I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4350 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to take lands and mineral rights 

on the reservation of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of Montana and 

other culturally important lands into trust, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 1, 2014 

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

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to take lands and 

mineral rights on the reservation of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of Montana and other culturally important 

lands into trust, 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 ‘‘Northern Cheyenne 

5 Lands Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The Northern Cheyenne Tribe has depended 

2 on its lands and land-based resources to support its 

3 way of life since time immemorial. 

4 (2) The Tribe has made supreme and historic 

5 sacrifices to repossess and maintain its homeland, 

6 including its Reservation in Montana. 

7 (3) The Tribe currently suffers from tremen8 dous social and economic challenges, including a lack 

9 of employment opportunities on the Reservation, 

10 which can be improved by strengthening its control 

11 over its land base, natural resources, and trust 

12 funds. 

13 (4) The Tribe and its members are currently 

14 the beneficial owners of over 95 percent of the sur15 face lands on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation 

16 and all but approximately 5,000 subsurface acres of 

17 the Reservation. 

18 (5) The Tribe seeks to obtain ownership of ap19 proximately 5,000 subsurface acres on its Reserva20 tion it does not own because of an error by the 

21 United States to secure that subsurface when the 

22 Reservation was expanded in 1900. 

23 (6) In 2002, the Tribe agreed by settlement to 

24 dismiss its lawsuit against the United States, which 

25 alleged that the United States failed to protect the 


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1 Reservation from the impacts of coal development, in 

2 return for assistance in securing tribal ownership of 

3 those subsurface rights substantially in the form of 

4 this Act, and to secure mitigation funding to address 

5 the impacts of coal development in areas adjacent to 

6 the Reservation, among other conditions. 

7 (7) To increase tribal ownership of the surface 

8 lands, the Tribe has purchased approximately 932 

9 acres of land within its Reservation that were taken 

10 out of trust ownership status for various reasons. 

11 (8) The Tribe has purchased approximately 635 

12 acres of land near Bear Butte, South Dakota, which 

13 the Tribe considers sacred ground for its members, 

14 as well as for members of other tribes. 

15 (9) The Tribe now seeks to have the aforemen16 tioned lands and subsurface within the Reservation 

17 and Bear Butte lands taken into trust on its behalf 

18 by the United States. 

19 (10) If the actions authorized by this Act are 

20 completed, the Tribe will waive all legal claims 

21 against the United States arising out of the long22 standing loss of the subsurface rights and arising 

23 out of the United States management of the North24 ern Cheyenne Trust Fund. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the 

4 Northern Cheyenne Trust Fund identified in the 

5 June 7, 1999 Agreement Settling Certain Issues Re6 lating to the Tongue River Dam Project which was 

7 entered into by the Tribe, the State of Montana, and 

8 delegates of the Secretary of the Interior, and man9 aged by the Office of Special Trustee in the Depart10 ment of the Interior. 

11 (2) GREAT NORTHERN PROPERTIES.—The term 

12 ‘‘Great Northern Properties’’ means the Great 

13 Northern Properties Limited Partnership, which is a 

14 Delaware limited partnership. 

15 (3) PERMANENT FUND.—The term ‘‘Permanent 

16 Fund’’ means the Northern Cheyenne Tribe Perma17 nent Fund managed by the Northern Cheyenne 

18 Tribe pursuant to the Plan for Investment, Manage19 ment and Use of the Fund, as amended by vote of 

20 the Tribal membership on November 2, 2010. 

21 (4) RESERVATION.—The term ‘‘Reservation’’ 

22 means the Northern Cheyenne Reservation. 

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

24 the Secretary of the Interior. 

25 (6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

26 of Montana. 


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1 (7) TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Tribe’’ means the 

2 Northern Cheyenne Tribe. 

3 SEC. 4. TRIBAL FEE LANDS TO BE TAKEN INTO TRUST. 

4 Not later than 60 days after the date of the enact5 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall take the approxi6 mately 1,568 acres of land depicted on the map entitled 

7 ‘‘Northern Cheyenne Land Act—Fee-to-Trust Lands’’ 

8 and dated March 26, 2014, and on the map entitled 

9 ‘‘Northern Cheyenne Land Act—Fee-to-Trust Lands— 

10 Lame Deer Townsite’’, and dated March 26, 2014, into 

11 trust for the benefit of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe. 

