I
104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3671
To provide for the recognition of the United Houma Nation and to provide
for the settlement of land claims of the United Houma Nation.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 18, 1996
Mr. TAUZIN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Resources
A BILL
To provide for the recognition of the United Houma Nation
and to provide for the settlement of land claims of the
United Houma Nation.
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 ‘‘United Houma Nation
Recognition and Land Claims Settlement Act of 1996’’.
SEC. 2. DECLARATION OF POLICY, CONGRESSIONAL FIND-
INGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress declares and finds the
following:
(1) It is the policy of the United States to pro-
mote tribal self-determination and economic self-suf-
ficiency and to support the resolution of disputes
over historical claims through settlements mutually
agreed to by Indian and non-Indian parties.
(2) The United Houma Nation have used, occu-
pied, and possessed vast tracts of lands within the
State of Louisiana and adjacent States, and by this
use, occupancy, and possession have laid claim to
these lands.
(3) The significant historical events which have
led to the present state of affairs include (but are
not limited to) the following:
(A) The United Houma Nation have an
unbroken tribal existence from time immemorial
and before recorded history.
(B) The United Houma Nation enters re-
corded history in 1682, when the explorer Rob-
ert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle encountered this
tribe at the intersection of the Mississippi and
Red Rivers.
(C) By 1706, the United Houma Nation
reacted to the rivalry between the French and
English by migrating south, in order to be clos-
er to their French allies.
(D) During the early 1700’s, the United
Houma Nation fought with other Indian tribes,
and the French, over lands.
(E) The United States assumed sov-
ereignty over these lands with the purchase of
the Louisiana Territory in 1803 and promised
all Indian tribes inhabiting the newly acquired
territory that their land ownership and posses-
sion would be protected and honored as such
ownership was protected and honored by the
former sovereigns of Spain and France.
(F) In order to protect themselves from
threats presented by non-Indian peoples, por-
tions of the United Houma Nation sought ref-
uge and safety in the then remote wetlands and
bayous of southern Louisiana where they con-
tinued their social life and existence as a tribal
entity.
(G) Members of the United Houma Nation
have always been accorded the status of Indians
as evidenced by—
(i) receiving educational support from
the Federal Government; and
(ii) recognition of the United Houma
Nation as an Indian tribe by the State of
Louisiana.
(H) The United Houma Nation reorga-
nized their government under a corporate form
in the 1970’s, which culminated in the creation
of a corporate entity known as the ‘‘United
Houma Nation’’ in 1979.
(4) The assertion of the land claims of the
United Houma Nation through litigation will lead to
substantial economic and social hardship for a large
number of landowners, citizens, and communities in
the State of Louisiana, including the United Houma
Nation itself. Congress recognizes that if these
claims are not resolved—
(A) litigation against thousands of land-
owners would be likely;
(B) any final resolution of these disputes
through a process of litigation would—
(i) take many years and entail great
expenses to all parties;
(ii) continue economically and socially
damaging controversies;
(iii) prolong uncertainty as to the
ownership of property; and
(iv) seriously impair long-term eco-
nomic planning and development for all
parties.
(5) The settlement of these land claims and the
avoidance of costly, protracted, and uncertain litiga-
tion—
(A) will advance the goals of the Federal
policy of Indian self-determination; and
(B) in recognition of the obligation of the
United States as a guardian and trustee, will be
in furtherance of the Federal policy of settling
historical Indian claims through legislation
rather than confrontation.
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—
(1) to recognize the United Houma Nation, the
historical descendant of the group known in history
as the Houma Tribe, as a federally recognized tribe
on a sovereign-to-sovereign basis, with all rights,
benefits, and responsibilities thereto;
(2) to authorize and direct the Secretary of the
Interior to implement the terms and provisions of
this Act;
(3) to remove the cloud on titles in the State
of Louisiana resulting from any land claims which
have been asserted, are being asserted, or may be
asserted, by the United Houma Nation; and
(4) to confirm and recognize the trust relation-
ship between the United Houma Nation and the
United States.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
For the purposes of this Act:
(1) The term ‘‘Tribe’’ means the United
Houma Nation, as described in the ‘‘Constitution of
the United Houma Nation, Inc.’’, and the ‘‘United
Houma Nation By-Laws’’, dated 1979 and 1983, re-
spectively, and the successor in interest to the
former ‘‘Houma Tribe, Inc.’’, the former ‘‘The
Houma Alliance, Inc.’’, and the historic Houma
Tribe.
(2) The term ‘‘claim’’ means any claim which
was asserted, is being asserted presently, or could be
asserted, by the Tribe, or by individuals as a tribal
claim, or any other claim, of any species or origin
whatsoever, of a right, title, or interest in or to real
property (and improvements thereon), to trespass or
damages to real property (and improvements there-
on), to mesne profits, or of seasonal subsistence
hunting, fishing, or other rights to natural re-
sources, if such claim is based or premised upon—