(A) original aboriginal title; or
(B) aboriginal title based upon—
(i) use, occupancy, or possession for a
number of years, or
(ii) title confirmed or guaranteed by
Articles III and VI of the Treaty of Pur-
chase between the United States of Amer-
ica and France, dated April 30, 1803.
(3) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary
of the Interior.
(4) The term ‘‘State’’ means the State of Lou-
isiana.
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF FEDERAL TRUST RELATION-
SHIP.
(a) FEDERAL RECOGNITION.—Federal recognition is
hereby extended to the Tribe. All laws and regulations of
general application to Indians and nations, tribes, or
bands of Indians that are not inconsistent with any spe-
cific provision of this Act shall be applicable to the Tribe
and its members.
(b) FEDERAL BENEFITS AND SERVICES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Tribe and its members
shall be eligible for all Federal benefits and services
furnished to federally recognized Indian tribes and
their members because of their status as Indians.
(2) SERVICE
AREA.—In the case of Federal
services available to members of federally recognized
Indian tribes residing on a reservation, members of
the Tribe residing in the Tribe’s service area shall
be deemed to be residing on a reservation. For the
purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘‘service area’’
means the area comprised by the civil parishes of
Terrebonne, 
Lafourche, 
Jefferson, 
St. 
Mary,
Plaquemines, Orleans, and St. Bernard, in the State
of Louisiana.
(c) INDIAN REORGANIZATION ACT APPLICABILITY.—
The Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 461 et seq.), shall
be applicable to the Tribe and its members.
(d) EFFECT ON PROPERTY RIGHTS AND OTHER OB-
LIGATIONS.—Except as otherwise specifically provided in
this Act, this Act shall not affect any property right or
obligation, or any contractual right or obligation in exist-
ence before the date of the enactment of this Act, or for
any obligation for taxes assessed before that date.
SEC. 5. RATIFICATION OF PRIOR TRANSFERS; EXTINGUISH-
MENT OF ABORIGINAL TITLE, RIGHTS AND
CLAIMS.
(a) RATIFICATION OF TRANSFERS.—Any transfer be-
fore the date of enactment of this Act of real property
(and improvements thereon) or natural resources located
anywhere within the United States—
(1) from, by, or on behalf of the Tribe, any one
or more of its members, or anyone purporting to be
a member, including (but not limited to) any trans-
fer pursuant to any treaty, compact, or statute of
any State, and
(2) from, by, or on behalf of the United States
to the State of Louisiana,
shall be deemed to have been made in accordance with
the Constitution and all laws of the United States, and
Congress hereby approves and ratifies any such transfer
effective as of the date of such transfer.
(b) ABORIGINAL TITLE.—Aboriginal title to real
property or natural resources described in subsection (a)
of the Tribe, any of its members, or anyone purporting
to be a member, or any other Indian, Indian Nation, or
Tribe or band of Indians is hereby extinguished as of the
date of such transfer or conveyance.
(c) EXTINGUISHMENT OF CLAIMS.—By virtue of the
approval and ratification of any transfer or conveyance of
real property (and improvements thereon) or natural re-
sources effected by this section, and the extinguishment
of aboriginal title effected thereby, all claims against the
United States, any State or subdivision thereof, or any
other person or entity, by the Tribe, any of its members,
or anyone purporting to be a member, or any Indian Na-
tion, or tribe or band of Indians, arising at the time of
or subsequent to the transfer or conveyance, and based
on any interest in or right involving such real property
or natural resources shall be extinguished as of the date
of the transfer.
(d) EXTINGUISHMENT OF TITLE.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—All claims and all right, title
and interest that—
(A) the Tribe or any person or group of
persons purporting to be the Houma Indians, or
(B) any person or group of persons pur-
porting to be any other Indian, Indian Nation,
Tribe, or band of Indians who are descendants
from any of the progenitors analyzed in Section
VIII of the Benealogical Report (including Ap-
pendices A and B thereto)—Proposed Find-
ing—United Houma Nation, December 13,
1994, United States Department of the Inte-
rior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Branch of Ac-
knowledgment and Research,
may have to aboriginal title, recognized title, or title
by grant, patent, or treaty, to the lands or interests
in real property (and improvements thereon) located
anywhere in the United States, are hereby extin-
guished.
(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not
apply to any right, title, or interest in or to property
in the possession of any such person or group on the
date of enactment of this Act.
(e) BAR TO FUTURE CLAIMS.—The United States is
hereby barred from asserting by or on behalf of the Tribe
any claim arising before the date of enactment of this Act,
from the transfer or conveyance of any real property (and
improvements thereon) or natural resources by deed, act
of sale, or other grant, or by treaty, compact, or act of
law, on the grounds that such transfer or conveyance was
not made in accordance with the laws of the State of Lou-
isiana or laws of the United States.
(f) PERSONAL CLAIMS NOT AFFECTED.—Nothing in
this section shall be deemed to affect, diminish, or elimi-
nate the personal claim of any individual member of the
Tribe, or Indian, which is pursued under any law of gen-
eral applicability (other than Federal common law fraud)
that protects non-Indians as well as Indians.
SEC. 6. BASE MEMBERSHIP ROLL.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Within one year after the date of
enactment of this section, the Tribe shall submit to the
Secretary its base membership roll. The base membership
roll shall be developed and based upon the criteria set out
in Article III, Section 1 of the ‘‘Constitution of the United
Houma Nation, Inc.’’
(b) FUTURE MEMBERSHIP.—The Tribe shall have
the right to determine future membership in the Tribe;
however, in no event may an individual be enrolled as a
member of the Tribe unless the individual is a lineal de-
scendant of a person on the base membership roll, and
has continued to maintain political relations with the tribe.
(c) MEMBER.—For the purposes of this section, the
term ‘‘member’’ means an enrolled member of the Tribe,
as of the date of the enactment of this Act, or an individ-
ual who has been placed on the membership rolls of the
Tribe in accordance with this section.
SEC. 7. TRIBAL CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNANCE.
(a) INDIAN REORGANIZATION ACT.—If the Tribe so
elects, it may organize a tribal government under the Act
of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 461 et seq.), commonly re-
ferred to as the ‘‘Indian Reorganization Act’’. Pursuant
to any such election, the Tribe shall adopt any new con-
stitution or other organic law in accordance with such Act.
(b) SCOPE OF CONSTITUTION.—Whether or not the
tribe elects under subsection (a) to organize under such
Act, the Tribe may exercise such authority as is consistent
with this Act and its constitution.
Æ