I
103D CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4653
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
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
Connecticut 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 Connecti-
cut is a successor in interest to the aboriginal entity
known as the Mohegan Indian Tribe which has ex-
isted in the State of Connecticut from time immemo-
rial and for which certain lands were sequestered as
tribal lands by the Colony and State of Connecticut;
(2) there is pending before the United States
District Court for the Southern District of Connecti-
cut a lawsuit by the Mohegan Indian Tribe which in-
volves certain lands within the State of Connecticut;
(3) the pendency of the lawsuit may result in
economic hardships for residents of the State of
Connecticut by clouding the titles to lands in the
State, including lands not now involved in the law-
suit;
(4) the State of Connecticut and the Mohegan
Tribe have executed agreements for the purposes of
resolving all disputes between them and settling the
lawsuit, which agreements require implementing leg-
islation by the Congress of the United States;
(5) in the agreements described above, the par-
ties provide for the assumption by the State of Con-
necticut of criminal jurisdiction over the members of
the Mohegan Tribe and on its lands and to the sub-
mission of all gaming-related development to the
State of Connecticut State Traffic Commission; and
(6) 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
Indians recognized by the United States pursuant to
25 C.F.R. 83 and by the State of Connecticut pur-
suant to Connecticut General Statutes sections 47–
59 (a) and (b) and further described in section 2(a);
(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
Interior;
(4) ‘‘Lands or natural resources’’ means any
real property or natural resources, or any interest in
or right involving any real property or natural re-
sources 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) ‘‘Agreement’’ means that document entitled
‘‘Agreement between the Mohegan Tribe and the
State of Connecticut’’ executed on April 25, 1994,
by the Governor of the State of Connecticut and the
Chief of the Mohegan Tribe, and filed with the Sec-
retary of State of the State of Connecticut; and
(7) ‘‘Transfer’’ includes, but is not limited to,
any sale, grant, lease, allotment, partition, or con-
veyance, any transaction the purpose of which was
to effect a sale, grant, lease, allotment, partition, or
conveyance, or any event or events that resulted in
a change of possession or control of lands or natural
resources.
SEC. 4. FINDINGS BY THE SECRETARY.
Section 5 of this Act shall not take effect until the
following events have occurred and the Secretary so
finds—
(1) the Governor of the State of Connecticut
has entered into a binding compact with the Mohe-
gan Tribe providing for tribal gaming operations, in-
cluding class III gaming in accordance with the In-
dian 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) the United States has accepted in trust for
the Mohegan Tribe the lands the Tribe has des-
ignated for including in their initial Reservation as
described in Exhibit B to the Agreement.
SEC. 5. APPROVAL OF PRIOR TRANSFERS AND EXTIN-
GUISHMENT OF CLAIMS AND ABORIGINAL
TITLE INVOLVING 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 Agreement in the Federal Register,
and upon such publication:
(1) 
The 
transfers, 
waivers, 
releases,
relinquishments, and other commitments made by
the Mohegan Tribe in paragraph (1) of its Agree-
ment 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 sec-
tion 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 Unit-
ed 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
subsequent versions thereof), and Congress does
hereby approve any such transfers effective as of the
date of said transfers.
(b)(1) All claims to lands within the State of Con-
necticut based upon aboriginal title by the Mohegan Tribe,
or any predecessor or successor in interest, are hereby ex-
tinguished, as are any and all other claims the Mohegan
Tribe might have to any public or private lands or natural
resources 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
between the Thames River, New London bounds,
Norwich bounds, and Colchester bounds;
(B) any claim the Mohegan Tribe might have
based on a survey under the authority of the Con-
guishment of aboriginal title effected thereby, all claims
against the United States, any State or subdivision there-
of, or any other person or entity, by the Mohegan Tribe,
arising subsequent to the transfer and based upon any in-
terest in or right involving the claims described in para-
graph (1) above in lands or natural resources, including,
but not limited to, claims for trespass damages or claims
for use and occupancy, shall be regarded as extinguished
as of the date of the transfer, provided that this limitation
shall not apply to any interest in lands or natural re-
sources subsequently and lawfully acquired by the Mohe-
gan Tribe or its members.
(c) No provision of this section shall be construed to
offset or eliminate the personal claim of any individual In-
dian which is pursued under any law of general applicabil-
ity that protects Indians as well as non-Indians.
SEC. 6. TRANSFER OF LANDS TO THE MOHEGAN TRIBE.
(a) The Secretary of the Interior is authorized and
directed to accept the transfer to the United States of the
lands described in exhibits A and B of the agreement be-
tween the State of Connecticut and the Mohegan tribe to
be held in trust for the use and benefit of the Mohegan
Tribe of Indians of Connecticut as an Indian reservation,
notwithstanding the existence of any clouds on title or any
liens agreed to by the Tribe.
