IB 

Union Calendar No. 512 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1575 

[Report No. 110–794] 

To reaffirm and clarify the Federal relationship of the Burt Lake Band 

as a distinct federally recognized Indian Tribe, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 19, 2007 

Mr. STUPAK (for himself and Mr. KILDEE) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

JULY 29, 2008 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 19, 2007] 

A BILL 

To reaffirm and clarify the Federal relationship of the Burt 

Lake Band as a distinct federally recognized Indian 

Tribe, 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 ‘‘Burt Lake Band of Ot3 tawa and Chippewa Indians Reaffirmation Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds as follows: 

6 (1) The members of the Burt Lake Band of Ot7 tawa and Chippewa Indians, whose historic name is 

8 the Cheboigan (or Cheboygan) Band, are descendants 

9 and a political successor to signatories of the 1836 

10 Treaty of Washington and the 1855 Treaty of Detroit. 

11 The treaty signatories were twice recognized by the 

12 United States, on a government-to-government rela13 tionship basis, through the execution and ratification 

14 of those treaties. 

15 (2) The 1836 Treaty of Washington provided 

16 that the Cheboigan Band would receive a reservation 

17 of 1,000 acres on the Cheboigan, within its aboriginal 

18 territory, for a period of 5 years after ratification of 

19 that treaty but the United States failed to provide 

20 that reservation. The 1855 Treaty of Detroit provided 

21 that Ottawa and Chippewa Indians could select indi22 vidual allotments of land within designated reserves, 

23 and 2 townships were set aside for selection by the 

24 ‘‘Cheboygan Band’’ in Cheboygan County. Those 

25 members who selected allotments within that area 

26 were not awarded those individual land holdings 


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1 until 3 years after a special Act of Congress was 

2 passed in 1872. 

3 (3) Between 1845 and 1850 the Band’s members 

4 used treaty annuity payments to purchase land for 

5 the Band in Burt Township, Cheboygan County, 

6 Michigan. That land, called Colonial Point, was 

7 placed in trust with the Governor of Michigan on the 

8 advice of Federal Indian agents. 

9 (4) During the next 50 years, questions arose re10 garding the taxability of the property, and the acre11 age was ultimately sold for back taxes in 1900. 

12 (5) After the Band was forcibly evicted from Co13 lonial Point and its village was burned to the ground 

14 by its new owner, John McGinn, the majority of the 

15 Band’s families took up residency on nearby Indian 

16 Road on lands which other Band members had pur17 chased or received as treaty allotments or homesteads. 

18 (6) In 1911, the United States filed suit in the 

19 United States Federal District Court for Eastern 

20 Michigan seeking to regain possession of the Colonial 

21 Point Lands (United States v. McGinn, Equity No. 

22 94, filed June 11, 1911). In its complaint, the United 

23 States advised the Court that it was suing on behalf 

24 of the ‘‘Cheboygan band of Indians [which] is now 

25 and was at all the times mentioned in this bill of 


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1 complaint a tribe of indians [sic] under the care, con2 trol, and guardianship of the plaintiff and said band 

3 is now and was at all times mentioned in this bill 

4 of complaint recognized by the plaintiff through its 

5 chiefs or head men which it annually elects.’’. 

6 (7) In 1917, the Federal District Court decided 

7 the McGinn case against the United States finding 

8 that the language in the Colonial Point deeds did not 

9 prevent the Colonial Point land from being taxed. 

10 (8) Over the next 20 years, Acting Chief Enos 

11 Cabinaw, acting on behalf of the Cheboygan Band, 

12 asked the United States to appeal or otherwise rectify 

13 the District Court’s decision, but no Federal action 

14 was taken. Throughout this period, the United States 

15 continued to provide the Band and its members with 

16 many of the same Federal services that were being 

17 provided to other Indian tribes in Michigan. 

18 (9) The Act of June 18, 1934 (hereafter in this 

19 Act referred to as the ‘‘Indian Reorganization Act’’), 

20 authorized and directed the Bureau of Indian Affairs 

21 to provide technical assistance and Federal funds to 

22 petitioning tribes to assist them in reorganizing their 

23 governments and improving their economies. Members 

24 of the Cheboigan Band, as well as members of other 

25 landless treaty Tribes in Michigan, submitted petiVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:34 Jul 30, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1575.RH H1575

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1 tions to receive that assistance. Similar petitions were 

2 also submitted by 4 Michigan bands that still held 

3 communal lands. Possession of a tribal land base was 

4 a prerequisite to the receipt of most of the Federal 

5 funds and services provided for in the Indian Reorga6 nization Act. 

