109th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4802
To reaffirm and clarify the Federal relationship of the Burt Lake
Band as a distinct federally recognized Indian Tribe, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 16, 2006
Mr. STUPAK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Resources
A BILL
To reaffirm and clarify the Federal relationship of the Burt Lake
Band as a distinct federally recognized Indian Tribe, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians
Reaffirmation Act'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds as follows:
(1) The members of the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians,
whose historic name is the Cheboigan (or Cheboygan) Band, are descendants
and political successors to signatories of the 1836 Treaty of Washington
and the 1855 Treaty of Detroit. The Band was twice recognized by the United
States, on a government-to-government relationship basis, through the
execution and ratification of those treaties.
(2) The 1836 Treaty of Washington provided that the Cheboigan Band would
receive a reservation of 1,000 acres on the Cheboigan, within its aboriginal
territory, but the United States failed to provide that reservation. The
1855 Treaty of Detroit provided for the withdrawal of unsold lands in
2 Michigan townships 35 North and 36 North Range 3 West for the use of
the Cheboygan Band, but due to the Federal Government's failure to act,
those members who selected allotments within that area were not awarded
those individual land holdings until 3 years after a special Act of Congress
was passed in 1872.
(3) Between 1845 and 1850 the Band's members used treaty annuity payments
to purchase land for the Band in Burt Township, Cheboygan County, Michigan.
That land, called Colonial Point, was placed in trust with the Governor
of Michigan on the advice of Federal Indian agents.
(4) During the next 50 years, questions arose regarding the taxability
of the property, and the acreage was ultimately sold for back taxes in
1900.
(5) After the Band was forcibly evicted from Colonial Point and its village
was burned to the ground by its new owner, John McGinn, the majority of
the Band's families took up residency on nearby Indian Road on lands which
other Band members had purchased or received as treaty allotments or homesteads.
(6) In 1911, the United States filed suit in the United States Federal
District Court for Eastern Michigan seeking to regain possession of the
Colonial Point Lands (United States v. McGinn, Equity No. 94, filed June
11, 1911). In its complaint, the United States advised the Court that
it was suing on behalf of the: `Cheboygan band of Indians [which] is now
and was at all the times mentioned in this bill of complaint a tribe of
indians [sic] under the care, control, and guardianship of the plaintiff
and said band is now and was at all times mentioned in this bill of complaint
recognized by the plaintiff through its chiefs or head men which it annually
elects.'.
(7) In 1917, the Federal District Court decided the McGinn case against
the United States finding that the language in the Colonial Point deeds
did not prevent the Colonial Point land from being taxed.
(8) Over the next 20 years, members of the Band asked the United States
to appeal, or otherwise rectify the District Court's decision, but no
Federal action was taken. Throughout this period, the United States continued
to provide the Band and its members with many of the same Federal services
that were being provided to other Indian tribes in Michigan.
(9) The Act of June 18, 1934 (hereafter in this Act referred to as the
`Indian Reorganization Act'), authorized and directed the Bureau of Indian
Affairs to provide technical assistance and Federal funds to petitioning
tribes to assist them in reorganizing their governments and improving
their economies. Members of the Cheboigan Band, as well as members of
other landless treaty Tribes in Michigan, submitted petitions to receive
that assistance. Similar petitions were also submitted by 4 Michigan bands
that still held communal lands. Possession of a tribal land base was a
prerequisite to the receipt of most of the Federal funds and services
provided for in the Indian Reorganization Act.
(10) While the Indian Reorganization Act directed the Secretary to assist
landless bands, like Burt Lake, and authorized Federal funds to acquire
land for landless tribes, no Federal funds were appropriated to acquire
new tribal lands for any of the landless bands in Michigan. After struggling
with this dilemma, the Bureau of Indian Affairs extended the benefits
of the Indian Reorganization Act to only those 4 Michigan tribes that
had an existing land base on the date of the enactment of the Indian Reorganization
Act. Of the Ottawa and Chippewa Tribes who signed the 1836 and 1855 Treaties,
only 1 group, the Bay Mills Indian Community was reaffirmed.
