IIB 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1272 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 19, 2012 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs 

AN ACT 

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 19 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Minnesota Chippewa 

3 Tribe Judgment Fund Distribution Act of 2012’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) On January 22, 1948, the Minnesota Chip7 pewa Tribe, representing all Chippewa bands in Min8 nesota except the Red Lake Band, filed a claim be9 fore the Indian Claims Commission in Docket No. 

10 19 for an accounting of all funds received and ex11 pended pursuant to the Act of January 14, 1889, 25 

12 Stat. 642, and amendatory acts (hereinafter referred 

13 to as the Nelson Act). 

14 (2) On August 2, 1951, the Minnesota Chip15 pewa Tribe, representing all Chippewa bands in Min16 nesota except the Red Lake Band, filed a number of 

17 claims before the Indian Claims Commission in 

18 Docket No. 188 for an accounting of the Govern19 ment’s obligation to each of the member bands of 

20 the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe under various stat21 utes and treaties that are not covered by the Nelson 

22 Act of January 14, 1889. 

23 (3) On May 17, 1999, a Joint Motion for Find24 ings in Aid of Settlement of the claims in Docket 

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


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1 (4) The terms of the settlement were approved 

2 by the Court and the final judgment was entered on 

3 May 26, 1999. 

4 (5) On June 22, 1999, $20,000,000 was trans5 ferred to the Department of the Interior and depos6 ited into a trust fund account established for the 

7 beneficiaries of the funds awarded in Docket No. 19 

8 and 188. 

9 (6) Pursuant to the Indian Tribal Judgment 

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

11 seq.), Congress must act to authorize the use or dis12 tribution of the judgment funds. 

13 (7) On October 1, 2009, the Minnesota Chip14 pewa Tribal Executive Committee passed Resolution 

15 146–09, approving a plan to distribute the judgment 

16 funds and requesting that the United States Con17 gress act to distribute the judgment funds in the 

18 manner described by the plan. 

19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

20 For the purpose of this Act: 

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

22 funds’’ means the funds awarded to the Minnesota 

23 Chippewa Tribe and interest earned and received on 

24 those funds, less the funds used for payments au25 thorized under section 4. 


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

2 Bois Forte Band, Fond du Lac Band, Grand Por3 tage Band, Leech Lake Band, Mille Lacs Band, and 

4 White Earth Band. 

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

6 funds’’ means the funds awarded on May 26, 1999, 

7 to the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe by the Court of 

8 Federal Claims in Docket No. 19 and 188. 

9 (4) MINNESOTA CHIPPEWA TRIBE.—The term 

10 ‘‘Minnesota Chippewa Tribe’’ means the Minnesota 

11 Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota, composed of the Bois 

12 Forte Band, Fond du Lac Band, Grand Portage 

13 Band, Leech Lake Band, Mille Lacs Band, and 

14 White Earth Band. It does not include Red Lake 

15 Band of Chippewa Indians, Minnesota. 

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

17 the Secretary of the Interior. 

18 SEC. 4. LOAN REIMBURSEMENTS TO MINNESOTA CHIP19 PEWA TRIBE. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized to re21 imburse the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe the amount of 

22 funds, plus interest earned to the date of reimbursement, 

23 that the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe contributed for pay24 ment of attorneys’ fees and litigation expenses associated 

25 with the litigation of Docket No. 19 and 188 before the 


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1 U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the distribution of judg2 ment funds. 

3 (b) CLAIMS.—The Minnesota Chippewa Tribe’s claim 

4 for reimbursement of funds expended shall be— 

5 (1) presented to the Secretary not later than 90 

6 days after the date of enactment of this Act; 

7 (2) certified by the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe 

8 as being unreimbursed to the Minnesota Chippewa 

9 Tribe from other funding sources; 

10 (3) paid with interest calculated at the rate of 

11 6.0 percent per annum, simple interest, from the 

12 date the funds were expended to the date the funds 

13 are reimbursed to the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe; 

14 and 

15 (4) paid from the judgment funds prior to the 

16 division of the funds under section 5. 

17 SEC. 5. DIVISION OF JUDGMENT FUNDS. 

18 (a) MEMBERSHIP ROLLS.—Not later than 90 days 

19 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Minnesota 

20 Chippewa Tribe shall submit to the Secretary updated 

21 membership rolls for each Band, which shall include all 

22 enrolled members the date of the enactment of this Act. 

23 (b) DIVISIONS.—After all funds have been reim24 bursed under section 4, and the membership rolls have 

25 been updated under subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 


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1 (1) set aside for each Band a portion of the 

2 available judgment funds equivalent to $300 for 

3 each member enrolled within each Band; and 

4 (2) after the funds are set aside in accordance 

5 with paragraph (1), divide 100 percent of the re6 maining funds into equal shares for each Band. 

7 (c) SEPARATE ACCOUNTS.—The Secretary shall— 

8 (1) deposit all funds described in subsection 

9 (b)(1) into a ‘‘Per Capita’’ account for each Band; 

10 and 

11 (2) deposit all funds described in subsection 

12 (b)(2) into an ‘‘Equal Shares’’ account for each 

13 Band. 

14 (d) WITHDRAWAL OF FUNDS.—After the Secretary 

15 deposits the available funds into the accounts described 

16 in subsection (c), a Band may withdraw all or part of the 

17 monies in its account. 

18 (e) DISBURSEMENT OF PER CAPITA PAYMENTS.—All 

19 funds described in subsection (b)(1) shall be used by each 

20 Band only for the purposes of distributing one $300 pay21 ment to each individual member of the Band. Each Band 

22 may— 

23 (1) distribute the $300 payment to the parents 

24 or legal guardians on behalf of each dependent Band 


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1 member instead of distributing such $300 payment 

2 to the dependent Band member; or 

3 (2) deposit into a trust account the $300 pay4 ment to each dependent Band member for the ben5 efit of such dependent Band member, to be distrib6 uted under the terms of such trust. 

7 (f) DISTRIBUTION OF UNCLAIMED PAYMENTS.—One 

8 year after the funds described in subsection (b)(1) are 

9 made available to the Bands, all unclaimed payments de10 scribed in subsection (e) shall be returned to the Sec11 retary, who shall divide these funds into equal shares for 

12 each Band, and deposit the divided shares into the ac13 counts described in subsection (c)(2) for the use of each 

14 Band. 

15 (g) LIABILITY.—If a Band exercises the right to 

16 withdraw monies from its accounts, the Secretary shall not 

17 retain liability for the expenditure or investment of the 

18 monies after each withdrawal. 

19 SEC. 6. GENERAL PROVISIONS. 

20 (a) PREVIOUS OBLIGATIONS.—Funds disbursed 

21 under this Act shall not be liable for the payment of pre22 viously contracted obligations of any recipient as provided 

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

24 (b) INDIAN JUDGMENT FUNDS DISTRIBUTION

25 ACT.—All funds distributed under this Act are subject to 


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1 the provisions in the Indian Judgment Funds Distribution 

2 Act (25 U.S.C. 1407). 

Passed the House of Representatives June 18, 2012. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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