Calendar No. 425

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1357

[Report No. 103–260]

A BILL

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

MAY 16, 1994

Reported without amendment
II

Calendar No. 425

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1357

[Report No. 103–260]

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.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

AUGUST 4 (legislative day, JUNE 30), 1993

Mr. LEVIN (for himself and Mr. RIEGLE) introduced the following bill; which

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs

MAY 16, 1994

Reported by Mr. INOUYE, without amendment

A BILL

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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Little Traverse Bay

3 Bands of Odawa Indians and the Little River Band of

4 Ottawa Indians Act’’.

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

6 Congress finds the following:

7 (1) The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa

8 Indians and the Little River Band of Ottawa Indi9 ans are descendants of, and political successors to,

10 signatories of the 1836 Treaty of Washington and

11 the 1855 Treaty of Detroit.

12 (2) The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and

13 Chippewa Indians, the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of

14 Chippewa Indians, and the Bay Mills Band of Chip15 pewa Indians, whose members are also descendants

16 of the signatories to the 1836 Treaty of Washington

17 and the 1855 Treaty of Detroit, have been recog18 nized by the Federal Government as distinct Indian

19 tribes.

20 (3) The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa

21 Indians consists of at least 1,000 eligible members

22 who continue to reside close to their ancestral home23 land as recognized in the Little Traverse Reserva24 tion in the 1836 Treaty of Washington and 1855

25 Treaty of Detroit, which area is now known as

26 Emmet and Charlevoix Counties, Michigan.
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1 (4) The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians

2 consists of at least 500 eligible members who con3 tinue to reside close to their ancestral homeland as

4 recognized in the Manistee Reservation in the 1836

5 Treaty of Washington and reservation in the 1855

6 Treaty of Detroit, which area is now known as

7 Manistee and Mason Counties, Michigan.

8 (5) The Bands filed for reorganization of their

9 existing tribal governments in 1935 under the Act of

10 June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. et seq.; commonly re11 ferred to as the ‘‘Indian Reorganization Act’’). Fed12 eral agents who visited the Bands, including Com13 missioner of Indian Affairs, John Collier, attested to

14 the continued social and political existence of the

15 Bands and concluded that the Bands were eligible

16 for reorganization. Due to a lack of Federal appro17 priations to implement the provisions of such Act,

18 the Bands were denied the opportunity to reorga19 nize.

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

21 their political and social existence with viable tribal

22 governments. The Bands, along with other Michigan

23 Odawa/Ottawa groups, including the tribes described

24 in paragraph (2), formed the Northern Michigan Ot25 tawa Association in 1948. The Association subse-
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1 quently pursued a successful land claim with the

2 Indian Claims Commission.

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

4 out many of their governmental functions through

5 the Northern Michigan Ottawa Association, while re6 taining individual Band control over local decisions.

7 (8) In 1975, the Northern Michigan Ottawa As8 sociation petitioned under the Act of June 18, 1934

9 (25 U.S.C. 461 et seq.; commonly referred to as the

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

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

12 eligibility, the Bureau of Indian Affairs failed to act

13 on their request.

14 (9) The United States Government, the govern15 ment of the State of Michigan, and local govern16 ments have had continuous dealings with the recog17 nized political leaders of the Bands from 1836 to the

18 present.

19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

20 For purposes of this Act—

21 (1) the term ‘‘Bands’’ means the Little Tra22 verse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians and the Little

23 River Band of Ottawa Indians;

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

25 enrolled in the Bands pursuant to section 7; and
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1 (3) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

2 of the Interior.

3 SEC. 4. FEDERAL RECOGNITION.

4 (a) FEDERAL RECOGNITION.—Federal recognition of

5 the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians and the

6 Little River Band of Ottawa Indians is hereby reaffirmed.

7 All laws and regulations of the United States of general

8 application to Indians or nations, tribes, or bands of Indi9 ans, including the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 461

10 et seq.; commonly referred to as the ‘‘Indian Reorganiza11 tion Act’’), which are not inconsistent with any specific

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

13 their members.

14 (b) FEDERAL SERVICES AND BENEFITS.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Bands and their mem16 bers shall be eligible for all services and benefits pro17 vided by the Federal Government to Indians because

18 of their status as federally recognized Indians, and

19 notwithstanding any other provision of law, such

20 services and benefits shall be provided after the date

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

22 members without regard to the existence of a res23 ervation or the location of the residence of any mem24 ber on or near any Indian reservation.

