I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 650 

To provide compensation to the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community for the 

taking without just compensation of land by the United States inside 

the exterior boundaries of the L’Anse Indian Reservation that were 

guaranteed to the Community under a treaty signed in 1854. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 31, 2023 

Mr. BERGMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide compensation to the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community for the taking without just compensation of land 

by the United States inside the exterior boundaries of 

the L’Anse Indian Reservation that were guaranteed to 

the Community under a treaty signed in 1854. 

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 ‘‘Keweenaw Bay Indian 

5 Community Land Claim Settlement Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community is a 

2 federally recognized Indian Tribe residing on the 

3 L’Anse Indian Reservation in Baraga County in the 

4 Upper Peninsula of the State of Michigan; 

5 (2) the Community is a successor in interest to 

6 the Treaty with the Chippewa Indians of the Mis7 sissippi and Lake Superior, made and concluded at 

8 La Pointe of Lake Superior October 4, 1842 (7 

9 Stat. 591) (referred to in this section as the ‘‘1842 

10 Treaty’’), which, among other things, guaranteed the 

11 usufructuary rights of the Community over a large 

12 area of land that was ceded to the United States, 

13 until such time that those usufructuary rights were 

14 properly and legally extinguished; 

15 (3) the Community is also a successor in inter16 est to the Treaty with the Chippewa Indians of Lake 

17 Superior and the Mississippi, made and concluded at 

18 La Pointe September 30, 1854 (10 Stat. 1109) (re19 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘1854 Treaty’’); 

20 (4) article 2, paragraph 1 of the 1854 Treaty 

21 created the L’Anse Indian Reservation as a perma22 nent reservation; 

23 (5) pursuant to article 13 of the 1854 Treaty, 

24 the 1854 Treaty became ‘‘obligatory on the conVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:47 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H650.IH H650

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1 tracting parties’’ when ratified by the President and 

2 the Senate on January 10, 1855; 

3 (6) in 1850, Congress enacted the Act of Sep4 tember 28, 1850 (commonly known and referred to 

5 in this section as the ‘‘Swamp Land Act’’) (9 Stat. 

6 519, chapter 84), which authorized the State of Ar7 kansas and other States, including the State of 

8 Michigan, to ‘‘construct the necessary levees and 

9 drains to reclaim’’ certain unsold ‘‘swamp and over10 flowed lands, made unfit thereby for cultivation’’ 

11 and stating that those lands ‘‘shall remain unsold at 

12 the passage of this act . . . .’’; 

13 (7) following enactment of the Swamp Land 

14 Act, the State claimed thousands of acres of swamp 

15 land in the State pursuant to that Act; 

16 (8) between 1893 and 1937, the General Land 

17 Office patented 2,743 acres of land to the State that 

18 were located within the exterior boundaries of the 

19 Reservation (referred to in this section as ‘‘Reserva20 tion Swamp Lands’’); 

21 (9) the right of the Community to use and oc22 cupy the unsold land within the Reservation had not 

23 been extinguished when the United States patented 

24 the Reservation Swamp Lands to the State; 


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1 (10) in 1852, Congress enacted the Act of Au2 gust 26, 1852 (10 Stat. 35, chapter 92) (referred to 

3 in this section as the ‘‘Canal Land Act’’), to facili4 tate the building of the Sault Ste. Marie Canal at 

5 the Falls of the St. Mary’s River, to connect Lake 

6 Superior to Lake Huron; 

7 (11) pursuant to the Canal Land Act, the 

8 United States granted the State the right to select 

9 750,000 acres of unsold public land within the State 

10 to defray the cost of construction of the Sault Ste. 

11 Marie Canal; 

12 (12) the State identified and selected, among 

13 other land, a minimum of 1,333.25 and up to 2,720 

14 acres within the exterior boundaries of the Reserva15 tion (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Reservation 

16 Canal Lands’’); 

17 (13) the Department of the Interior approved 

18 the land selections of the State, including the Res19 ervation Canal Lands, after ratification of the 1854 

20 Treaty; 

21 (14) the Secretary noted that the approval de22 scribed in paragraph (13) was ‘‘subject to any valid 

23 interfering rights’’; 

24 (15) the 1854 Treaty set apart from the public 

25 domain all unsold land within the Reservation to the 


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1 Community as of September 30, 1854, which pre2 ceded the date on which the State established legally 

3 effective title to the Reservation Canal Lands; 

4 (16) the Community made claims to the De5 partment of the Interior with respect to the Reserva6 tion Swamp Lands and the Reservation Canal 

7 Lands, providing legal analysis and ethnohistorical 

8 support for those claims; 

9 (17) in December 2021, the Department of the 

10 Interior stated that ‘‘We have carefully reviewed per11 tinent documents, including the Tribe’s expert re12 ports, and have determined that the Tribe’s claims 

13 to the Swamp Lands and Canal Lands have merit’’; 

14 (18) the United States, through the actions of 

15 the General Land Office, deprived the Community of 

16 the exclusive use and occupancy of the Reservation 

17 Swamp Lands and the Reservation Canal Lands 

18 within the Reservation, without just compensation as 

19 required under the Takings Clause of the Fifth 

20 Amendment to the Constitution of the United 

21 States; 

22 (19) the loss of the Reservation Swamp Lands 

23 and the Reservation Canal Lands without just com24 pensation has— 


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1 (A) impacted the exercise by the Commu2 nity of cultural, religious, and subsistence 

3 rights on the land; 

4 (B) caused a harmful disconnect between 

5 the Community and its land; 

6 (C) impacted the ability of the Community 

7 to fully exercise its economy within the Reserva8 tion; and 

9 (D) had a negative economic impact on the 

10 development of the economy of the Community; 