7 (10) While the Indian Reorganization Act di8 rected the Secretary to assist landless bands, like Burt 

9 Lake, and authorized Federal funds to acquire land, 

10 no Federal funds were appropriated to acquire new 

11 tribal lands for any of the landless bands in Michi12 gan. After struggling with this dilemma, the Bureau 

13 of Indian Affairs extended the benefits of the Indian 

14 Reorganization Act to only those 4 Michigan tribes 

15 that had an existing land base on the date of the en16 actment of the Indian Reorganization Act. Of the Ot17 tawa and Chippewa Tribes who signed the 1836 and 

18 1855 Treaties, only 1 group, the Bay Mills Indian 

19 Community, was organized under the Indian Reorga20 nization Act. 

21 (11) The failure of the Bureau of Indian Affairs 

22 to grant Indian Reorganization Act benefits to the 

23 Cheboigan Band did not terminate the band’s govern24 ment-to-government relationship with the United 

25 States, and Congress has never taken any action to 


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1 terminate Federal acknowledgment of the Burt Lake 

2 Band. 

3 (12) The Bureau of Indian Affairs does not have 

4 the legal authority to terminate a tribe that has been 

5 acknowledged by an Act of Congress. 

6 (13) Since 1972, the following Michigan tribes 

7 that were not organized under the Indian Reorganiza8 tion Act, have been recognized or reaffirmed as feder9 ally recognized Indian tribes: 

10 (A) The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chip11 pewa was reaffirmed by a Memorandum of the 

12 Commissioner of Indian Affairs on September 7, 

13 1972. 

14 (B) The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa 

15 and Chippewa Indians was acknowledged by the 

16 Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs on May 27, 

17 1980. 

18 (C) The Little Traverse Bay Bands of 

19 Odawa Indian and the Little River Band of Ot20 tawa Indians each had its Federal status re21 affirmed by an Act of Congress on September 21, 

22 1994. 

23 (D) The Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake 

24 Superior Chippewa Indians had its Federal sta25 tus as a separate Indian tribe reaffirmed by an 


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1 Act of Congress at the request of the Administra2 tion on September 8, 1988. 

3 (E) The Pokagon Indian Nation had its 

4 Federal status reaffirmed by an Act of Congress 

5 on September 21, 1994. 

6 (F) The Huron Potawatomi Nation had its 

7 Federal status acknowledged by the Assistant 

8 Secretary of Indian Affairs on March 17, 1996. 

9 (G) The Gun Lake Tribe (Match-She-Be10 Nash-She-Wish) had its Federal status acknowl11 edged by the Assistant Secretary of Indian Af12 fairs on August 23, 1999. 

13 (14) The Burt Lake Band has been consistently 

14 recognized by third parties as a distinct Indian com15 munity since well before 1900. 

16 (15) The Burt Lake Band consists of members 

17 who are the children, grandchildren, or great grand18 children of Indian persons who resided on or near Co19 lonial Point or Indian Road prior to 1910. The ma20 jority of the Band’s adult members grew up on or 

21 near Indian Road or had an immediate family mem22 ber who did. As the result, the Band’s members have 

23 maintained very close social and political ties. The 

24 Band has its own, well-defined membership criteria, 

25 which requires the maintenance of tribal relations. 


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1 (16) The Burt Lake Band consists of families 

2 who have and continue to provide mutual aid to each 

3 other, visit each other regularly, mobilize to assist 

4 each other in times of need, practice traditional arts 

5 and crafts, gather for Ghost Suppers, decorate the 

6 graves of their ancestors, and participate in other tra7 ditional tribal ceremonies and events. 

8 (17) Since 1829 the Burt Lake Band’s members 

9 have attended and consistently mobilized to maintain 

10 the Indian Mission Church of St. Mary’s, first on Co11 lonial Point and later on Indian Road. The Burt 

12 Lake Band’s members have also worked together to 

13 maintain the Tribe’s 2 Indian cemeteries. They have 

14 also dug the graves and buried their relatives in those 

15 2 Indian cemeteries for almost 200 years. 

16 (18) The Burt Lake Band’s members have 

17 throughout time made formal and informal decisions 

18 for the community. The Burt Lake Band has also or19 ganized its own modern tribal government without 

20 the assistance of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. 

21 (19) The majority of the Band’s elders have a 

22 high degree of Indian blood and continue to speak the 

23 Ottawa language when they gather with each other. 

24 Before World War II, more than 50 percent of the 

25 Burt Lake families were still speaking the traditional 


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1 language in their homes, and more than 50 percent 

2 of those tribal members who were married were mar3 ried to other Ottawa and Chippewa individuals. 

4 (20) There is no evidence that the Band has will5 fully abandoned tribal relations and there is no evi6 dence that the Congress has taken any legal action to 

7 terminate its government-to-government relations 

8 with the Burt Lake Band. 

