103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1357

AN ACT

To reaffirm and clarify the Federal relationships of

for other purposes.distinct federally recognized Indian tribes, andand the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians asthe Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians
103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1357

AN ACT

To reaffirm and clarify the Federal relationships of the Little

Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians and the Little

River Band of Ottawa Indians as distinct federally recognized Indian tribes, 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 ‘‘Little Traverse Bay

5 Bands of Odawa Indians and the Little River Band of Ot6 tawa Indians Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 Congress finds the following:

3 (1) The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa

4 Indians and the Little River Band of Ottawa Indi5 ans are descendants of, and political successors to,

6 signatories of the 1836 Treaty of Washington and

7 the 1855 Treaty of Detroit.

8 (2) The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and

9 Chippewa Indians, the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of

10 Chippewa Indians, and the Bay Mills Band of Chip11 pewa Indians, whose members are also descendants

12 of the signatories to the 1836 Treaty of Washington

13 and the 1855 Treaty of Detroit, have been recog14 nized by the Federal Government as distinct Indian

15 tribes.

16 (3) The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa

17 Indians consists of at least 1,000 eligible members

18 who continue to reside close to their ancestral home19 land as recognized in the Little Traverse Reserva20 tion in the 1836 Treaty of Washington and 1855

21 Treaty of Detroit, which area is now known as

22 Emmet and Charlevoix Counties, Michigan.

23 (4) The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians

24 consists of at least 500 eligible members who con25 tinue to reside close to their ancestral homeland as

26 recognized in the Manistee Reservation in the 1836
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1 Treaty of Washington and reservation in the 1855

2 Treaty of Detroit, which area is now known as

3 Manistee and Mason Counties, Michigan.

4 (5) The Bands filed for reorganization of their

5 existing tribal governments in 1935 under the Act of

6 June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 461 et seq.; commonly re7 ferred to as the ‘‘Indian Reorganization Act’’). Fed8 eral agents who visited the Bands, including Com9 missioner of Indian Affairs, John Collier, attested to

10 the continued social and political existence of the

11 Bands and concluded that the Bands were eligible

12 for reorganization. Due to a lack of Federal appro13 priations to implement the provisions of such Act,

14 the Bands were denied the opportunity to reorga15 nize.

16 (6) In spite of such denial, the Bands continued

17 their political and social existence with viable tribal

18 governments. The Bands, along with other Michigan

19 Odawa/Ottawa groups, including the tribes described

20 in paragraph (2), formed the Northern Michigan Ot21 tawa Association in 1948. The Association subse22 quently pursued a successful land claim with the In23 dian Claims Commission.

24 (7) Between 1948 and 1975, the Bands carried

25 out many of their governmental functions through
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1 the Northern Michigan Ottawa Association, while re2 taining individual Band control over local decisions.

3 (8) In 1975, the Northern Michigan Ottawa As4 sociation petitioned under the Act of June 18, 1934

5 (25 U.S.C. 461 et seq.; commonly referred to as the

6 ‘‘Indian Reorganization Act’’), to form a government

7 on behalf of the Bands. Again in spite of the Bands’

8 eligibility, the Bureau of Indian Affairs failed to act

9 on their request.

10 (9) The United States Government, the govern11 ment of the State of Michigan, and local govern12 ments have had continuous dealings with the recog13 nized political leaders of the Bands from 1836 to the

14 present.

15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

16 For purposes of this Act—

17 (1) the term ‘‘Bands’’ means the Little Tra18 verse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians and the Little

19 River Band of Ottawa Indians;

20 (2) the term ‘‘member’’ means those individuals

21 enrolled in the Bands pursuant to section 7; and

22 (3) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

23 of the Interior.
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1 SEC. 4. FEDERAL RECOGNITION.

2 (a) FEDERAL RECOGNITION.—Federal recognition of

3 the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians and the

4 Little River Band of Ottawa Indians is hereby reaffirmed.

5 All laws and regulations of the United States of general

6 application to Indians or nations, tribes, or bands of Indi7 ans, including the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 461

8 et seq.; commonly referred to as the ‘‘Indian Reorganiza9 tion Act’’), which are not inconsistent with any specific

10 provision of this Act shall be applicable to the Bands and

11 their members.

12 (b) FEDERAL SERVICES AND BENEFITS.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Bands and their mem14 bers shall be eligible for all services and benefits pro15 vided by the Federal Government to Indians because

16 of their status as federally recognized Indians, and

17 notwithstanding any other provision of law, such

18 services and benefits shall be provided after the date

19 of the enactment of this Act to the Bands and their

20 members without regard to the existence of a res21 ervation or the location of the residence of any mem22 ber on or near any Indian reservation.

23 (2) SERVICE AREAS.—

24 (A) LITTLE TRAVERSE BAY BANDS.—For

25 purposes of the delivery of Federal services to

26 the enrolled members of the Little Traverse
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1 Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, the area of the

2 State of Michigan within 70 miles of the bound3 aries of the reservations for the Little Traverse

4 Bay Bands as set out in Article I, paragraphs

5 ‘‘third’’ and ‘‘fourth’’ of the Treaty of 1855, 11

6 Stat. 621, shall be deemed to be within or near

7 a reservation, notwithstanding the establish8 ment of a reservation for the tribe after the

9 date of the enactment of this Act. Services may

10 be provided to members outside the named

11 service area unless prohibited by law or pro12 gram regulations.

