[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 939 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 939

  To reaffirm and clarify the Federal relationship of the Swan Creek 
   Black River Confederated Ojibwa Tribes of Michigan as a distinct 
federally recognized Indian tribe and to restore aboriginal rights, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 8, 2001

 Mr. Knollenberg introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
                       the Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To reaffirm and clarify the Federal relationship of the Swan Creek 
   Black River Confederated Ojibwa Tribes of Michigan as a distinct 
federally recognized Indian tribe and to restore aboriginal rights, 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 ``Swan Creek Black River Confederated 
Ojibwa Tribes of Michigan Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act--
            (1) the term ``Tribe'' means the Swan Creek and Black River 
        Confederated Ojibwa Tribes of Michigan;
            (2) the term ``member'' means an individual who is eligible 
        for enrollment in the Tribe pursuant to section 7;
            (3) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the 
        Interior; and
            (4) the ``Indian Reorganization Act'' means the Act of June 
        18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 461 et seq.).

SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Tribe is the political descendant of certain 
        signatories of the 1785 Treaty of McIntosh (7 Stat. 16); the 
        1789 Treaty of Fort Harmar (7 Stat. 28); the 1795 Treaty of 
        Greenville (7 Stat. 49); the 1805 Treaty with the Wyandot (7 
        Stat. 87); the 1807 Treaty of Detroit (7 Stat. 105); the 1808 
        Treaty of Detroit (7 Stat. 112); the Treaty of 1815 (7 Stat. 
        131); the Treaty of 1816 (7 Stat. 146); the Treaty of 1817 (7 
        Stat. 160); the Treaty of 1833 (7 Stat. 431); the 1836 Treaty 
        of Washington (7 Stat. 503); the 1855 Treaty of Detroit (11 
        Stat. 633); and the Treaty of 1864 (14 Stat. 657).
            (2) The Tribe is the political successor to the Swan Creek 
        Black River leadership who signed 4 of the forenamed treaties: 
        the 1807 Treaty of Detroit (7 Stat. 105); the 1836 Treaty of 
        Washington (7 Stat. 503); the 1855 Treaty of Detroit (11 Stat. 
        633); and the Treaty of 1864 (14 Stat. 657).
            (3) The aboriginal lands of the Tribe, as defined in the 
        aforementioned treaties, comprise the area which is now located 
        in the State of Michigan, beginning at a point north of the 
        mouth of the Miami River at the present day western boundary of 
        Lenawee County where it intersects with the northern boundary 
        of the State of Ohio, and running due north to a point in 
        Shiawasee County that intersects a parallel of latitude equal 
        to the outlet of Lake Huron which forms the mouth of the St. 
        Clair River, thence running northeast in a direct line to White 
        rock in Huron County, at the shoreline of Lake Huron, thence 
        east until it intersects the boundary lines between the United 
        States of America and Canada at the midpoint of Lake Huron, and 
        thence due south along the centerline of Lake Huron through the 
        River St. Clair, Lake St. Clair, the Detroit River, and into 
        Lake Erie, to a point where the boundary line of Michigan, 
        Ohio, and Ontario coverage and intersect, and thence due 
        southwest along said boundary of Michigan to the boundary line 
        between Michigan and Ohio, and thence due west to the point and 
        place of beginning.
            (4) As a result of the cession treaties, from the 1807 
        Treaty of Detroit through the 1836 Treaty of Washington, the 
        Tribe was compelled to withdraw from most of its intrinsically 
        valuable aboriginal lands in southeastern lower Michigan. In 
        return, the Federal Government dedicated specific tracts of 
        reservation land in Macomb and St. Clair Counties in Michigan, 
        and nominal annuity payments by the United States Government 
        were available to tribal members. These annuity payments 
        resulted in 17 separate Swan Creek Black River annuities that 
        survived from 1818 to 1867.
            (5) The 1836 Treaty of Washington compelled the Tribe to 
        further withdraw from the small tracts of land granted in 
        southeastern lower Michigan by the 1807 Treaty of Detroit, in 
        return for future annuity payments and land west of the 
        Mississippi River. The 1836 treaty did not require any member 
        of the Tribe to move to Kansas and only 51 members actually 
        relocated. According to the 1845 United States Richmond census, 
        the vast majority of the Tribe under the leadership of Ona Way 
Tuck Quod Too, migrated north to Lapeer County, Michigan, or remained 
on smaller tracts of land situated within the boundaries of Macomb, 
western Wayne, eastern Washtenaw, St. Clair, and southern Oakland 
Counties.
            (6) Pursuant to the 1855 Treaty of Detroit, members of the 
        Tribe withdrew and relocated from their remaining lands in 
        Lapeer, Macomb, Wayne, Washtenaw, St. Clair, and Oakland 
        Counties in Michigan, to nonaboriginal, nonhistoric, 
        reservation lands further north in Isabella County, Michigan, 
        where tribal members were eligible for individual land 
        allotments. Many tribal members, however, continued to remain 
        on land holdings in their aboriginal lands in Lapeer, Macomb, 
        Wayne, Washtenaw, and St. Clair Counties. For administrative 
        convenience, the Federal Government placed multiple tribes on 
        these newly established reservation lands in Isabella County.
            (7) The stated purpose of the 1855 Treaty of Detroit was to 
        resolve the multiple outstanding legal and equitable claims of 
        all the tribes on the Isabella Indian Reservation against the 
        United States by providing land, annuity payments, and other 