9 (21) Because the Bureau of Indian Affairs failed 

10 to review the Band’s petition for over 20 years, a per11 centage of the Band’s members enrolled in other 

12 Tribes in order to obtain the Federal services, most 

13 notably health care and prescription drug assistance, 

14 that they were legally entitled to, but denied as mem15 bers of Burt Lake. This step was often taken on the 

16 advice of one or more employees of the Bureau of In17 dian Affairs. This duel enrollment situation has now 

18 created a new problem for the Band’s reaffirmation, 

19 because the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ current regula20 tions prohibit it from recognizing a tribe when a part 

21 of the tribe’s community is or was enrolled in another 

22 federally recognized tribe. 

23 (22) In September 2006, the Assistant Secretary 

24 of Indian Affairs denied the Burt Lake Band’s peti25 tion for recognition even though it found that the 


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1 Burt Lake Band has been identified as an Indian en2 tity by scholars, local and State officials, and other 

3 tribes, and even though it found that the members of 

4 the Burt Lake Band maintain a strong Indian com5 munity. In its letter denying the Burt Lake Band’s 

6 petition, the Bureau of Indian Affairs stated that 

7 ‘‘Congress may consider taking legislative action to 

8 recognize petitioners that do not meet the specific re9 quirements of the acknowledgment regulations but 

10 may have merit.’’. 

11 (23) The Burt Lake Band has exhausted its ad12 ministrative remedies, therefore this Act is both nec13 essary and appropriate. 

14 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

15 For purposes of this Act, the following definitions 

16 apply: 

17 (1) The term ‘‘Burt Lake Band’’ means the Burt 

18 Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, a con19 tinuously existing historical tribe of Indians descend20 ing from the Cheboygan band which was included in 

21 treaties with the United States in 1836 and 1855 and 

22 descending from the Indian Village at Burt Lake in 

23 1900. 


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1 (2) The term ‘‘Indian Reorganization Act’’ 

2 means the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 461 et 

3 seq.). 

4 (3) The term ‘‘OFA’’ means the Office of Federal 

5 Acknowledgment, a branch of the United States De6 partment of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian of Indian 

7 Affairs. 

8 (4) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of 

9 the Interior. 

10 SEC. 4. FEDERAL RECOGNITION. 

11 (a) FEDERAL RECOGNITION.—The Burt Lake Band of 

12 Ottawa and Chippewa Indians is hereby reaffirmed as a 

13 federally recognized Indian tribe. All laws and regulations 

14 of the United States of general application to Indians or 

15 nations, tribes, or bands of Indians, including the Indian 

16 Reorganization Act, which are inconsistent with any spe17 cific provision of this Act shall not be applicable to the Burt 

18 Lake Band and its members. 

19 (b) FEDERAL SERVICES AND BENEFITS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

21 provision of law, after the date of the enactment of 

22 this Act, the Burt Lake Band and its members shall 

23 be eligible for all services and benefits provided by the 

24 Federal Government to Indians because of their status 

25 as federally recognized Indians without regard to the 


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1 existence of a reservation or the location of the resi2 dence of any member on or near any Indian reserva3 tion. 

4 (2) SERVICE AREA.—For purposes of the delivery 

5 of Federal services to the enrolled members of the Burt 

6 Lake Band and to other Indians, all of Cheboygan 

7 County Michigan, and any area in the State of 

8 Michigan that is outside of Cheboygan County, but lo9 cated within 25 miles of the Burt Lake Band’s Ceme10 tery at the St. Mary’s Indian Mission Church, shall 

11 be deemed to be within the Service Area of the Burt 

12 Lake Band. Nothing contained herein shall prohibit 

13 the Federal Government from providing services to 

14 members of the Burt Lake Band who reside or are 

15 domiciled outside this Service Area, or from otherwise 

16 expanding the Burt Lake Band’s Service Area in 

17 compliance with applicable Federal law and policy. 

18 Nothing in this subsection is intended to diminish or 

19 alter the service area of another Federally recognized 

20 Indian tribe. If any part of the Burt Lake Band’s 

21 service area overlaps with the service area of another 

22 federally recognized Indian tribe, that overlap shall be 

23 addressed in compliance with existing Federal poli24 cies and regulations. 


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1 SEC. 5. REAFFIRMATION OF RIGHTS. 

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

3 Lake Band and its members, which may have been abro4 gated or diminished before the date of the enactment of this 

5 Act are hereby reaffirmed. 

6 (b) EXISTING RIGHTS OF BURT LAKE BAND.—Noth7 ing in this Act shall be construed to diminish any right 

8 or privilege of the Burt Lake Band or of its members that 

9 existed before the date of the enactment of this Act. Except 

10 as otherwise specifically provided in any other provision 

11 of this Act, nothing in this Act shall be construed as altering 

12 or affecting any legal or equitable claim the Burt Lake 

13 Band may have to enforce any right or privilege reserved 

14 by or granted to the Burt Lake Band which was wrongfully 

15 denied to or taken from the Burt Lake Band before the date 

16 of the enactment of this Act. 

