[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3649 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3649
To extend Federal recognition to the Mono Lake Kutzadika\a\ Tribe, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 1, 2021
Mr. Obernolte (for himself and Mr. Young) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To extend Federal recognition to the Mono Lake Kutzadika\a\ 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 ``Mono Lake Kutzadika\a\ Tribe
Recognition Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds as follows:
(1) The Mono Lake Kutzadika\a\ Tribe has existed for time
immemorial in the Mono Basin of east-central California and
adjacent Nevada.
(2) The Mono Lake Kutzadika\a\ people were first
encountered in 1825 by early trappers in the area, but were
officially documented by the Federal Government in June 1852 by
Army Lieutenant Tredwell Moore, who was in pursuit of hostile
Indians in the Yo-Ham-i-te (today ``Yosemite'') Valley, and
tracked them through a previously undiscovered pass through the
Sierra Mountains that lead to Mono Lake. The pass was later
named ``Mono Pass'' also known as ``Tsadoba'', after the
``Indians of that name''.
(3) The Tribe, like all tribes in California, was not the
beneficiary of a reservation through the treaty process and
remained landless and without Federal protection in the wake of
the California gold rush and other non-Indian encroachment into
the Tribe's aboriginal lands.
(4) In 1904, the plight of the Tribe was brought to the
attention of the Committee on Indian Affairs by the Northern
California Indian Association through a petition and extensive,
but not exhaustive, study documenting the landless Indians in
California. The study identified the numerous tribal
communities in California who were in desperate need of land,
as well as Federal support and protection, and the Mono Lake
Kutzadika\a\ community was among those surveyed. As a result of
the petition, Congress began to appropriate funding for the
purchase of lands in California for the ``homeless Indians''.
(5) In 1907, historical members of the Tribe were issued
individual allotted lands near Mono Lake under the General
Allotment Act. In accordance to the General Allotment Act,
allotted lands were only provided to Indians shown to be
recognized or entitled to be recognized members of an ``Indian
tribe''. The Federal Government determined that Mono Lake
Kutzadika\a\ members met this criteria.
(6) In the early 1920s, the Los Angeles Department of Water
and Power began purchasing lands throughout Inyo and Mono
Counties in its effort to secure a reliable water supply for
the expanding city of Los Angeles in southern California. The
Mono Lake Kutzadika\a\ allottees were not immune to the
pressures of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and were
encouraged to sell their land, which most did. However, Tribal
members remained at Mono Lake working and living on local farms
and in some cases squatting on Los Angeles Department of Water
and Power or other Federal lands.
(7) Although Tribal members were once again landless, they
remained under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government and
appeared on the Bureau of Indian Affairs census records, their
children attended Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding schools,
and members received (and do today) health care services, and
other Federal benefits and services.
(8) Federal representatives worked with the Tribe to no
avail in the 1920s and 1930s to secure a land base, and these
efforts are well documented in official Bureau of Indian
Affairs correspondence and records.
(9) In June 1950, Tribal members submitted a petition to
the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs and the
Subcommittee on Indian Affairs, requesting an investigation
into their living conditions. In the petition, they stated that
they hoped that through an investigation, the agencies might
``appropriate, rehabilitate, or set aside land for us''. H.R.
Muskrat, a Bureau of Indian Affairs field representative who
investigated the conditions of Tribal members, reported to J.M.
Stewart, the Bureau of Indian Affairs Area Director for
California, that there were no public lands available for the
Tribe or its members, and all water resources were owned by the
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
(10) On December 26, 1950, a formal petition was filed
before the Indian Claims Commission on behalf of the Northern
Paiute Nation, which included various individual Northern
Paiute Indians and several reservation tribes, all located in
Nevada. The original claim, designated as Docket No. 87, did
not include California Paiute tribes from the Owens Valley,
Mono Lake, Deep Springs Valley, or Fish Lake Valley. During the
course of the liability phase of the trial, expert testimony
was introduced correcting the oversight, and on August 8, 1951,
an amended petition was filed that included the Tribe and other
overlooked California Paiute Nations. Unfortunately, the
Commission awarded only meager compensation to individual
members and did not provide lands to the Tribe.
