IB 
Union Calendar No. 354 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 1272 
[Report No. 112–501] 
To provide for the use and distribution of the funds awarded to the Minnesota 
Chippewa Tribe, et al., by the United States Court of Federal Claims 
in Docket Numbers 19 and 188, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 30, 2011 
Mr. PETERSON (for himself and Mr. CRAVAACK) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
MAY 30, 2012 
Additional sponsor: Mr. PAULSEN 
MAY 30, 2012 
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 30, 2011] 
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A BILL 
To provide for the use and distribution of the funds awarded 
to the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, et al., by the United 
States Court of Federal Claims in Docket Numbers 19 
and 188, and for other purposes. 
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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 ‘‘Minnesota Chippewa 
Tribe Judgment Fund Distribution Act of 2012’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) On January 22, 1948, the Minnesota Chip-
pewa Tribe, representing all Chippewa bands in Min-
nesota except the Red Lake Band, filed a claim before 
the Indian Claims Commission in Docket No. 19 for 
an accounting of all funds received and expended pur-
suant to the Act of January 14, 1889, 25 Stat. 642, 
and amendatory acts (hereinafter referred to as the 
Nelson Act). 
(2) On August 2, 1951, the Minnesota Chippewa 
Tribe, representing all Chippewa bands in Minnesota 
except the Red Lake Band, filed a number of claims 
before the Indian Claims Commission in Docket No. 
188 for an accounting of the Government’s obligation 
to each of the member bands of the Minnesota Chip-
pewa Tribe under various statutes and treaties that 
are not covered by the Nelson Act of January 14, 
1889. 
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(3) On May 17, 1999, a Joint Motion for Find-
ings in Aid of Settlement of the claims in Docket No. 
19 and 188 was filed before the Court. 
(4) The terms of the settlement were approved by 
the Court and the final judgment was entered on May 
26, 1999. 
(5) On June 22, 1999, $20,000,000 was trans-
ferred to the Department of the Interior and deposited 
into a trust fund account established for the bene-
ficiaries of the funds awarded in Docket No. 19 and 
188. 
(6) Pursuant to the Indian Tribal Judgment 
Funds Use or Distribution Act (25 U.S.C. 1401 et 
seq.), Congress must act to authorize the use or dis-
tribution of the judgment funds. 
(7) On October 1, 2009, the Minnesota Chippewa 
Tribal Executive Committee passed Resolution 146– 
09, approving a plan to distribute the judgment funds 
and requesting that the United States Congress act to 
distribute the judgment funds in the manner described 
by the plan. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
For the purpose of this Act: 
(1) AVAILABLE
FUNDS.—The term ‘‘available 
funds’’ means the funds awarded to the Minnesota 
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Chippewa Tribe and interest earned and received on 
those funds, less the funds used for payments author-
ized under section 4. 
(2) BANDS.—The term ‘‘Bands’’ means the Bois 
Forte Band, Fond du Lac Band, Grand Portage 
Band, Leech Lake Band, Mille Lacs Band, and White 
Earth Band. 
(3) JUDGMENT
FUNDS.—The term ‘‘judgment 
funds’’ means the funds awarded on May 26, 1999, 
to the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe by the Court of 
Federal Claims in Docket No. 19 and 188. 
(4) MINNESOTA
CHIPPEWA
TRIBE.—The term 
‘‘Minnesota Chippewa Tribe’’ means the Minnesota 
Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota, composed of the Bois 
Forte Band, Fond du Lac Band, Grand Portage 
Band, Leech Lake Band, Mille Lacs Band, and White 
Earth Band. It does not include Red Lake Band of 
Chippewa Indians, Minnesota. 
(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of the Interior. 
SEC. 4. LOAN REIMBURSEMENTS TO MINNESOTA CHIPPEWA 
TRIBE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized to re-
imburse the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe the amount of 
funds, plus interest earned to the date of reimbursement, 
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that the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe contributed for pay-
ment of attorneys’ fees and litigation expenses associated 
with the litigation of Docket No. 19 and 188 before the U.S. 