25 (2) SERVICE AREAS.—
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1 (A) LITTLE TRAVERSE BAY BANDS.—For

2 purposes of the delivery of Federal services to

3 the enrolled members of the Little Traverse

4 Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, the area of the

5 State of Michigan within 70 miles of the bound6 aries of the reservations for the Little Traverse

7 Bay Bands as set out in Article I, paragraphs

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

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

10 a reservation, notwithstanding the establish11 ment of a reservation for the tribe after the

12 date of the enactment of this Act. Services may

13 be provided to members outside the named

14 service area unless prohibited by law or pro15 gram regulations.

16 (B) LITTLE RIVER BAND.—For purposes

17 of the delivery of Federal services to enrolled

18 members of the Little River Band of Ottawa

19 Indians, the Counties of Manistee, Mason, Wex20 ford and Lake, in the State of Michigan, shall

21 be deemed to be within or near a reservation,

22 notwithstanding the establishment of a reserva23 tion for the tribe after the date of the enact24 ment of this Act. Services may be provided to
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1 members outside the named Counties unless

2 prohibited by law or program regulations.

3 SEC. 5. REAFFIRMATION OF RIGHTS.

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

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

6 abrogated or diminished before the date of the enactment

7 of this Act are hereby reaffirmed.

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

9 Act shall be construed to diminish any right or privilege

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

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

12 specifically provided in any other provision of this Act,

13 nothing in this Act shall be construed as altering or affect14 ing any legal or equitable claim the Bands might have to

15 enforce any right or privilege reserved by or granted to

16 the Bands which were wrongfully denied to or taken from

17 the Bands prior to the enactment of this Act.

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

19 BANDS.

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

21 shall acquire real property in Emmet and Charlevoix

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

23 The Secretary shall also accept any real property located

24 in those Counties for the benefit of the Little Traverse

25 Bay Bands if conveyed or otherwise transferred to the
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1 Secretary, if at the time of such acceptance, there are no

2 adverse legal claims on such property including outstand3 ing liens, mortgages or taxes owed.

4 (b) LITTLE RIVER BAND.—The Secretary shall ac5 quire real property in Manistee and Mason Counties for

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

7 also accept any real property located in those Counties for

8 the benefit of the Little River Band if conveyed or other9 wise transferred to the Secretary, if at the time of such

10 acceptance, there are no adverse legal claims on such

11 property including outstanding liens, mortgages or taxes

12 owed.

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

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

15 specified by section 4(b) of this Act pursuant to his au16 thority under the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 461

17 et seq.; commonly referred to as the ‘‘Indian Reorganiza18 tion Act’’).

19 (d) RESERVATION.—Subject to the conditions im20 posed by this section, the land acquired by or transferred

21 to the Secretary under or pursuant to this section shall

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

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

24 reservation.
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1 SEC. 7. MEMBERSHIP.

2 Not later than 18 months after the date of the enact3 ment of this Act, the Bands shall submit to the Secretary

4 membership rolls consisting of all individuals currently en5 rolled for membership in such Bands. The qualifications

6 for inclusion on the membership rolls of the Bands shall

7 be determined by the membership clauses in such Bands’

8 respective governing documents, in consultation with the

9 Secretary. Upon completion of the rolls, the Secretary

10 shall immediately publish notice of such in the Federal

11 Register. The Bands shall ensure that such rolls are main12 tained and kept current.

13 SEC. 8. CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNING BODY.

14 (a) CONSTITUTION.—

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

16 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec17 retary shall conduct, by secret ballot, elections for

18 the purposes of adopting new constitutions for the

19 Bands. The elections shall be held according to the

20 procedures applicable to elections under section 16

21 of the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 476; com22 monly referred to as the ‘‘Indian Reorganization

23 Act’’).

24 (2) INTERIM GOVERNING DOCUMENTS.—Until

25 such time as new constitutions are adopted under

26 paragraph (1), the governing documents in effect on
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1 the date of the enactment of this Act shall be the

2 interim governing documents for the Bands.

3 (b) OFFICIALS.—

4 (1) ELECTION.—Not later than 6 months after

5 the Bands adopt constitutions and bylaws pursuant

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

7 by secret ballot for the purpose of electing officials

8 for the Bands as provided in the Bands’ respective

9 governing constitutions. The elections shall be con10 ducted according to the procedures described in the

11 Bands’ constitutions and bylaws.

12 (2) INTERIM GOVERNMENTS.—Until such time

13 as the Bands elect new officials pursuant to para14 graph (1), the Bands’ governing bodies shall be

15 those governing bodies in place on the date of the

16 enactment of this Act, or any new governing bodies

17 selected under the election procedures specified in

18 the respective interim governing documents of the

19 Bands.