        benefits. The intent to maintain separate tribal identities was 
        reflected throughout the 1855 Treaty by references to the 
        distinct tribes as separate political entities to the 
        agreement. The Preamble text clearly identified each of the 
        tribes by reference to the separate treaties previously signed 
        by each chief or headmen of their respective tribes. Article 2 
        of the treaty makes an implied reference to separateness. In 
        Article 3, the tribes were expressly separated and individually 
        identified by the words ``the said Chippewas of Saginaw, and of 
        Swan Creek and Black River''. Finally, Article 6 specifically 
        dispels the notion that the grouping of the Swan Creek and 
        Black River Tribes and the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe should be for 
        anything more than the specific purpose of Federal 
        administrative convenience. The temporary counsel as a tribal 
        organization, was without permanent delegation by providing 
        that: ``The tribal organization of said Indians, except so far 
        as may be necessary for the purpose of carrying into effect the 
        provisions of this agreement, is hereby dissolved.'' The 
        reference to the ``Tribal Organization'' dissolved refers only 
        to the entity that would provide distribution of land as 
        required by the treaty of 1855.
            (8) Over time and without justification, the Federal 
        Government unilaterally lapsed its relationship with the Tribe 
        through the treaties described above. The Tribe brought suit 
        against the Federal Government for amounts past due under those 
        treaties. In 1910 and 1924, the Congress enacted jurisdictional 
        acts (36 Stat. 829 and 43 Stat. 137, respectively) to enable 
        both the Tribe and the Saginaw Band of Chippewa, as distinct 
        plaintiffs, to file their respective claims against the United 
        States. These claims, filed in 1927, were later incorporated 
        into a combined cause of action for purposes of Federal 
        administrative convenience into Indian Claims Commission 
        Dockets 57, 59, 13-E, 13-H, and 13-1, and United Claims Court 
        Docket 13-F. However, the 2 distinct tribes were retained in 
        the distribution judgment, and Congress ratified the same in 
        1986 through enactment of Public Law 99-346 (100 Stat. 674).
            (9) In 1935, the Tribe petitioned for reorganization and 
        sought to reaffirm its sovereign status by requesting 
        assistance pursuant to the Indian Reorganization Act.
            (10) In 1939, without resolution of the Tribe's demand for 
        recognition and reaffirmation, agents of the Federal Government 
        made an administrative decision not to provide services or 
        extend benefits pursuant to the Indian Reorganization Act to 
        any additional Indian tribes located in Michigan's lower 
        peninsula. The Swan Creek Black River Ojibwa was a signatory 
        and recognized by the following treaties; the 1807 Treaty of 
        Detroit (7 Stat. 105), the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw (7 Stat. 
        203), the March 28, 1836 Treaty of Washington (7 Stat. 491), 
        and the May 9, 1836 Treaty of Washington (7 Stat. 503), 
        therefore, their petition under the Indian Reorganization Act 
        should have been honored as other Michigan tribes. 
        Additionally, the Swan Creek Black River Tribe has never been 
        formally dissolved by the Federal Government.
            (11) Despite administrative denials of requests by the 
        Tribe to establish an organization according to Federal forms 
        of tribal government, the Tribe continued to carry out its 
        traditional sovereign tribal functions through various formal 
        and informal political institutions, social structures, and 
        actions, including a representative Tribal Council. Between 
        1937 and 1991, the Tribe conducted many of its governmental 
        functions through tribal based associations organized by Swan 
        Creek Black River members, including the Saginaw Rural and 
        Urban Indian Association. In 1991, the Tribe chartered within 
        the State a historic, nonprofit, tribal government, and agreed 
        to seek Federal reaffirmation of its Confederation of Swan 
        Creek and Black River Ojibwa Bands as a distinct sovereign 
        tribe.
            (12) Other tribes in Michigan, whose members are 
        descendants of the signatories to 1 or more of the treaties 
        listed in section 3(1) have been acknowledged, reaffirmed, and 
        restored by the Federal Government as distinct Indian tribes, 
        separate and apart, including the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi 
        Indians, the Huron Potawatomi Band of Indians, the Grand 
        Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, the Sault Ste. 
        Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, the Bay Mills Band of Chippewa 
        Indians, the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Ottawa Indians, and 
        the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Potawatomi. Due process and treaty 
        rights require that restoration be provided for the Tribe.
            (13) In light of the Federal treaty relations between the 
        Tribe and the United States, recognition as a tribe as defined 
        by Acts of Congress, to provide Federal restoration of the 
        Tribe's rights in lands and funds, it is appropriate for 
        Congress to restore, affirm, and clarify the Federal 
relationship of the Tribe in the same manner as Congress has affirmed 
Federal recognition of the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior 
Chippewa Indians, the Sault St. Marie Band of Chippewa, the Pokagon 
Band of Potawatomi Indians, the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa 
Indians, and the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians.

