IB
Union Calendar No. 367
103D CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4653
[Report No. 103–676]
To settle Indian land claims within the State of Connecticut, and for other
purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 27, 1994
Mr. GEJDENSON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources
AUGUST 5, 1994
Reported with amendments, 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 June 27, 1994]
A BILL
To settle Indian land claims within the State of Connecticut,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mohegan Nation of Con-
necticut Land Claims Settlement Act of 1994’’.
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF
POLICY.
Congress finds and declares that—
(1) the Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut
has been recognized by the United States through the
administrative process pursuant to part 83 of title 25
of the Code of Federal Regulations;
(2) the Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut
is a successor in interest to the aboriginal entity
known as the Mohegan Indian Tribe which has ex-
isted in what is now the State of Connecticut from
time immemorial and for which certain lands were
sequestered as tribal lands by the Colony and State
of Connecticut;
(3) there is pending before the United States Dis-
trict Court for the Southern District of Connecticut a
lawsuit by the Mohegan Indian Tribe which involves
certain lands within the State of Connecticut;
(4) the pendency of the lawsuit may result in
economic hardships for residents of the State of Con-
necticut by clouding the titles to lands in the State,
including lands not now involved in the lawsuit;
(5) the State of Connecticut and the Mohegan
Tribe have executed agreements for the purposes of re-
solving all disputes between them and settling the
lawsuit, which agreements require implementing leg-
islation by the Congress of the United States;
(6) in the agreements described above, the parties
provide for the assumption by the State of Connecti-
cut of jurisdiction over offenses by and against mem-
bers of the Mohegan Tribe and other Indians on In-
dian country and to the submission of all gaming-re-
lated development to the jurisdiction of the State of
Connecticut State Traffic Commission;
(7) the Town of Montville, Connecticut, will be
affected by the loss of tax base from, and jurisdiction
over, lands taken into trust on behalf of the Tribe and
will serve as the host community for the Tribe’s gam-
ing operations;
(8) the Town of Montville and the Mohegan
Tribe have entered into an agreement to resolve issues
extant between them and to establish the basis for a
cooperative government-to-government relationship;
and
(9) Congress shares with the parties to such
agreements a desire to settle all Mohegan Indian
claims in the State of Connecticut and to remove all
clouds on titles resulting from such lawsuits.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act, the term—
(1) ‘‘Mohegan Tribe’’ means the Mohegan Tribe
of Indians of Connecticut, a tribe of American Indi-
ans recognized by the United States pursuant to part
83 of title 25, Code of Federal Regulations, and by the
State of Connecticut pursuant to Connecticut General
Statutes sections 47–59 (a) and (b);
(2) ‘‘State of Connecticut’’ means the State of
Connecticut, its agencies, political subdivisions, con-
stitutional officers, officials of its agencies and sub-
divisions;
(3) ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of the Inte-
rior;
(4) ‘‘Lands or natural resources’’ means any real
property or natural resources, or any interest in or
right involving any real property or natural resources
including, but not limited to, minerals and mineral
rights, timber and timber rights, water and water
rights, and rights to hunt and fish;
(5) ‘‘Lawsuit’’ means the action in the United
States District Court for the District of Connecticut,
entitled ‘‘Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut v.
State of Connecticut, et al.’’, Case No. H77–434;
(6) ‘‘State Agreement’’ means that document en-
titled ‘‘Agreement between the Mohegan Tribe and the
State of Connecticut’’ executed on May 17, 1994, by
the Governor acting on behalf of the State of Con-
necticut and the Chief of the Mohegan Tribe acting on
behalf of the Mohegan Tribe and filed with the Sec-
retary of State of the State of Connecticut;
(7) ‘‘Town Agreement’’ means that document ex-
ecuted on June 16, 1994, by the Mayor of the Town
of Montville and the Chief of the Mohegan Tribe;
(8) ‘‘Transfer’’ includes, but is not limited to,
any sale, grant, lease, allotment, partition, or convey-
ance, any transaction the purpose of which was to ef-
fect a sale, grant, lease, allotment, partition, or con-
veyance, or any event or events that resulted in a
change of possession or control of lands or natural re-
sources.
SEC. 4. FINDINGS BY THE SECRETARY.
Section 5 of this Act shall not take effect until the fol-
lowing events have occurred and the Secretary so finds—
(1) the State of Connecticut has entered into a
binding compact with the Mohegan Tribe providing
for Class III tribal gaming operations, in accordance
with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (25 U.S.C.
2701 et seq.), and the compact has received all the
Federal approvals required to be fully effective; and
(2) title to lands described in Exhibit B to the
Agreement has vested in the United States in trust for
the Mohegan Tribe to be used as the Mohegan Tribe’s
initial Indian reservation.
SEC. 5. APPROVAL OF PRIOR TRANSFERS AND EXTINGUISH-
MENT OF CLAIMS AND ABORIGINAL TITLE IN-
VOLVING THE MOHEGAN TRIBE.
(a) If the Secretary finds that the conditions set forth
in section 4 of this Act have been satisfied, he shall publish
such findings and the State Agreement in the Federal Reg-
ister, and upon such publication:
(1) 
The 
transfers, 
waivers, 
releases,
relinquishments, and other commitments made by the
Mohegan Tribe in paragraph (1) of its Agreement
with the State of Connecticut shall be of full force and
effect on the terms and conditions therein stated.
(2) 
The 
transfers, 
waivers, 
releases,
relinquishments, and other commitments validated by
paragraph (1) of the Agreement and of this section
and the transfers and extinguishments approved and
validated by subsection (b) (1) and (2) shall be
deemed to have been made in accordance with the
United States Constitution and all laws of the United
States that are specifically applicable to transfers of
lands or natural resources from, by, or on behalf of
any Indian, Indian nation, or tribe of Indians (in-
cluding but not limited to the Trade and Intercourse
Act of 1790, Act of July 22, 1790, ch. 33, sec. 4, 1
Stat. 137, and any amendments thereto and all subse-
quent versions thereof), and Congress does hereby ap-
prove any such transfers effective as of the date of
said transfers.
(b)(1) All claims to lands within the State of Connecti-
cut based upon aboriginal title by the Mohegan Tribe, or
any predecessor or successor in interest, are hereby extin-
guished, as are any and all other claims the Mohegan Tribe
might have to any public or private lands or natural re-
sources in Connecticut, such as claims or rights based on
recognized title, including but not limited to—
(A) any claim the Mohegan Tribe might have to
the tribal sequestered lands bounded out to the Tribe
in 1684, consisting of some 20,480 acres lying be-
tween the Thames River, New London bounds, Nor-
wich bounds, and Colchester bounds;
(B) any claim the Mohegan Tribe might have
based on a survey under the authority of the Con-
necticut General Assembly in 1736 of lands reserved
and sequestered by the General Assembly for the sole
use and improvement of the Mohegan Indian Tribe;
and
(C) any claim the Mohegan Tribe might have
based on any action by the State in 1860, 1861, or
Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to settle cer-
tain Indian land claims within the State of Connecticut,
and for other purposes.’’.
HR 4653 RH——2