(11) The failure of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to grant Indian Reorganization
Act benefits to the Cheboigan Band did not terminate the band's government-to-government
relationship with the United States, and Congress has never taken any
action to terminate the Federal acknowledgment of the Burt Lake Band.
(12) The Bureau of Indian Affairs lacked and lacks the legal authority
to terminate a tribe that has been acknowledged by an Act of Congress.
(13) In recent years, the Federal recognition of the following Michigan
tribes, who were also denied the benefits of the Indian Reorganization
Act, has been reaffirmed:
(A) The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa was reaffirmed by a Memorandum
of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs on September 7, 1972.
(B) The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians was reaffirmed
by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Branch of Acknowledgment on May 27,
1980.
(C) The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indian and the Little River
Band of Ottawa Indians each had its Federal status reaffirmed by an
Act of Congress on September 21, 1994.
(D) The Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians had
its Federal status reaffirmed by an Act of Congress at the request of
the Administration on September 8, 1988.
(E) The Pokagon Indian Nation had its Federal status reaffirmed by an
Act of Congress on September 21, 1994.
(F) The Huron Potawatomi Nation had its Federal status reaffirmed by
the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Branch of Acknowledgment and Research
on March 17, 1996.
(G) The Gun Lake Tribe (Match-She-Be-Nash-She-Wish) had its Federal
status reaffirmed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Office of Federal
Acknowledgment on August 23, 1999.
(14) The Band has been consistently recognized by third parties as a distinct
Indian community since well before 1900.
(15) All of the Band's adult members are the children, grandchildren,
or great grandchildren of Indian persons who resided on or near Colonial
Point or Indian Road at the time of the Burn Out. Most of the Band's adult
members grew up on or near Indian Road or had an immediate family member
who did. As the result, the Band's members have maintained very close
social and political ties.
(16) The Band's families have and continue to provide mutual aid to each
other, visit each other regularly, mobilize to assist each other in times
of need, practice traditional arts and crafts, gather for Ghost Suppers,
decorate the graves of their ancestors, and participate in other traditional
tribal ceremonies and events.
(17) Since 1829 the Band's members have attended and consistently mobilized
to maintain the Indian Mission Church of St. Mary's, first on Colonial
Point and later on Indian Road. The Band's members have also worked together
to maintain the Tribe's 2 Indian cemetaries. They have also dug the graves
and buried their relatives in those 2 Indian cemeteries for almost 200
years.
(18) The Band's members have throughout time made formal and informal
decisions for the community. The Band has also organized its own modern
tribal government without the assistance of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
(19) The majority of the Band's elders have a high degree of Indian blood
and continue to speak the Ottawa language when they gather with each other.
Before World War II, more than 50 percent of the Burt Lake families were
still speaking the traditional language in their homes, and more than
50 percent of those tribal members who were married were married to other
Ottawa and Chippewa individuals.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act--
(1) the term `Band' or `Tribe' means the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and
Chippewa Indians which was previously called the Cheboigan or Cheboygan
Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians;
(2) the term `Burn Out' means the destruction of the Colonial Point Indian
Village of the Burt Lake Band in 1900;
(3) the term `OFA' means the Office of Federal Acknowledgment, a Branch
of the United States Department of Interior's Bureau of Indian of Indian
Affairs; and
(4) the term `Secretary' means the Secretary of the Interior.
SEC. 4. FEDERAL RECOGNITION.
(a) Federal Recognition- Federal recognition of the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa
and Chippewa Indians is hereby reaffirmed. All laws and regulations of the
United States of general application to Indians or nations, tribes, or bands
of Indians including the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 461 et seq., commonly
referred to as the `Indian Reorganization Act'), which are inconsistent
with any specific provision of this Act shall not be applicable to the Band
and its members.
(b) Federal Services and Benefits-
(1) IN GENERAL- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Band and its members shall be eligible
for all services and benefits provided by the Federal Government to Indians
because of their status as federally recognized Indians without regard
to the existence of a reservation or the location of the residence of
any member on or near any Indian reservation.