17 SEC. 6. TRIBAL LANDS. 

18 The Secretary shall acquire real property in Che19 boygan County in trust for the benefit of the Burt Lake 

20 Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, if at the time of 

21 such acceptance by the Secretary, there are no adverse legal 

22 claims on such property, including outstanding liens, mort23 gages or taxes owed, and the Secretary has confirmed that 

24 the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 has been 

25 complied with regarding the trust acquisition of the prop26 erty. After being taken into trust, such lands shall become 


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1 part of the initial reservation of the Burt Lake Band at 

2 the request of the Burt Lake Band. The Secretary is also 

3 authorized to acquire and accept real property in other geo4 graphic areas into trust for the benefit of the Burt Lake 

5 Band and to declare those lands to be a part of the Burt 

6 Lake Band’s Reservation consistent with applicable law. 

7 SEC. 7. MEMBERSHIP. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The initial membership of the Burt 

9 Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians shall consist 

10 of persons who can present evidence, acceptable to the Burt 

11 Lake Band, showing that they meet the requirements of sub12 section (b), and persons who meet such other requirements 

13 as are specified by the Burt Lake Band in its Burt Lake 

14 Band’s Constitution and Enrollment Ordinance as the 

15 same may be from time-to-time amended. 

16 (b) MEMBERSHIP CRITERIA.— 

17 (1) To qualify for membership in the Burt Lake 

18 Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, a person 

19 must be able to demonstrate through evidence accept20 able to the Burt Lake Band that the person meets at 

21 least 1 of the following requirements: 

22 (A) The person descends from a tribal mem23 ber who was domiciled at Colonial Point, Burt 

24 Township, Cheboygan County, Michigan, before 

25 or at the time that the Burt Lake Band’s village 


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1 was burned in October 1900, as the tribal mem2 bers are identified as Colonial Point residents in 

3 the case files of the litigation initiated by John 

4 W. McGinn to evict former residents from that 

5 land, or in the list prepared in or about 1950 as 

6 the Albert Shananaquet list of pre-1900 village 

7 residents, or both. 

8 (B) The person descends from a tribal mem9 ber who is listed on the 1900 or 1910 Burt Lake 

10 Township Federal Census, Indian Enumeration 

11 Schedule. 

12 (C) The person has an Indian ancestor who 

13 was, prior to 1910, living in tribal relations 

14 with the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chip15 pewa Indians as the Burt Lake Band is defined 

16 in this Act. 

17 (2) In addition to the requirements under para18 graph (1), to qualify for membership in the Burt 

19 Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, a per20 son must be able to demonstrate through evidence ac21 ceptable to the Burt Lake Band that the person meets 

22 all of the following criteria: 

23 (A) That the person is in tribal relations 

24 with other Burt Lake Band members. 


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1 (B) That the person’s ancestors have lived 

2 in tribal relations with other Burt Lake Band 

3 members on a substantially continuous basis 

4 from 1910 to the present. 

5 (C) That the person has a completed tribal 

6 membership enrollment file as prescribed by the 

7 Tribal Enrollment Ordinance. 

8 (D) That the person’s membership applica9 tion has been processed and that the person has 

10 been approved for membership in the Burt Lake 

11 Band in the manner prescribed by the Tribal 

12 Enrollment Ordinance. 

13 (c) BASE ROLL.—The Burt Lake Band shall provide 

14 a copy of the base roll of the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa 

15 and Chippewa Indians to the Assistant Secretary for Indi16 ans Affairs not later than 12 months after the date of the 

17 enactment of this Act. The base roll shall consist of the 320 

18 persons whose names were listed on the official roll of the 

19 Burt Lake Band which were members submitted by the 

20 Burt Lake Band to the OFA on May 2, 2005, and shall 

21 also include the biological sons and daughters who were 

22 born to those members between the submission of that list 

23 and the enactment of this Act. The Base Roll shall also in24 clude those descendants of Burt Lake members who— 


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1 (1) meet the enrollment criteria established by 

2 this section; 

3 (2) seek enrollment in the Burt Lake Band not 

4 later than 12 months after the date of the enactment 

5 of this Act; and 

6 (3) are accepted for enrollment in the Burt Lake 

7 Band in the manner prescribed by the Burt Lake 

8 Band’s Constitution. 

9 SEC. 8. CONSTITUTION. 

10 The initial constitution of the Burt Lake Band shall 

11 be the constitution that the Burt Lake Band submitted to 

12 the OFA on May 2, 2005. 


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Union Calendar No. 512 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1575 

[Report No. 110

–794] 

A BILL 

To reaffirm and clarify the Federal relationship of 

nized Indian Tribe, and for other purposes. the Burt Lake Band as a distinct federally recogJULY 29, 2008 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS