequent litigation: Provided, however, That if any such suit

14 is reinstated, any defense which would have been available

15 to the State of Connecticut at the time the lawsuit was

16 withdrawn may be asserted, and is not waived by anything

17 in the State Agreement or by subsequent events occurring

18 between the withdrawal of the lawsuit and commencement

19 of the resumed litigation. In the event that any suit chal20 lenging the validity of the State Agreement, the gaming

21 compact provided in section 4 of this Act, or any imple22 menting agreements between the parties thereto, is pend23 ing in any court of competent jurisdiction on the date that

24 the Mohegan Tribe’s rights under this section would other25 wise expire, such rights will be extended for a period not
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1 to exceed 6 months from the date the Mohegan Tribe re2 ceives notice of a final determination in such suit or, if

3 an appeal is filed, 6 months after entry of judgment by

4 the court of last resort.

5 SEC. 10. JUDICIAL REVIEW.

6 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any ac7 tion to contest the constitutionality of this Act or the va8 lidity of any agreement entered into under the authority

9 of this Act or approved by this Act shall be barred unless

10 the complaint is filed within 180 days after the date of

11 enactment of this Act. Exclusive jurisdiction over any such

12 action is hereby vested in the United States District Court

13 for the District of Connecticut.

14 SEC. 11. RATIFICATION OF TOWN AGREEMENT.

15 (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the

16 Town agreement entered into by the Mohegan Indian tribe

17 and the Town of Montville is hereby ratified and given

18 full force and effect.

19 (b) The Secretary is authorized and directed to ap20 prove future modifications to the Town Agreement mutu-
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1 ally agreed to by the parties and consistent with applicable

2 law.

Passed the House of Representatives August 8,

1994.

Attest:

Clerk.

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4653

AN ACT

To settle Indian land claims within the State of

Connecticut, and for other purposes.