Opinion ID: 216969
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: History of the Ontonagon Band and the Property[2]

Text: Because Genschow claims he acted rightfully and in his capacity as chief of the Ontonagon Band, we begin with a review of historical events related to the tribe and the Property. In 1854, the Chippewa of Lake Superior entered into a treaty with the United States that required them to cede certain lands to the United States. In consideration for this land, the United States agreed to set apart and withhold from sale land for several bands of Chippewa including the L'Anse, Vieux Desert, and Ontonagon Bands. Id. In 1855, President Franklin Pierce issued an Executive Order defining the boundaries of the land reserved for the Ontonagon Band. Parcels of this land were subsequently allotted to individual members, and in 1875, the Property was patented to an individual named Menogezhick (also known as Me-no-ge-zhick, Antoine Jocco, and Antoine Jocko). Yet, because he later received another allotment of land within Wisconsin's Bad River Reservation, Menogezhick relinquished the Property in 1912. [3] By 1935, in response to the Indian Reorganization Act adopted the year prior, the L'Anse, Lac Vieux Desert, and Ontonagon Bands began discussions with the Department of the Interior (DOI) about organizing as a single tribe called the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community. As a part of this effort, the group drafted a Constitution and By-laws. DOI Field Agent Peru Farver held three meetings with the group as it completed this task. Farver submitted the Constitution to the Superintendent of the Lac du Flambeau Agency, J.C. Cavill, who was also serving as the Chairman of the KBIC Constitution Committee. In the attached letter, dated December 2, 1935, Farver described the Ontonagon Band's motivations for creating the KBIC: The Ontonagon Band is included in this group because the Ontonagon Reservation no longer exists. There are only a few scattered pieces of Indian land left within the confines of the original reservation, and it is understood only one Indian family resides there. Most of the Ontonagon Band now being located at L'Anse, and affiliated with the L'Anse people. It is satisfactory with the L'Anse Indians that the Ontonagon Band be included in their organization, which appears to be a happy solution for this band. Letter from Peru Farver, Field Agent, Dep't of the Interior, to J.C. Cavill, Superintendent, Lac du Flambeau Agency (Dec. 2, 1935) [hereinafter Farver Letter]. A few days later, on December 9, 1935, Cavill also received correspondence from Field Clerk E.J. Warren, who addressed the affiliations between the three bands and further illuminated the status of the Ontonagon Band: While the Ontonagon Reservation has always been spoken of and designated as a separate reservation the fact is the only thing that ever really took place on the Ontonagon Reservation was the allotting of land in severalty to certain Indiansthose living on the territory. No village or reservation was ever established at that point in recent years. Most of the lands were sold, and today only a few of the original allotments, inherited land, are still intact and unsold. No Indians now reside upon the Ontonagon Reservation and only one or two reside in that section of the country. Letter from E.J. Warren, Field Clerk, Dep't of the Interior, to J.C. Cavill, Superintendent, Lac du Flambeau Indian Agency (Dec. 9, 1935) [hereinafter Warren Letter]. On June 15, 1936, Assistant Commissioner of Indian Affairs, William Zimmerman, sent his comments on the proposed KBIC Constitution to Cavill. Zimmerman recommended the omission of any reference to the Ontonagon Reservation, because it appears that all of the Indians of the Ontonagon Band actually live on the L'Anse Reservation and because the community has jurisdiction only over the lands included within the L'Anse Reservation. Letter from William Zimmerman, Jr., Assistant Commissioner, Dep't of the Interior, to J.C. Cavill, Superintendent, Lac du Flambeau Indian Agency (June 15, 1936). In November 1936, the L'Anse, Lac Vieux Desert, and Ontonagon Bands of Chippewa Indians adopted the Constitution to form the KBIC. [4] The Preamble states: We, the L'Anse, Lac Vieux Desert and Ontonagon Bands of Chippewa Indians residing within the original confines of the L'Anse Reservation, in order to organize as a tribe for the common welfare of ourselves and our posterity . . . do order and establish this Constitution and By-laws, our community which shall be known as the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community. Constitution And By-Laws of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Nov. 7, 1936, pmbl. Article I provides that the territorial jurisdiction shall embrace the land within the original boundary lines of the L'Anse Reservation . . . and any and all future additions of land acquired within or without said boundary line by the Secretary of the Interior or by the Tribe. . . . Id. art. I. And Article VII provides that the KBIC's lands include unalloted lands of the Community, and all lands which may hereafter