12 SEC. 5. MINERAL RIGHTS TO BE TAKEN INTO TRUST. 

13 (a) COMPLETION OF MINERAL CONVEYANCES.—Not 

14 later than 60 days after the date on which the Secretary 

15 receives the notification described in subsection (d), in a 

16 single transaction— 

17 (1) Great Northern Properties shall convey to 

18 the Tribe all right, title, and interest of Great 

19 Northern Properties, consisting of coal and iron ore 

20 mineral interests, underlying the land on the North21 ern Cheyenne Reservation generally depicted as 

22 ‘‘Great Northern Properties’’ on the map entitled 

23 ‘‘Northern Cheyenne Land Act—Coal Tracts’’ and 

24 dated February 27, 2014; 


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1 (2) the Secretary shall convey to Great North2 ern Properties all right, title, and interest of the 

3 United States in and to the coal mineral interests 

4 underlying the land generally depicted as ‘‘Bull 

5 Mountains’’ and ‘‘East Fork’’ on the map entitled 

6 ‘‘Northern Cheyenne Federal Tracts’’ and dated 

7 February 27, 2014; and 

8 (3) the Secretary shall ensure that the deed for 

9 the conveyance authorized by paragraph (2) shall in10 clude a covenant, running with the land— 

11 (A) that precludes the coal conveyed from 

12 being mined by methods other than under13 ground mining techniques until any surface 

14 owner (as defined in section 714 of Public Law 

15 95–87 (30 U.S.C. 1304(e))) for any specific 

16 tract has given written consent to Great North17 ern Properties to enter such specific tract and 

18 commence surface mining; and 

19 (B) shall not create any property interest 

20 in the United States or any surface owner (as 

21 defined in section 714 of Public Law 95–87 (30 

22 U.S.C. 1304(e))). 

23 (b) TRUST STATUS.—Upon tribal request, the coal 

24 and iron ore mineral interests conveyed to the Tribe under 


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1 this section shall be held in trust by the United States 

2 for the benefit of the Tribe. 

3 (c) IMMUNITIES.—The right, title, and interests con4 veyed to the Tribe under subsection (a)(1) shall not be 

5 subject to taxation by the State of Montana (including any 

6 political subdivision of the State of Montana). 

7 (d) REVENUE SHARING AGREEMENT.—Consistent 

8 with the Settlement Agreement entered into effective Feb9 ruary 19, 2002, by the Montana State Board of Land 

10 Commissioners and the Tribe, the Tribe and Great North11 ern Properties have agreed on a formula for sharing rev12 enue from development of the Northern Cheyenne Federal 

13 Tracts in the event that the Northern Cheyenne Federal 

14 Tracts are developed at a later date. The Tribe shall notify 

15 the Secretary in writing that the revenue sharing agree16 ment remains in effect. 

17 (e) WAIVER OF LEGAL CLAIMS.—In return for the 

18 conveyances of mineral interests under subsection (a)— 

19 (1) the Tribe shall waive any and all claims 

20 arising from the continuing failure of the United 

21 States to acquire the private coal and iron ore min22 eral interests identified in subsection (a)(1) in trust 

23 for the Tribe as part of the Reservation as directed 

24 by Congress in 1900; and 


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1 (2) Great Northern Properties shall waive any 

2 claim against the United States relating to the value 

3 or completion of the conveyances under subsection 

4 (a). 

5 (f) RESCISSION OF MINERAL CONVEYANCES.—If any 

6 portion of the mineral conveyances under subsection (a) 

7 is invalidated by a court of competent jurisdiction and the 

8 judgment of that court is not vacated or reversed on ap9 peal— 

10 (1) not later than 1 year after the date on 

11 which there is a final judgment, the Secretary or 

12 Great Northern Properties may rescind completely 

13 each mineral conveyance under subsection (a); and 

14 (2) if the Secretary or Great Northern Prop15 erties carries out a rescission under paragraph (1), 

16 the waiver of the Tribe under this section shall be 

17 considered to be rescinded. 

18 SEC. 6. TRANSFER OF NORTHERN CHEYENNE TRUST FUND 

19 TO TRIBE. 

20 (a) TRANSFER OF FUND.—Not later than 30 days 

21 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Fund shall 

22 be transferred to the Tribe and deposited into the Tribe’s 

23 Permanent Fund. 

24 (b) PERMITTED USES OF FUND.—The principal of 

25 the Fund, upon deposit in the Permanent Fund, shall be 


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1 maintained in perpetuity, and the earnings of the Perma2 nent Fund shall be used as provided in the Northern 

3 Cheyenne Tribe Permanent Fund Plan. 

4 (c) WAIVER OF LEGAL CLAIMS.—In return for trans5 fer of the Fund under subsection (a), the Tribe shall waive 

6 any and all claims arising from the United States manage7 ment of the Fund. 

8 SEC. 7. ELIGIBILITY FOR OTHER FEDERAL BENEFITS. 

9 No sums or other benefits provided to the Tribe 

10 under this Act shall result in the reduction or denial of 

11 any Federal services, benefits, or programs to the Tribe 

12 or to any member of the Tribe to which the Tribe or mem13 ber is entitled or eligible because of— 

14 (1) the status of the Tribe as a federally recog15 nized Indian tribe; or 

16 (2) the status of the member as a member of 

17 the Tribe. 

Æ 


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