(11) In 1955, the Tribe submitted a petition to State
Senator Charles Brown of Sacramento, California, seeking to
establish a reservation that included 66,000 acres of land. The
petition rested on a 1912 Presidential Executive order that had
set aside lands for the Tribe and other tribes in Inyo and Mono
County, but was later withdrawn because the original land
identified was unsuitable. The Tribe's petition was again met
with the statement that there was no land available for a
reservation.
(12) Believing that recognition might lead to land for the
Tribe, the Tribe submitted a letter of ``Intent to Petition for
Recognition'' in 1976 to the Office of Federal Acknowledgment
and began working on a petition for recognition, an effort that
continues today.
(13) In 1977, the Tribe adopted formal Articles of
Association to define its enrollment criteria and election of
Tribal leaders.
(14) Also in 1977, the Tribe petitioned and was recognized
by the BIA as an ``adult Indian community of one-half degree of
Indian blood'' under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 (25
U.S.C. 5101 et seq.). However, the Bureau of Indian Affairs
made clear that this status did not give Federal recognition to
the Tribe. The status did solidify that Tribal members were
recognized as ``Indians'' and entitled to Federal benefits and
services.
(15) Even without formal Tribal recognition, the Tribe has
remained a political force and the protector of Mono Lake,
Kutzapaa' which is at the center of the Tribe's culture and
history and provided its ancestors with a critical food source.
On March 19, 1983, Jessie Durant, a revered Tribal elder,
testified before the Subcommittee on Public Lands and National
Parks on the importance of Mono Lake to the Mono Lake people
and culture. Mono Lake is now known as the Mono Lake Tufa State
Natural Reserve thanks in large part to the efforts of the
Tribe and the Mono Lake Foundation.
(16) On April 28, 1989, the Senate Select Committee on
Indian Affairs held hearings in Sacramento, California, on SB
611, a bill to Establish Administrative Procedures to Determine
Status of Certain Indian Groups. Tribal member Richard Blaver
was invited to and provided testimony on behalf of the Tribe on
the difficulties encountered by tribes seeking recognition
through the Bureau of Indian Affairs' administrative
acknowledgment process.
(17) The Federal agencies that now manage Federal lands,
some of which are the ancestral lands of the Tribe, share a
deep respect for the Tribe, and acknowledge that the
Kutzadika\a\ members are the aboriginal people of the Mono
Basin. Small examples can be seen from the Forest Service, that
in 1991 worked with the Tribe in protecting the Tribe's
``Indian'' cemetery located in part on Forest Service lands.
(18) In 1993, the Forest Service hosted a dedication in
honor of the elders of the Kutzadika\a\ Tribe by setting aside
a grove of Jeffrey pine trees for traditional purposes and
designated the area as the Piaga Park. The Forest Service
specifically dedicated the trees in ``honor of the Mono Lake
[Kutzadika\a\] Elders who have historically harvested the
[Piaga] from the area''.
(19) In 1996, the National Park Service issued a directive
to all Yosemite Entrance Station personnel informing them that
members of the Tribe were to be granted entrance to the
Yosemite National Park at no cost. More recent examples are the
ongoing Federal, State, and county agencies consultations with
the Tribe on proposed environmental projects, land management
planning, and repatriation of Tribal funerary objects and
artifacts under the Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act when encountered on Federal lands.
(20) In 2000, the Tribe partnered with the Mono County
Board of Supervisors to seek funding to assist the county in
completing a community center in Lee Vining, California. The
Tribe was awarded a State Community Development Block Grant
from the California Native American Allocation for $475,000,
which was used to complete construction of the community
center. In exchange for this contribution, the county has
dedicated office space to the Tribe and a large meeting room
for Tribal general council meetings, and the building is
identified as the ``Mono Lake Indian and Lee Vining Community
Center''.
(21) In 2003, the Tribe adopted a Constitution and other
governing documents to formalize its Tribal Government
structure, enrollment process, and elections of its leaders.
Even without Federal financial assistance to carry out its
governmental functions or a land base, the Tribe remains a
distinct community both politically and culturally. The Tribe
works with its Federal, State, and county agency partners to
protect cultural and sacred sites, the environment, Mono Lake,
and habitat. In recent years, the Tribe has established the
``Mono Lake/Yosemite Traditional Walk'', which is the
revitalization of the walk their ancestors took from Mono Lake
to Yosemite in order to trade with and engage with family and
neighboring tribes. The Tribe celebrates and honors their
elders and veterans through community events and Tribal
functions on an annual basis.
