[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 98 (Monday, July 25, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 25, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                     AUBURN INDIAN RESTORATION ACT

  Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. Mr. Speaker, I move that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill. (H.R. 4228) to extend Federal 
recognition to the United Auburn Indian Community of the Auburn 
Rancheria of California, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 4228

       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 ``Auburn Indian Restoration 
     Act''.

     SEC. 2. RESTORATION OF FEDERAL RECOGNITION, RIGHTS, AND 
                   PRIVILEGES.

       (a) Federal Recognition.--Notwithstanding any other 
     provision of law, Federal recognition is hereby extended to 
     the Tribe. Except as otherwise provided in this Act, all laws 
     and regulations of general application to Indians or nations, 
     tribes, or bands of Indians that are not inconsistent with 
     any specific provision of this Act shall be applicable to the 
     Tribe and its members.
       (b) Restoration of Rights and Privileges.--Except as 
     provided in subsection (d), all rights and privileges of the 
     Tribe and its members under any Federal treaty, Executive 
     order, agreement, or statute, or under any other authority 
     which were diminished or lost under the Act of August 18, 
     1958 (Public Law 85-671), are hereby restored and the 
     provisions of such Act shall be inapplicable to the Tribe and 
     its members after the date of enactment of this Act.
       (c) Federal Services and Benefits.--Notwithstanding any 
     other provision of law and without regard to the existence of 
     a reservation, the Tribe and its members shall be eligible, 
     on and after the date of enactment of this Act, for all 
     Federal services and benefits furnished to federally 
     recognized Indian tribes or their members. In the case of 
     Federal services available to members of federally recognized 
     Indian tribes residing on a reservation, members of the Tribe 
     residing in the Tribe's service area shall be deemed to be 
     residing on a reservation.
       (d) Hunting, Fishing, Trapping, and Water Rights.--Nothing 
     in this Act shall expand, reduce, or affect in any manner any 
     hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, or water right of the 
     Tribe and its members.
       (e) Indian Reorganization Act Applicability.--The Act of 
     June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 461 et seq.), shall be applicable to 
     the Tribe and its members.
       (f) Certain Rights Not Altered.--Except as specifically 
     provided in this Act, nothing in this Act shall alter any 
     property right or obligation, any contractual right or 
     obligation, or any obligation for taxes levied.

     SEC. 3. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.

       (a) Plan for Economic Development.--The Secretary shall--
       (1) enter into negotiations with the governing body of the 
     Tribe with respect to establishing a plan for economic 
     development for the Tribe;
       (2) in accordance with this section and not later than 2 
     years after the adoption of a tribal constitution as provided 
     in section 7, develop such a plan; and
       (3) upon the approval of such plan by the governing body of 
     the Tribe, submit such plan to the Congress.
       (b) Restrictions.--Any proposed transfer of real property 
     contained in the plan developed by the Secretary under 
     subsection (a) shall be consistent with the requirements of 
     section 4.

     SEC. 4. TRANSFER OF LAND TO BE HELD IN TRUST.

       (a) Lands To Be Taken In Trust.--The Secretary shall accept 
     any real property located in Placer County, California, for 
     the benefit of the Tribe if conveyed or otherwise transferred 
     to the Secretary if, at the time of such conveyance or 
     transfer, there are no adverse legal claims on such property, 
     including outstanding liens, mortgages, or taxes owed. The 
     Secretary may accept any additional acreage in the Tribe's 
     service area pursuant to the authority of the Secretary under 
     the Act of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 461 et seq.).
       (b) Former Trust Lands of the Auburn Rancheria.--Subject to 
     the conditions specified in this section, real property 
     eligible for trust status under this section shall include 
     fee land held by the White Oak Ridge Association, Indian 
     owned fee land held communally pursuant to the distribution 
     plan prepared and approved by the Bureau of Indian Affairs on 
     August 13, 1959, and Indian owned fee land held by persons 
     listed as distributees or dependent members in such 
     distribution plan or such distributees' or dependent members' 
     Indian heirs or successors in interest.
       (c) Lands To Be Part of the Reservation.--Subject to the 
     conditions imposed by this section, any real property 
     conveyed or transferred under this section shall be taken in 
     the name of the United States in trust for the Tribe or, as 
     applicable, an individual member of the Tribe, and shall be 
     part of the Tribe's reservation.

     SEC. 5. MEMBERSHIP ROLLS.