(2) SERVICE AREA- For purposes of the delivery of Federal services to
the enrolled members of the Band and to other Indians, all of Cheboygan
County Michigan, and any area in the State of Michigan that is outside
of Cheboygan County, but located within 25 miles of the Tribe's Cemetery
at the St. Mary's Indian Mission Church, shall be deemed to be within
the Service Area of the Burt Lake Band. Nothing contained herein shall
prohibit the Federal Government from providing services to members of
the Band who reside or are domiciled outside this Service Area, or from
otherwise expanding the Band's Service Area in compliance with applicable
Federal law and policy. If any part of the Band's service area overlaps
with the service area of another federally recognized Indian tribe, that
overlap shall be addressed in compliance with existing Federal policies
and regulations.
SEC. 5. REAFFIRMATION OF RIGHTS.
(a) In General- All rights and privileges of the Band and its members, which
may have been abrogated or diminished before the date of the enactment of
this Act are hereby reaffirmed.
(b) Existing Rights of Tribe- Nothing in this Act shall be construed to
diminish any right or privilege of the Band or of its members that existed
before the date of the enactment of this Act. Except as otherwise specifically
provided in any other provision of this Act, nothing in this Act shall be
construed as altering or affecting any legal or equitable claim the Band
may have to enforce any right or privilege reserved by or granted to the
Band which was wrongfully denied to or taken from the Band before the enactment
of this Act.
SEC. 6. TRIBAL LANDS.
The Secretary shall acquire real property in Cheboygan County in trust for
the benefit of the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, if at
the time of such acceptance by the Secretary, there are no adverse legal
claims on such property including outstanding liens, mortgages or taxes
owed. Such lands shall become part of the initial reservation of the Band
at the request of the Band. The Secretary is also authorized to acquire
and accept real property in other geographic areas into trust for the benefit
of the Band and to declare those lands to be a part of the Band's Reservation
or Initial Reservation to the full extent otherwise authorized by applicable
law.
SEC. 7. MEMBERSHIP.
(a) In General- Membership in the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa
Indians shall consist of persons who can present evidence, acceptable to
the Tribe, showing that they meet the requirements of subsection (b), and
persons who meet such other requirements as are specified by the Tribe in
its Tribe's Constitution and Enrollment Ordinance as the same may be from
time to time amended.
(1) To qualify for membership in the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa
Indians, a person must be able to demonstrate through evidence acceptable
to the Tribe that the person meets at least one of the following requirements:
(A) The person descends from one or more tribal members who were domiciled
at Colonial Point, Burt Township, Cheboygan County, Michigan before
or at the time that the Tribe's village was burned in October 1900,
as said tribal members are identified in the United States v. McGinn
litigation and related documents, and/or the 1950 Albert Shananaquet
list of Colonial Point Residents.
(B) The person descends from one or more tribal members who are listed
on the 1900 and/or the 1910 Burt Lake Township Federal Census, Indian
Enumeration Schedule.
(C) The person has an Indian ancestor who was, prior to 1910, living
in tribal relations with the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians
as the Burt Lake Band is defined in this Act.
(D) The person descends from Rose Midwagon Moses.
(2) In addition to the requirements under paragraph (1), to qualify for
membership in the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippwa Indians, a person
must be able to demonstrate through evidence acceptable to the Tribe that
the person meets all of the following criteria:
(A) That the person is in tribal relations with other Burt Lake Band
members.
(B) That the person's ancestors have lived in tribal relations with
other Burt Lake Band members on a substantially continuous basis from
1910 to the present.
(C) That the person has a completed tribal membership enrollment file
as prescribed by the Tribal Enrollment Ordinance.
(D) That the person's membership application has been processed and
that the person has been approved for membership in the Burt Lake Band
in the manner prescribed by the Tribal Enrollment Ordinance.
(c) Base Roll- The base roll of the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa
Indians shall consist of the 320 persons whose names were listed on the
official roll of the Burt Lake Band which were members submitted by the
Band to the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Office of Federal Acknowledgment on
May 2, 2005, and shall also include the biological sons and daughters who
were born to those members between the submission of that list and the enactment
of this Act.
SEC. 8. CONSTITUTION.
The initial Constitution of the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians
shall be the Constitution which the Band submitted to the Bureau of Indian
Affairs' Office of Federal Acknowledgment on May 2, 2005.
END