be acquired by the Community or by the United States in trust for the Community. . . . Id. art. VII. Several government documents speak to the status of the Ontonagon Band and the Property following the formation of the KBIC. The Field Solicitor's Code of Tribes and Land Units, dated December 1965, lists Michigan tribes as including Keweenaw Bay and Ontonagon, Keweenaw Bay, among others. Dep't of the Interior, Code Of Tribes And Land Units 4 (1965). There is no independent listing for the Ontonagon Band. In June 1971, a memorandum addressing the status of the tribal land on the Ontonagon Reservation passed from the Acting Area Director of the DOI's Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Minneapolis Area Office to the Superintendent of the Great Lakes Agency. The memorandum speculated that the tribal land, including the Property, did not fall within the jurisdiction of the KBIC, belonging instead to an unorganized tribe . . . independent from all other existing groups and further stated that the tribal tracts had reverted to tribal ownership . . . probably subsequent to the organization of the [KBIC]. Memorandum from Acting Area Dir., Bureau of Indian Affairs, Dep't of the Interior to the Superintendent, Great Lakes Agency (June 22, 1971) [hereinafter 1971 BIA Memorandum]. The memorandum concluded with an inquiry for advice on the issue and a directive to request verification of the title status of this property from our Title and Records Section. Id. The resulting Title Status Report, dated July 1971, lists an 80-acre parcel located at [t]he West half of the Northwest quarter of Section Twenty-six of Township Fifty-three North of Range Thirty-eight West of the Michigan Meridian in Ontonagon County, Michigan. Chief, Titles and Records Section, Aberdeen Area Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Dep't of the Interior, Title Status Report 1 (1971). Although the report identifies Ontonagon Band of Chippewa Indians as the property owner, it lists the Property's Reservation Code as 476, which denotes Ontonagon, Keweenaw Bay. Id. at 2. In 1975, a group of individuals wrote to the BIA, seeking to organize as The Ontonagon Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians. Letter from Alma Chosa Tilden to Morris Thompson, Comm'r of Bureau of Indian Affairs, Dep't of the Interior (Dec. 5, 1975). The BIA replied that [t]he only Ontonagon Band of which we are aware is organized together with the L'Anse and Lac Vieux Desert Bands to make up the [KBIC] and denied the request. Letter from Robert Pennington, Acting Chief, Div. of Tribal Gov't Serv., Bureau of Indian Affairs, Dep't of the Interior to Alma Chosa Tilden (undated) [hereinafter BIA Response Letter]. In 1992, The DOI Field Solicitor, Mark Anderson, wrote to the Area Director of the BIA's Minneapolis Area Office in response to a request about which tribal entity had the right to exercise jurisdiction over a public domain allotment within the Ontonagon Reservation. Anderson concluded, based on the language of the KBIC Constitution, that the land was not subject to the jurisdiction of the [KBIC] or any other federally-recognized tribal government. Letter from Mark A. Anderson, Office of the Solicitor, Dep't of the Interior, to Earl J. Barlow, Area Dir., Minneapolis Area Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Dep't of the Interior (Jan. 28, 1992). In 2004, in response to a request regarding leasing land held by the United States in trust for the Ontonagon Band of Indians, DOI Field Solicitor, Priscilla A. Wilfahrt, wrote to the Regional Director of the BIA's Midwest Regional Office: Our files indicate that the Ontonagon Band of Indians voted to organize with the L'Anse Chippewa Indians to form the [KBIC]. Thus the property held for the Ontonagon Band, since it no longer exists, should be deemed to be held by the [KBIC]. Letter from Priscilla A. Wilfahrt, Field Solicitor, Office of the Solicitor, Dep't of the Interior, to Terry Virden, Reg'l Dir., Midwest Reg'l Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Dep't of the Interior (July 2, 2004) [hereinafter 2004 Field Solicitor Opinion] (citations omitted). The 2004 Field Solicitor Opinion determined that the earlier 1992 Field Solicitor Opinion was not controlling because the KBIC, acting in a proprietary capacity[,] could execute a lease for this property whether or not it may exercise regulatory jurisdiction over the property. Id. It concluded that the KBIC, as the successor in interest to the Ontonagon Band, had the rights of any property owner to manage and control the use of its property. Id. [5] In 2008, the BIA certified that the Property was held in trust by the United States for the KBIC. The certification explained the history of the Property: Menogezhick received an allotment to the Property in 1875, upon cancellation of the allotment in 1912, the Property reverted to the Ontonagon Band, which is now under the jurisdiction of the [KBIC] per the 2004 Field Solicitor Opinion. Esther M. Thompson, Realty Officer, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Dep't of the Interior, Certification (2008) [hereinafter BIA Certification].