       (a) Compilation of Tribal Membership Roll.--Within 1 year 
     after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
     shall, after consultation with the Tribe, compile a 
     membership roll of the Tribe.
       (b) Criteria for Enrollments.--(1) Until a tribal 
     constitution is adopted pursuant to section 7, an individual 
     shall be placed on the membership roll if the individual is 
     living, is not an enrolled member of another federally 
     recognized Indian tribe, is of United Auburn Indian Community 
     ancestry, possesses at least one-eighth or more of Indian 
     blood quantum, and if--
       (A) the individual's name was listed on the Auburn Indian 
     Rancheria distribution roll compiled and approved by the 
     Bureau of Indian Affairs on August 13, 1959, pursuant to 
     Public Law 85-671;
       (B) the individual was not listed on, but met the 
     requirements that had to be met to be listed on, the Auburn 
     Indian Rancheria distribution list compiled and approved by 
     the Bureau of Indian Affairs on August 13, 1959, pursuant to 
     Public Law 85-671; or
       (C) the individual is a lineal descendent of an individual, 
     living or dead, identified in subparagraph (A) or (B).
       (2) After adoption of a tribal constitution pursuant to 
     section 7, such tribal constitution shall govern membership 
     in the Tribe, except that in addition to meeting any other 
     criteria imposed in such tribal constitution, any person 
     added to the membership roll shall be of United Auburn Indian 
     Community ancestry and shall not be an enrolled member of 
     another federally recognized Indian tribe.
       (c) Conclusive Proof of United Auburn Indian Community 
     Ancestry.--For the purpose of subsection (b), the Secretary 
     shall accept any available evidence establishing United 
     Auburn Indian Community ancestry. The Secretary shall accept 
     as conclusive evidence of United Auburn Indian Community 
     ancestry information contained in the Auburn Indian Rancheria 
     distribution list compiled by the Bureau of Indian Affairs on 
     August 13, 1959.

     SEC. 6. INTERIM GOVERNMENT.

       Until a new tribal constitution and bylaws are adopted and 
     become effective under section 7, the Tribe's governing body 
     shall be an Interim Council. The initial membership of the 
     Interim Council shall consist of the members of the Executive 
     Council of the Tribe on the date of the enactment of this 
     Act, and the Interim Council shall continue to operate in the 
     manner prescribed for the Executive Council under the tribal 
     constitution adopted July 20, 1991, as long as such 
     constitution is not contrary to Federal law. Any new members 
     filling vacancies on the Interim council shall meet the 
     enrollment criteria set forth in section 5(b) and be elected 
     in the same manner as are Executive Council members under the 
     tribal constitution adopted July 20, 1991.

     SEC 7. TRIBAL CONSTITUTION.

       (a) Election; Time and Procedure.--Upon the completion of 
     the tribal membership roll under section 5(a) and upon the 
     written request of the Interim Council, the Secretary shall 
     conduct, by secret ballot, an election for the purpose of 
     adopting a constitution and bylaws for the Tribe. The 
     election shall be held according to section 16 of the Act of 
     June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 476), except that absentee balloting 
     shall be permitted regardless of voter residence.
       (b) Election of Tribal Officials; Procedures.--Not later 
     than 120 days after the Tribe adopts a constitution and 
     bylaws under subsection (a), the Secretary shall conduct an 
     election by secret ballot for the purpose of electing tribal 
     officials as provided in such tribal constitution. Such 
     election shall be conducted according to the procedures 
     specified in subsection (a) except to the extent that such 
     procedures conflict with the tribal constitution.

     SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

       For purposes of this Act:
       (1) The term ``Tribe'' means the United Auburn Indian 
     Community of the Auburn Rancheria of California.
       (2) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the 
     Interior.
       (3) The term ``Interim Council'' means the governing body 
     of the Tribe specified in section 6.
       (4) The term ``member'' means those persons meeting the 
     enrollment criteria under section 5(b).
       (5) The term ``State'' means the State of California.
       (6) The term ``reservation'' means those lands acquired and 
     held in trust by the Secretary for the benefit of the Tribe 
     pursuant to section 4.
       (7) The term ``service area'' means the counties of Placer, 
     Nevada, Yuba, Sutter, El Dorado, and Sacramento, in the State 
     of California.

     SEC. 9. REGULATIONS.

       The Secretary may promulgate such regulations as may be 
     necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
South Dakota [Mr. Johnson] will be recognized for 20 minutes, and the 
gentleman from Wyoming [Mr. Thomas] will be recognized for 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from South Dakota [Mr. Johnson].


                             general leave

  Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent 
that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and 
extend their remarks on H.R. 4228.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from South Dakota?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as 
I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4228 is a bill sponsored by Chairman George Miller 
to extend Federal recognition to the United Auburn Indian Community of 
the Auburn Rancheria of California. This was a tribe which was 
terminated in 1958. The termination policy has been expressly 
repudiated by Congress. Most terminated tribes have been restored. The 
bill is similar to other restorations of terminated tribes Congress has 
passed over the last several years. It provides for the establishment 
of a membership roll, a constitution, and the election of officials. It 
provides that the United Auburn Indian Community is to have all rights 
and privileges of a federally recognized tribe.
  The bill is supported by the administration and has bipartisan 
support.
  I urge my colleagues to support it.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1310

