1.
(a)This Act may be cited as the Chinook Nation Restoration
Act
.
(b)Congress
finds the following:
(1)The Chinook Nation made a significant
contribution to the historic journey of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to
the Pacific Ocean by greeting the expedition and their company as well as
trading with them throughout the winter of 1805–1806.
(2)The United States
subsequently recognized the Chinook Nation as an Indian tribe in the Anson Dart
(Tansy Point) Treaty of 1851, and the Isaac Stevens (Chehalis River) Treaty of
1855, but neither treaty was ratified, resulting in serious harm to the Chinook
people.
(3)As a result of the
failure of the United States to protect the Chinook Nation and people, the
Chinooks lost their historic lands on the Columbia River, and a great number of
them succumbed to poverty and disease in the 19th century.
(4)It was the intent
of Congress in the Act of March 4, 1911 (36 Stat. 1345), to provide restitution
to the Chinook people in the form of allotments of land on existing Indian
reservations, which the Supreme Court of the United States upheld in Halbert v.
United States (283 U.S. 753 (1931)).
(5)Congress named
four of the five tribes of the Chinook Nation, the Lower Chinook, Wahkiakum,
Cathlamet, and Clatsop, in the Western Oregon Termination Act of 1954, and this
Act is the only basis for termination of the Federal relationship with the
Tribe.
(6)The Chinook Nation
has remained active on the Lower Columbia River and Willapa Bay in the vicinity
of the reservation area of the Tansy Point Treaty and is well-known to
neighboring tribes and other communities.
(7)The Chinook people
have survived and maintained their language, Chinookwawa, and culture despite
decades of neglect by the United States.
(8)With different
Administrations disagreeing about the legal status of the Chinook Nation, it is
time for Congress to restore the Chinook Nation to Federal tribal
status.
2.For the purposes of this Act, the following
definitions apply:
(1)The
term member means an enrolled member of the Chinook Nation as of
the date of enactment of this Act, or an individual who has been placed on the
membership role in accordance with this Act.
(2)The
term Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior.
(3)The
term Tribe means the Chinook Indian Nation, composed of the Lower
Chinook, Wahkiakum, Cathlamet, Clatsop, and Willapa Tribes.
(4)The
term State means the State of Washington.
(5)The term State territorial waters
means all waters within the territorial limits of the State of
Washington.
3.Federal
recognition is hereby extended to the Chinook Indian Nation. Except as
otherwise provided in this Act, all laws and regulations of the United States
of general application to Indians, and nations, tribes, or bands of Indians,
including the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 461 et seq.), that are not
inconsistent with any specific provision of this Act shall be applicable to the
Tribe and its members.
4.Federal services
and benefits
(a)The Tribe and its members shall be eligible, on and after
the date of the enactment of this Act, for all services and benefits provided
by the Federal Government to federally recognized 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.
(b)For purposes of the delivery of Federal services to enrolled
members of the Tribe, the Tribe’s service area shall consist of Pacific,
Wahkiakum, Cowlitz, and Clark Counties, Washington, and Clatsop and Columbia
Counties, Oregon.
(c)Upon approval of the constitution and bylaws
pursuant to section 6 of this Act, the Nation shall exercise jurisdiction over
all its members who reside within the service area located in the State 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.
5.Not later than 9 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 in the Tribe.
6.Constitution and
governing body
(a)
(1)Not
later than 1 year 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 documentsUntil such time as a new constitution is
adopted under this section, the governing documents in effect on the date of
the enactment of the Act shall be the interim governing documents for the Tribe
most recently submitted to the Department of the Interior.
(b)Not
later than 6 months after the Tribe adopts a constitution and bylaws pursuant
to this section, the Tribe shall elect a governing body in accordance with the
procedures set forth in its constitution and bylaws. Until such time as a new
governing body is elected, the governing body of the Tribe shall be the
governing body selected under the election procedures specified in the interim
governing documents of the Tribe.
7.
(a)Requirement To
take land in trustIf the Tribe transfers all right, title, and
interest in and to any land to the Secretary, the Secretary shall take such
land in trust for the benefit of the Tribe, subject to subsection (c). This
subsection does not limit the authority of the Secretary to take land in trust
under the Indian Reorganization Act.
(b)Plan for
establishment of reservation
(1)The Secretary shall—
(A)negotiate with the
tribal governing body with respect to establishing a reservation for the Tribe;
and
(B)not later than two
years after the date of enactment of this Act, develop a plan for establishment
of a reservation.