11 (20) certain non-Indian individuals, entities, 

12 and local governments occupy land within the 

13 boundaries of the Reservation— 

14 (A) acquired ownership interests in the 

15 Reservation Swamp Lands and the Reservation 

16 Canal Lands in good faith; and 

17 (B) have an interest in possessing clear 

18 title to that land; 

19 (21) this Act allows the United States— 

20 (A) to secure a fair and equitable settle21 ment of past inequities suffered by the Commu22 nity as a result of the actions of the United 

23 States that caused the taking of the Reserva24 tion Swamp Lands and the Reservation Canal 

25 Lands without just compensation; and 


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1 (B) to ensure protection of the ownership 

2 of the Reservation Swamp Lands and the Res3 ervation Canal Lands by non-Indian occupants 

4 of the Reservation, through the settlement of 

5 the claims of the Community to that land, and 

6 through that action, the relief of any clouds on 

7 title; 

8 (22) a settlement will allow the Community to 

9 receive just compensation and the local landowners 

10 to obtain clear title to land, without long and pro11 tracted litigation that would be both costly and det12 rimental to all involved; and 

13 (23) this Act achieves both justice for the Com14 munity and security for current landowners through 

15 a restorative and non-confrontational process. 

16 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

17 The purposes of this Act are— 

18 (1) to acknowledge the uncompensated taking 

19 by the Federal Government of the Reservation 

20 Swamp Lands and the Reservation Canal Lands; 

21 (2) to provide compensation to the Community 

22 for the uncompensated taking of the Reservation 

23 Swamp Lands and the Reservation Canal Lands by 

24 the Federal Government; 


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1 (3) to extinguish all claims by the Community 

2 to the Reservation Swamp Lands and the Reserva3 tion Canal Lands and to confirm the ownership by 

4 the current landowners of the Reservation Swamp 

5 Lands and the Reservation Canal Lands, who ob6 tained that land in good faith; 

7 (4) to extinguish all potential claims by the 

8 Community against the United States, the State, 

9 and current landowners concerning title to, use of, 

10 or occupancy of the Reservation Swamp Lands and 

11 the Reservation Canal Lands; and 

12 (5) to authorize the Secretary— 

13 (A) to compensate the Community; and 

14 (B) to take any other action necessary to 

15 carry out this Act. 

16 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

17 In this Act: 

18 (1) COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘Community’’ 

19 means the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community. 

20 (2) COUNTY.—The term ‘‘County’’ means 

21 Baraga County, Michigan. 

22 (3) RESERVATION.—The term ‘‘Reservation’’ 

23 means the L’Anse Indian Reservation, located in— 

24 (A) T. 51 N., R. 33 W.; 

25 (B) T. 51 N., R. 32 W.; 


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(C) T. 50 N., R. 33 W., E1 1 ⁄2; 

(D) T. 50 N., R. 32 W., W1 2 ⁄2; and 

3 (E) that portion of T. 51 N., R. 31 W. 

4 lying west of Huron Bay. 

5 (4) RESERVATION CANAL LANDS.—The term 

6 ‘‘Reservation Canal Lands’’ means the 1,333.25 to 

7 2,720 acres of Community land located within the 

8 exterior boundaries of the Reservation that the Fed9 eral Government conveyed to the State pursuant to 

10 the Act of August 26, 1852 (10 Stat. 35, chapter 

11 92). 

12 (5) RESERVATION SWAMP LANDS.—The term 

13 ‘‘Reservation Swamp Lands’’ means the 2,743 acres 

14 of land located within the exterior boundaries of the 

15 Reservation that the Federal Government conveyed 

16 to the State between 1893 and 1937 pursuant to the 

17 Act of September 28, 1850 (commonly known as the 

18 ‘‘Swamp Land Act’’) (sections 2479 through 2481 of 

19 the Revised Statutes (43 U.S.C. 982 through 984)). 

20 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

21 the Secretary of the Interior. 

22 (7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

23 of Michigan. 


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1 SEC. 5. PAYMENTS. 

2 (a) TRANSFER OF FUNDS.—As soon as practicable 

3 after the date on which the amount authorized to be ap4 propriated under subsection (c) is made available to the 

5 Secretary, the Secretary shall transfer $33,900,000 to the 

6 Community. 

7 (b) USE OF FUNDS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

9 the Community may use the amount received under 

10 subsection (a) for any lawful purpose, including— 

11 (A) governmental services; 

12 (B) economic development; 

13 (C) natural resources protection; and 

14 (D) land acquisition. 

15 (2) RESTRICTION ON USE OF FUNDS.—The 

16 community may not use the amount received under 

17 subsection (a) to acquire land for gaming purposes. 

18 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

19 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

20 out subsection (a), $33,900,000 for fiscal year 2024, to 

21 remain available until expended. 

22 SEC. 6. EXTINGUISHMENT OF CLAIMS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Effective on the date on which the 

24 Community receives the payment under section 5(a), all 

25 claims of the Community to the Reservation Swamp 


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1 Lands and the Reservation Canal Lands owned by persons 

2 or entities other than the Community are extinguished. 

3 (b) CLEAR TITLE.—Effective on the date on which 

4 the Community receives the payment under section 5(a), 

5 the title of all current owners to the Reservation Swamp 

6 Lands and the Reservation Canal Lands is cleared of all 

7 preexisting rights held by the Community and any of the 

8 members of the Community. 

9 SEC. 7. EFFECT. 

10 Nothing in this Act authorizes— 

11 (1) the Secretary to take land into trust for the 

12 benefit of the Community for gaming purposes; or 

13 (2) the Community to use land acquired using 

14 amounts received under this Act for gaming pur15 poses. 

Æ 


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