(22) Federal recognition of the Tribe through this Act is
supported by the Mono County Board of Supervisors, all five
federally recognized Tribes in Inyo County, the non-federally
recognized tribe Southern Sierra Muwuk Nation, and the
federally recognized tribes of Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians,
Picayune Rancheria of the Chuckansi Tribe, and the North Fork
Rancheria of Mono Indians. Support also comes from the National
Park Service, the Sierra Club, Friends of Inyo County, the
Anthropology Department of California State University Chico,
California Indian Legal Services, and other organizations.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Member.--The term ``member'' means an individual who is
enrolled in the Tribe pursuant to the constitution of the
Tribe.
(2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior.
(3) Tribe.--The term ``Tribe'' means the Mono Lake
Kutzadika\a\ Tribe.
SEC. 4. FEDERAL RECOGNITION.
(a) In General.--Federal recognition is extended to the Tribe.
(b) Effect of Federal Laws.--Except as otherwise provided in this
Act, all Federal laws (including regulations) of general application to
Indians and Indian tribes, including the Act of June 18, 1934 (25
U.S.C. 5101 et seq.; commonly known as the Indian Reorganization Act),
shall apply to the Tribe and members.
SEC. 5. FEDERAL SERVICES AND BENEFITS.
(a) In General.--The Tribe and each member of the Tribe shall be
eligible for all services and benefits provided by the United States to
Indians and federally recognized Indian Tribes, without regard to--
(1) the existence of a reservation for the Tribe; or
(2) the location of the residence of any member on or near
an Indian reservation.
(b) Service Area.--For purposes of the delivery of services and
benefits to members, the service area of the Tribe shall be considered
to be the counties of Mono and Inyo, in the State of California.
SEC. 6. REAFFIRMATION OF RIGHTS.
(a) In General.--Nothing in this Act diminishes any right or
privilege of the Tribe or any member that existed before the date of
the enactment of this Act.
(b) Claims of Tribe.--Except as otherwise provided in this Act,
nothing in this Act alters or affects any legal or equitable claim of
the Tribe to enforce any right or privilege reserved by, or granted to,
the Tribe that was wrongfully denied to, or taken from, the Tribe
before the date of the enactment of this Act.
(c) Hunting and Fishing Rights.--The Tribe shall be granted hunting
and fishing rights on all Federal lands within its aboriginal land
area. Each Federal agency who administers lands within the Tribe's
aboriginal land area shall work with the Tribe so as to accommodate the
exercise of its hunting and fishing rights within the agencies existing
land use plans, Federal law and governing regulations.
SEC. 7. MEMBERSHIP ROLL.
(a) In General.--As a condition of receiving recognition, services,
and benefits pursuant to this Act, the Tribe shall submit to the
Secretary, by not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment
of this Act, a membership roll consisting of the name of each
individual enrolled as a member of the Tribe.
(b) Determination of Membership.--The qualifications for inclusion
on the membership roll of the Tribe shall be determined in accordance
with section (a) of Article III of the constitution of the Tribe, dated
June 23, 2003.
(c) Maintenance of Roll.--The Tribe shall maintain the membership
roll.
SEC. 8. TRUST LAND.
(a) Identification of Land.--The Secretary shall identify land
administered by the Bureau of Land Management that is located in that
portion of Mono County that is within the Tribe's ancestral homelands,
sufficient to support the location of Tribal Government administration
and services, economic development, and housing.
(b) Land Into Trust.--After the Secretary identifies said land to
meet the purposes so described, the Tribe shall request and the
Secretary shall accept such lands into trust for the benefit of the
Tribe. Nothing in this section shall prevent the Secretary or the Tribe
from acquiring land, and the Secretary taking land into trust for the
benefit of the Tribe, pursuant to section 5 of the Act of June 18, 1934
(25 U.S.C. 51108; commonly known as the Indian Reorganization Act). For
purposes of acquisitions under such Act, the Tribe shall be deemed to
have been under Federal jurisdiction in 1934.
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