SEC. 4. FEDERAL REAFFIRMATION AND RESTORATION.

    (a) Federal Reaffirmation and Restoration.--Federal recognition of 
the Swan Creek Black River Confederated Ojibwa Tribes of Michigan 
Indians is hereby restored and 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.) which are not inconsistent with any specific provision of this 
Act, shall be applicable to the Tribe and its members.
    (b) Federal Services and Benefits.--
            (1) In general.--The Tribe and its members shall be 
        eligible, on and after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
        for all future services and benefits provided by the Federal 
        Government to federally recognized Indian tribes without regard 
        to the existence of a reservation for the Tribe 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 enrolled members of the Tribe, the Tribe's service 
        area shall be deemed to be the area comprised of Monroe, 
        Lapeer, Lenawee, Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, St. Clair, Washtenaw, 
        and portions of Sanilac, Shiawassee, Genesee, and Tuscola 
        Counties that were lands in southeastern lower Michigan 
        reserved to the Swan Creek Black River Bands in the 1807 Treaty 
        of Detroit (as later confirmed in the Treaty of 1864).

SEC. 5. REAFFIRMATION OF RIGHTS.

    (a) In General.--All rights and privileges of the Tribe, and the 
members thereof, which may have been abrogated or diminished before the 
date of enactment of this Act are hereby restored.
    (b) Existing Rights of Tribe.--Nothing in this Act shall be 
construed to diminish any right or privilege of the Tribe, or the 
members thereof, that existed prior to the date of 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 Tribe may have to enforce 
any right or privilege reserved by or granted to the Tribe which was 
wrongfully denied or taken from the Tribe prior to the enactment of 
this Act.

SEC. 6. TRIBAL LANDS.

    The tribal lands of the Tribe shall consist of all real property, 
now or hereafter held in trust for the Tribe. Pursuant to section 5 of 
the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 465), not later than 6 months after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall acquire and 
take into trust for the benefit of the Tribe not less than 250 acres of 
land located in the service area specified in section 4(b)(2) as 
restored lands for the Tribe. Such land shall become the initial 
reservation of the Tribe. Thereafter, the Secretary may accept 
additional land in trust for the benefit of the Tribe within its 
service area and such additional land shall become part of the Tribe's 
reservation.

SEC. 7. MEMBERSHIP.

    Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Tribe shall submit to the Secretary a membership roll 
consisting of all individuals enrolled as members of the Tribe. The 
qualification for inclusion on the membership roll of the Tribe shall 
be determined in accordance with Article II, section 1, paragraph (a) 
of the Tribe's Constitution. The Tribe shall ensure that such 
membership roll is maintained and kept current.

SEC. 8. CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNING BODY.

    (a) Constitution.--
            (1) Adoption.--Not later than 24 months after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Tribe shall conduct, by secret 
        ballot, an election to adopt a constitution and bylaws for the 
        Tribe.
            (2) Interim governing documents.--Until such time as a new 
        constitution is adopted under paragraph (1), the governing 
        documents in effect on the date of enactment of this Act shall 
        be the interim governing documents for the Tribe.
    (b) Officials.--
            (1) Election.--Not later than 6 months after the Tribe 
        adopts a constitution and bylaws pursuant to subsection (a), 
        the Tribe shall conduct elections by secret ballot for the 
        purpose of electing officials for the Tribe as provided in the 
        constitution and bylaws.
            (2) Interim government.--Until such time as the Tribe 
        elects new officials pursuant to paragraph (1), the governing 
        body of the Tribe shall be the governing body in place on the 
        date of the enactment of this Act, or any new governing body 
        selected under the election procedures specified in the interim 
        governing documents of the Tribe.

SEC. 9. JURISDICTION.

    The Tribe shall have jurisdiction to the full extent allowed by law 
over all lands taken into trust for the benefit of the Tribe by the 
Secretary. The Tribe shall exercise jurisdiction over all its members, 
who reside within its service area, as specified in section 4(b)(2), in 
matters pursuant to the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 
1901 et seq.) as if the members were residing upon a reservation as 
defined in that Act.
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