Court of Federal Claims and the distribution of judgment 
funds. 
(b) CLAIMS.—The Minnesota Chippewa Tribe’s claim 
for reimbursement of funds expended shall be— 
(1) presented to the Secretary not later than 90 
days after the date of enactment of this Act; 
(2) certified by the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe as 
being unreimbursed to the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe 
from other funding sources; 
(3) paid with interest calculated at the rate of 
6.0 percent per annum, simple interest, from the date 
the funds were expended to the date the funds are re-
imbursed to the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe; and 
(4) paid from the judgment funds prior to the 
division of the funds under section 5. 
SEC. 5. DIVISION OF JUDGMENT FUNDS. 
(a) MEMBERSHIP ROLLS.—Not later than 90 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Minnesota 
Chippewa Tribe shall submit to the Secretary updated 
membership rolls for each Band, which shall include all en-
rolled members the date of the enactment of this Act. 
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(b) DIVISIONS.—After all funds have been reimbursed 
under section 4, and the membership rolls have been up-
dated under subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 
(1) set aside for each Band a portion of the 
available judgment funds equivalent to $300 for each 
member enrolled within each Band; and 
(2) after the funds are set aside in accordance 
with paragraph (1), divide 100 percent of the remain-
ing funds into equal shares for each Band. 
(c) SEPARATE ACCOUNTS.—The Secretary shall— 
(1) deposit all funds described in subsection 
(b)(1) into a ‘‘Per Capita’’ account for each Band; 
and 
(2) deposit all funds described in subsection 
(b)(2) into an ‘‘Equal Shares’’ account for each Band. 
(d) WITHDRAWAL OF FUNDS.—After the Secretary de-
posits the available funds into the accounts described in sub-
section (c), a Band may withdraw all or part of the monies 
in its account. 
(e) DISBURSEMENT OF PER CAPITA PAYMENTS.—All 
funds described in subsection (b)(1) shall be used by each 
Band only for the purposes of distributing one $300 pay-
ment to each individual member of the Band. Each Band 
may— 
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(1) distribute the $300 payment to the parents or 
legal guardians on behalf of each dependent Band 
member instead of distributing such $300 payment to 
the dependent Band member; or 
(2) deposit into a trust account the $300 pay-
ment to each dependent Band member for the benefit 
of such dependent Band member, to be distributed 
under the terms of such trust. 
(f) DISTRIBUTION OF UNCLAIMED PAYMENTS.—One 
year after the funds described in subsection (b)(1) are made 
available to the Bands, all unclaimed payments described 
in subsection (e) shall be returned to the Secretary, who 
shall divide these funds into equal shares for each Band, 
and deposit the divided shares into the accounts described 
in subsection (c)(2) for the use of each Band. 
(g) LIABILITY.—If a Band exercises the right to with-
draw monies from its accounts, the Secretary shall not re-
tain liability for the expenditure or investment of the mon-
ies after each withdrawal. 
SEC. 6. GENERAL PROVISIONS. 
(a) PREVIOUS OBLIGATIONS.—Funds disbursed under 
this Act shall not be liable for the payment of previously 
contracted obligations of any recipient as provided in Pub-
lic Law 98–64 (25 U.S.C. 117b(a)). 
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(b) INDIAN JUDGMENT FUNDS DISTRIBUTION ACT.— 
All funds distributed under this Act are subject to the provi-
sions in the Indian Judgment Funds Distribution Act (25 
U.S.C. 1407). 
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Union Calendar No. 354 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 1272 
[Report No. 112–501] 
A BILL 
To provide for the use and distribution of the funds 
awarded to the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, et al., 
by the United States Court of Federal Claims in 
Docket Numbers 19 and 188, and for other pur-
poses. 
MAY 30, 2012 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 
and ordered to be printed 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
23:05 May 30, 2012
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