(b) The lands transferred to the United States in
trust for the Mohegan Tribe under subsection (a) shall
be subject to the laws of the United States relating to In-
dian lands, including section 177 of this title.
SEC. 7. STATE JURISDICTION OVER RESERVATION.
(a) Notwithstanding other provisions of Federal law,
including but not limited to 25 U.S.C. 1312–1326, the
Mohegan Tribe of Indians agrees to and consents to the
assumption by the State of Connecticut of criminal juris-
diction over the Mohegan tribal members and all Indians
on land or other natural resources presently owned by the
Tribe, or which are included in any Federal legislation re-
lating to Mohegan tribe land claims, or any annexation
thereto and any other land that may now or hereafter be
owned by or held in trust for said Tribe or its members.
Such criminal jurisdiction shall extend to the criminal laws
of the State of Connecticut and to the criminal jurisdiction
of the courts of the State of Connecticut to the same ex-
tent as such criminal law jurisdiction and criminal court
jurisdiction which empower the State with respect to any
other person or lands or other natural resources within
and subject to the jurisdiction of the State of Connecticut.
The Congress consents to this assumption of criminal ju-
risdiction by the State of Connecticut.
(b) Notwithstanding other provisions of Federal law,
including but not limited to 25 U.S.C. sections 1321–
1326, the Mohegan Tribe of Indians agrees to and con-
sents to the assumption of jurisdiction by the State of
Connecticut State Traffic Commission over all gaming-re-
lated traffic control matters to the same extent as the
State Traffic Commission has jurisdiction over traffic con-
trol within the State of Connecticut as set out in chapter
249 of the Connecticut General Statutes, sections 14–297
to 14–314C. The Congress consents to this assumption
of traffic control jurisdiction by the State of Connecticut.
SEC. 8. GENERAL DISCHARGE AND RELEASE OF STATE OF
CONNECTICUT.
Except as expressly provided herein, this Act shall
constitute a general discharge and release of all obliga-
tions of the State of Connecticut and all of its political
subdivisions, agencies, departments, and all of the officers
or employees thereof arising from any treaty or agreement
with, or on behalf of the Tribe of the United Sates as
trustee therefor.
SEC. 9. REVOCATION OF AGREEMENT.
In the event the Agreement between the Mohegan
Tribe and the State of Connecticut is invalidated, or if
the gaming compact provided in section 4(a) of this Act,
or any implementing agreements between the parties
thereto, is invalidated by a court of competent jurisdiction,
the transfers, waivers, releases, relinquishments and other
commitments made by the Mohegan Tribe in paragraph
1a of the Agreement shall no longer be of any force or
effect, section 5 of this Act shall be inapplicable to the
lands, interests in lands or natural resources of the Mohe-
gan Tribe and its members as if never enacted, and the
approvals of prior transfers and the extinguishment of
claims and aboriginal title of the Mohegan Tribe otherwise
effected by section 5 shall be void ab initio. In any such
event, the Mohegan Tribe shall have the right to reinstate
its land claim within a reasonable time, which period shall
be defined as the later of 6 months after the Mohegan
Tribe receives written notice of such determination, or if
appealed, 6 months after entry of judgment by the court
of last resort, and, if the suit is reinstated within that
time, no defense, such as laches, statute of limitations, law
of the case, res judicata, or prior disposition shall be as-
serted based on the withdrawal of the lawsuit and com-
mencement of the resumed litigation, nor shall the sub-
stance of discussions leading to the Agreement be admissi-
ble in any subsequent litigation: Provided, however, That
if any such suit is reinstated, any defense which would
have been available to the State of Connecticut at the time
the lawsuit was withdrawn may be asserted, and is not
waived by anything in the Agreement or by subsequent
events occurring between the withdrawal of the lawsuit
and commencement of the resumed litigation.
SEC. 10. JUDICIAL REVIEW.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any ac-
tion to contest the constitutionality of this Act or the va-
lidity of any agreement entered into under the authority
of this Act or approved by this Act shall be barred unless
the complaint is filed within 180 days after ll. Exclu-
sive jurisdiction over any such action is hereby vested in
the United States District Court for the District of
Connecticut.
SEC. 11. JUNE 16, 1994, AGREEMENT.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law—
(1) the Mohegan Tribe is authorized to make
payments to the town of Montville according to the
terms of the Tribe’s June 16, 1994, agreement with
the town, subject to modification by mutual agree-
ment of the parties; and
(2) the Secretary of the Interior is authorized
and directed to approve that agreement, thereby giv-
ing full force and effect to its provisions, and to ap-
prove future modifications mutually agreed to by the
parties.
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