  Mr. THOMAS of Wyoming. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I support passage of H.R. 4228, a bill to restore 
Federal recognition to the Nisenan Southern Maidu people of the Auburn 
Rancheria.
  At the outset, let me point out that although this bill is titled an 
act ``to extend Federal recognition'' to the United Auburn Indian 
Community, that is not entirely correct. This bill is actually 
restoration legislation. There is a significant legal difference 
between the two, and one that is key to my support. Recognition is 
extension of a government-to-government relationship between the United 
States and an Indian tribe for the first time. Restoration, however, 
means the reextension of that relationship to a group which once 
enjoyed it but for some reason had that status terminated. While I 
strongly oppose recognition legislation, I continue to support 
restoration legislation such as this.
  Mr. Speaker, while the history of United States-Indian relations is a 
sorry one, the fate of the tribes in California is--if possible--more 
so. The flood of non-Indians into California as a result of the gold 
rush had devastating effects on the tribes. Thousands were hunted down 
and killed so that their lands could be taken from them. Thousands more 
died as a result of forced relocations and disease.
  In 1851, the United States entered into a series of 18 treaties--the 
Barbour Treaties--with several California tribes providing for the 
relinquishment of all aboriginal land claims in California in exchange 
for 8.5 million acres of territory and other goods and supplies. But 
because of pressure from the California congressional delegation the 
treaties were never ratified--in fact, they were purposefully hidden 
for decades. No one informed the tribes of the failure of ratification; 
white settlers proceeded to occupy their lands anyway, and they never 
received their due.
  Over the years a great many tribes ceased to exist, others were 
broken up and settled on less than desirable lands that no one else 
wanted. The Indians went from self-sufficiency to almost total poverty 
and dependence on the State for support.
  After World War II, the Federal Government began to look at ridding 
itself of the Indian problem. In 1948, the BIA declared its intention 
to terminate or derecognize the tribes by ceasing all services to 
Indians and dividing their tribal assets--land and resources--among 
individual tribal members. This so-called new policy was little more 
than a warmed-over version of the allotment period of the late 1800's, 
which had been a dismal failure. Its implementation, like that of the 
Allotment Act, would detribalize native groups and put their property 
on tax rolls while repudiating the Federal Government's moral and legal 
commitments and responsibilities to aid the people whose poverty and 
powerlessness it had created.
  California tribes were to be the first targets of termination. The 
Commissioner of Indian Affairs who inaugurated this policy, Dillon 
Meyer, was principally known as one of those responsible for 
administering the Japanese-American internment camps during World War 
II. In 1952, the BIA began to push energetically for termination. The 
Indian Service introduced to Congress several termination bills aimed 
specifically at California, and in anticipation of passage ended all 
Indian Service welfare payments to pauper Indians in the State. In 
addition, the Indian Service began an accounting and inventory of all 
Government property, while the BIA sold 129 allotments and closed the 
accounts of hundreds of Indians having money in trust accounts.
  A further step in completely eradicating the tribes was taken in 
1953, when Congress passed Public Law 280, which brought California 
Indian reservations under the criminal and civil jurisdiction of the 
State. That same year, Congress declared termination to be the official 
policy of the Federal Government, whether the Indians wanted it or not. 
House Congressional Resolution 108 expressed the aim of Congress as 
being,

       As rapidly as possible, to make the Indians within the 
     territorial limits of the United States subject to the same 
     laws and entitled to the same privileges and responsibilities 
     as are applicable to other citizens of the United States, 
     [and] to end their status as wards to the United States.

  In California, Indians were coerced by the Government into selling 
their lands. The State illegally withheld pension and welfare payments, 
with a promise to restore payments to those individuals who caved in. 
In 1958, Congress accelerated its policies by passing the Rancheria 
Act--(27 Stat. 619 as amended) effectively extinguishing a great number 
of tribes in California.
  The Auburn Indians were one of those terminated. Actually Nisenan 
Southern Maidus, part of the Penutian linguistic family, have occupied 
the drainages of the Yuba, Bear, and American Rivers for hundreds of 
years. At the beginning of the 19th century, there were over 100 
Nisenan villages in this area. The people were hunter-gatherers, and 
the principal staples of their diet were acorns, roots, and deer or 
similar game.
  The Nisenan were not at first affected by the influx of white 
settlers, but the discovery of gold on Nisenan lands in 1848 changed 
that. Their lands were overrun in a period of 2 or 3 years. Thousands 
of miners moved into Nisenan territory; widespread killing, destruction 
of villages, and persecution of the tribal members--who the miners 
pejoratively called diggers--followed.
  Their numbers dwindled, and they were quickly destroyed as a viable 
culture. Those that remained lived at the margins of foothill towns, 
and found work in logging, ranching, and agriculture. In the 1870's 
there was a brief resurgence of native culture and modified 
ceremonialism under the influence of the Ghost Dance revival, but this 
faded by the 1890's. By the early 1930's there was not a tribal member 
alive who could remember times before white contact. By the time they 
were terminated in 1958, many had disappeared into the dominant 
culture. Those that remained lived in abject poverty.
  Mr. Speaker, we have rightly repudiated the termination policy and 
restored Federal recognition to many of the tribes. It is high time 
that we added the United Auburn Indian Community to the list. I urge my 
colleagues to support H.R. 4228.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests 
for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Watt). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from South Dakota [Mr. Johnson] that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4228, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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