(2)Consultation
with state and local officials requiredTo assure that legitimate
State and local interests are not prejudiced by the proposed establishment of
the reservation, the Secretary shall notify and consult with all appropriate
officials of the State and all owners of land adjacent to lands considered for
the proposed reservation in developing any plan under this subsection. The
Secretary shall provide complete information on the proposed plan to such
officials, including the restrictions imposed by subsection (c). During any
consultation by the Secretary under this subsection, the Secretary shall
provide such information as the Secretary possesses and request comments and
additional information on the following subjects:
(A)The size and
location of the proposed reservation.
(B)The anticipated
effect of the establishment of the proposed reservation on State and local
expenditures and tax revenues.
(C)The extent of any
State or local service to the Tribe, the reservation, or members after the
establishment of the proposed reservation.
(D)The extent of
Federal services to be provided in the future to the Tribe, the reservation, or
members.
(E)The extent of
service to be provided in the future by the Tribe to members resident on or off
the reservation.
(3)A plan developed
pursuant to this subsection shall be in accordance with subsection (c).
(4)
(A)Upon the approval by the tribal governing body of the
plan developed pursuant to this subsection (and after consultation with
interested parties pursuant to paragraph (2)), the Secretary shall submit the
plan to the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the
Senate for distribution to the committees of the respective Houses of Congress
with jurisdiction over the subject matter.
(B)The Secretary shall append to the plan submitted to Congress
under this subsection a detailed statement—
(i)describing the
manner in which the Secretary notified all interested parties in accordance
with this subsection;
(ii)naming each
individual and official consulted in accordance with this subsection;
(iii)summarizing the
testimony received by the Secretary pursuant to any such consultation;
and
(iv)including any
written comments or reports submitted to the Secretary by any party named
pursuant to clause (ii).
(c)Restrictions on
land taken in trust
(1)Any real property
transferred by the Tribe or any member to the Secretary shall be taken and held
in the name of the United States for the benefit of the Tribe.
(2)The Secretary
shall not accept any real property in trust for the benefit of the Tribe that
is not located within the political boundaries of Pacific, Wahkiakum, or
Cowlitz County, Washington.
(3)Any real property
taken in trust by the Secretary for the benefit of the Tribe shall be—
(A)subject to—
(i)all
legal rights and interests in such land existing at the time of acquisition of
such land by the Secretary, including any lien, mortgage, or previously levied
and outstanding State or local tax; and
(ii)foreclosure or
sale in accordance with the laws of the State pursuant to the terms of any
valid obligations in existence at the time of the acquisition of such land by
the Secretary; and
(B)exempt from
Federal, State, and local taxation of any kind.
(4)Any privately
owned lands acquired by the Tribe or its members to be taken in trust by the
Secretary for the benefit of the Tribe shall be acquired on a willing-seller,
willing-buyer basis.
(5)No eminent domain
authority may be exercised for the purposes of acquiring lands for the benefit
of the Tribe.
8.
Fishing, hunting, and trapping rights not restored
(a)No nonceremonial fishing, hunting, or trapping rights of
any nature of the Tribe or of any member of the Tribe, including any indirect
or procedural right or advantage over individuals who are not members, are
granted or restored under this Act. Ceremonial hunting and fishing rights (not
to include whaling) shall be allowed in the area in which the Tribe has
historically hunted or fished, in Pacific and Wahkiakum Counties,
Washington.
(b)Ceremonial
hunting and fishing
(1)Ceremonial
hunting and fishing includes traditional occasions on which the tribe has
traditionally fished, including—
(A)the First Salmon
ceremony, which takes place annually on the third Friday of June;
(B)the Winter
Gathering, which takes place annually on the third Saturday of January;
and
(C)the funerals of
certain tribal members, to be determined in the tribe’s constitution.
(2)Ceremonial hunting and fishing may take place for up to 3
calendar days during the week preceding the ceremonies referred to in paragraph
(1).
(c)The director of the Washington Department
of Fish and Wildlife—
(1)may issue permits
to members of the Chinook Nation to take fish for ceremonial purposes;
(2)shall establish
the areas in which the permits are valid; and
(3)shall regulate the
times for and manner of taking the fish, and the allocations from which they
will be taken.
(d)To assure that ceremonial fishing is consistent with
the Tribe’s historic customs and traditions, any member of the Tribe who wishes
to take part in ceremonial fishing, must do so pursuant to—
(1)any rules or
regulations put forth by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife with
respect to Indian ceremonial fishing; and
(2)any rules or regulations put forth by the
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, or by the Washington Administrative
Code, with regard to the commercial and recreational allocations.
(e)Fish taken for ceremonial purposes will be
drawn from the commercial and recreational allocations as designated by the
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
(f)Nothing in this section shall be construed to create a
right to fish commercially.
9.Authorization of
appropriationsThere are
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act, $2,000,000 for fiscal year
2010, $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2011, and $4,000,000 for fiscal year
2012.