Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians Restoration Act of 2019

II Calendar No. 399 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 51 [Report No. 116–190] To extend the Federal recognition to the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 8, 2019 Mr. TESTER (for himself and Mr. DAINES) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs JANUARY 6, 2020 Reported by Mr. HOEVEN, without amendment A BILL To extend the Federal recognition to the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Little Shell Tribe of 4 Chippewa Indians Restoration Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 Jan 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S51.RS S51 2 •S 51 RS SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds that— 2 (1) the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians 3 is a political successor to signatories of the Pembina 4 Treaty of 1863, under which a large area of land in 5 the State of North Dakota was ceded to the United 6 States; 7 (2) the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa of 8 North Dakota and the Chippewa-Cree Tribe of the 9 Rocky Boy’s Reservation of Montana, which also are 10 political successors to the signatories of the Pembina 11 Treaty of 1863, have been recognized by the Federal 12 Government as distinct Indian tribes; 13 (3) the members of the Little Shell Tribe con- 14 tinue to live in the State of Montana, as their ances- 15 tors have for more than 100 years since ceding land 16 in the State of North Dakota as described in para- 17 graph (1); 18 (4) in the 1930s and 1940s, the Tribe repeat- 19 edly petitioned the Federal Government for reorga- 20 nization under the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 21 5101 et seq.) (commonly known as the ‘‘Indian Re- 22 organization Act’’); 23 (5) Federal agents who visited the Tribe and 24 Commissioner of Indian Affairs John Collier at- 25 tested to the responsibility of the Federal Govern- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 Jan 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S51.RS S51 3 •S 51 RS ment for the Tribe and members of the Tribe, con- 1 cluding that members of the Tribe are eligible for, 2 and should be provided with, trust land, making the 3 Tribe eligible for reorganization under the Act of 4 June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 5101 et seq.) (commonly 5 known as the ‘‘Indian Reorganization Act’’); 6 (6) due to a lack of Federal appropriations dur- 7 ing the Depression, the Bureau of Indian Affairs 8 lacked adequate financial resources to purchase land 9 for the Tribe, and the members of the Tribe were 10 denied the opportunity to reorganize; 11 (7) in spite of the failure of the Federal Gov- 12 ernment to appropriate adequate funding to secure 13 land for the Tribe as required for reorganization 14 under the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 5101 et 15 seq.) (commonly known as the ‘‘Indian Reorganiza- 16 tion Act’’), the Tribe continued to exist as a sepa- 17 rate community, with leaders exhibiting clear polit- 18 ical authority; 19 (8) the Tribe, together with the Turtle Moun- 20 tain Band of Chippewa of North Dakota and the 21 Chippewa-Cree Tribe of the Rocky Boy’s Reserva- 22 tion of Montana, filed 2 law suits under the Act of 23 August 13, 1946 (60 Stat. 1049) (commonly known 24 as the ‘‘Indian Claims Commission Act’’), to petition 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 Jan 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S51.RS S51 4 •S 51 RS for additional compensation for land ceded to the 1 United States under the Pembina Treaty of 1863 2 and the McCumber Agreement of 1892; 3 (9) in 1971 and 1982, pursuant to Acts of Con- 4 gress, the tribes received awards for the claims de- 5 scribed in paragraph (8); 6 (10) in 1978, the Tribe submitted to the Bu- 7 reau of Indian Affairs a petition for Federal recogni- 8 tion, which is still pending as of the date of enact- 9 ment of this Act; and 10 (11) the Federal Government, the State of 11 Montana, and the other federally recognized Indian 12 tribes of the State have had continuous dealings 13 with the recognized political leaders of the Tribe 14 since the 1930s. 15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 16 In this Act: 17 (1) MEMBER.—The term ‘‘member’’ means an 18 individual who is enrolled in the Tribe pursuant to 19 section 7. 20 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 21 the Secretary of the Interior. 22 (3) TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Tribe’’ means the Lit- 23 tle Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 Jan 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S51.RS S51 5 •S 51 RS SEC. 4. FEDERAL RECOGNITION. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Federal recognition is extended to 2 the Tribe. 3 (b) EFFECT OF FEDERAL LAWS.—Except as other- 4 wise provided in this Act, all Federal laws (including regu- 5 lations) of general application to Indians and Indian 6 tribes, including the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 7 5101 et seq.) (commonly known as the ‘‘Indian Reorga- 8 nization Act’’), shall apply to the Tribe and members. 9 SEC. 5. FEDERAL SERVICES AND BENEFITS. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date of enact- 11 ment of this Act, the Tribe and each member shall be eligi- 12 ble for all services and benefits provided by the United 13 States to Indians and federally recognized Indian tribes, 14 without regard to— 15 (1) the existence of a reservation for the Tribe; 16 or 17 (2) the location of the residence of any member 18 on or near an Indian reservation. 19 (b) SERVICE AREA.—For purposes of the delivery of 20 services and benefits to members, the service area of the 21 Tribe shall be considered to be the area comprised of 22 Blaine, Cascade, Glacier, and Hill Counties in the State 23 of Montana. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 Jan 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S51.RS S51 6 •S 51 RS SEC. 6. REAFFIRMATION OF RIGHTS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act diminishes 2 any right or privilege of the Tribe or any member that 3 existed before the date of enactment of this Act. 4 (b) CLAIMS OF TRIBE.—Except as otherwise pro- 5 vided in this Act, nothing in this Act alters or affects any 6 legal or equitable claim of the Tribe to enforce any right 7 or privilege reserved by, or granted to, the Tribe that was 8 wrongfully denied to, or taken from, the Tribe before the 9 date of enactment of this Act. 10 SEC. 7. MEMBERSHIP ROLL. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of receiving rec- 12 ognition, services, and benefits pursuant to this Act, the 13 Tribe shall submit to the Secretary, by not later than 18 14 months after the date of enactment of this Act, a member- 15 ship roll consisting of the name of each individual enrolled 16 as a member of the Tribe. 17 (b) DETERMINATION OF MEMBERSHIP.—The quali- 18 fications for inclusion on the membership roll of the Tribe 19 shall be determined in accordance with sections 1 through 20 3 of article 5 of the constitution of the Tribe dated Sep- 21 tember 10, 1977 (including amendments to the constitu- 22 tion). 23 (c) MAINTENANCE OF ROLL.—The Tribe shall main- 24 tain the membership roll under this section. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 Jan 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S51.RS S51 7 •S 51 RS SEC. 8. ACQUISITION OF LAND. 1 (a) HOMELAND.—The Secretary shall acquire, for the 2 benefit of the Tribe, trust title to 200 acres of land within 3 the service area of the Tribe to be used for a tribal land 4 base. 5 (b) ADDITIONAL LAND.—The Secretary may acquire 6 additional land for the benefit of the Tribe pursuant to 7 section 5 of the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 5108) 8 (commonly known as the ‘‘Indian Reorganization Act’’). 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 Jan 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S51.RS S51 Calendar No. 399 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 51 [Report No. 116–190] A BILL To extend the Federal recognition to the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana, and for other purposes. JANUARY 6, 2020 Reported without amendment VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:19 Jan 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\S51.RS S51