13 (B) LITTLE RIVER BAND.—For purposes

14 of the delivery of Federal services to enrolled

15 members of the Little River Band of Ottawa

16 Indians, the Counties of Manistee, Mason, Wex17 ford and Lake, in the State of Michigan, shall

18 be deemed to be within or near a reservation,

19 notwithstanding the establishment of a reserva20 tion for the tribe after the date of the enact21 ment of this Act. Services may be provided to

22 members outside the named Counties unless

23 prohibited by law or program regulations.
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1 SEC. 5. REAFFIRMATION OF RIGHTS.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—All rights and privileges of the

3 Bands, and their members thereof, which may have been

4 abrogated or diminished before the date of the enactment

5 of this Act are hereby reaffirmed.

6 (b) EXISTING RIGHTS OF TRIBE.—Nothing in this

7 Act shall be construed to diminish any right or privilege

8 of the Bands, or of their members, that existed prior to

9 the date of enactment of this Act. Except as otherwise

10 specifically provided in any other provision of this Act,

11 nothing in this Act shall be construed as altering or affect12 ing any legal or equitable claim the Bands might have to

13 enforce any right or privilege reserved by or granted to

14 the Bands which were wrongfully denied to or taken from

15 the Bands prior to the enactment of this Act.

16 SEC. 6. TRANSFER OF LAND FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE

17 BANDS.

18 (a) LITTLE TRAVERSE BAY BANDS.—The Secretary

19 shall acquire real property in Emmet and Charlevoix

20 Counties for the benefit of the Little Traverse Bay Bands.

21 The Secretary shall also accept any real property located

22 in those Counties for the benefit of the Little Traverse

23 Bay Bands if conveyed or otherwise transferred to the

24 Secretary, if at the time of such acceptance, there are no

25 adverse legal claims on such property including outstand26 ing liens, mortgages or taxes owed.
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1 (b) LITTLE RIVER BAND.—The Secretary shall ac2 quire real property in Manistee and Mason Counties for

3 the benefit of the Little River Band. The Secretary shall

4 also accept any real property located in those Counties for

5 the benefit of the Little River Band if conveyed or other6 wise transferred to the Secretary, if at the time of such

7 acceptance, there are no adverse legal claims on such

8 property including outstanding liens, mortgages or taxes

9 owed.

10 (c) ADDITIONAL LANDS.—The Secretary may accept

11 any additional acreage in each of the Bands’ service area

12 specified by section 4(b) of this Act pursuant to his au13 thority under the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 461

14 et seq.; commonly referred to as the ‘‘Indian Reorganiza15 tion Act’’).

16 (d) RESERVATION.—Subject to the conditions im17 posed by this section, the land acquired by or transferred

18 to the Secretary under or pursuant to this section shall

19 be taken in the name of the United States in trust for

20 the Bands and shall be a part of the respective Bands’

21 reservation.

22 SEC. 7. MEMBERSHIP.

23 Not later than 18 months after the date of the enact24 ment of this Act, the Bands shall submit to the Secretary

25 membership rolls consisting of all individuals currently en-
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1 rolled for membership in such Bands. The qualifications

2 for inclusion on the membership rolls of the Bands shall

3 be determined by the membership clauses in such Bands’

4 respective governing documents, in consultation with the

5 Secretary. Upon completion of the rolls, the Secretary

6 shall immediately publish notice of such in the Federal

7 Register. The Bands shall ensure that such rolls are main8 tained and kept current.

9 SEC. 8. CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNING BODY.

10 (a) CONSTITUTION.—

11 (1) ADOPTION.—Not later than 24 months

12 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec13 retary shall conduct, by secret ballot, elections for

14 the purposes of adopting new constitutions for the

15 Bands. The elections shall be held according to the

16 procedures applicable to elections under section 16

17 of the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 476; com18 monly referred to as the ‘‘Indian Reorganization

19 Act’’).

20 (2) INTERIM GOVERNING DOCUMENTS.—Until

21 such time as new constitutions are adopted under

22 paragraph (1), the governing documents in effect on

23 the date of the enactment of this Act shall be the

24 interim governing documents for the Bands.

25 (b) OFFICIALS.—
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1 (1) ELECTION.—Not later than 6 months after

2 the Bands adopt constitutions and bylaws pursuant

3 to subsection (a), the Bands shall conduct elections

4 by secret ballot for the purpose of electing officials

5 for the Bands as provided in the Bands’ respective

6 governing constitutions. The elections shall be con7 ducted according to the procedures described in the

8 Bands’ constitutions and bylaws.

9 (2) INTERIM GOVERNMENTS.—Until such time

10 as the Bands elect new officials pursuant to para11 graph (1), the Bands’ governing bodies shall be

12 those governing bodies in place on the date of the

13 enactment of this Act, or any new governing bodies

14 selected under the election procedures specified in

15 the respective interim governing documents of the

16 Bands.

Passed the Senate May 25 (legislative day, May 16),

1994.

Attest:

Secretary.
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