[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 145 (Tuesday, October 13, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2143]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               H.R. 2822

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. PATRICK J. KENNEDY

                            of rhode island

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 13, 1998

  Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island. Mr. Speaker, on November 5, 1997, my 
friend and colleague, Mr. Knollenberg, introduced H.R. 2822, a bill 
that would recognize a group of individuals self-named the Swan Creek 
Black River Confederated Ojibwe as a distinct recognized Indian tribe. 
I have reviewed the bill in detail and have concluded that it reduces 
to two concepts: sovereignty and process. It is this bill's affect on 
these two concepts that convinces me that I must oppose this 
legislation. I encourage my fellow Representatives to oppose it as 
well.
  Congress has been discussing sovereignty in relation to Indian tribes 
since the first instance a European settler set foot on this continent. 
It is time we learned to respect tribal sovereignty and uphold it to 
its fullest extent. The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan is a 
sovereign nation. It has exercised and retained its sovereignty 
throughout history and throughout its many encounters with the federal 
government. The Saginaw Chippewa Tribe's sovereignty is not something 
that Congress granted to it. Rather, it is something the Tribe has 
retained. The Saginaw Chippewa Tribe is a nation unto itself--with the 
sovereign authority, power, and right to manage its own affairs and 
govern its own members. Congress must respect this and must not become 
involved in internal tribal political affairs--which H.R. 2822 asks us 
to do.
  H.R. 2822 proposes to federally recognize a group that calls itself 
the Swan Creek Black River Confederated Ojibwe Tribes. This group 
claims to be the successor in interest to the Swan Creek and Black 
River Banks of Chippewa Indians. It is my understanding that although 
these bands were once considered parts of the larger Chippewa group in 
southeastern Michigan before and during the treaty process, that these 
bands, by virtue of the 1855 Treaty of Detroit, were affirmatively 
merged with the Saginaw Band to become the one sovereign nation of the 
Saginaw Chippewa Tribe. For over 140 years the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe 
has functioned as one tribe without regard to any band distinctions and 
has been treated as such by the federal government.
  Further, I also understand that most of the participants of the Swan 
Creek Group pushing the bill, including its organizer, are currently 
members of the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe and that most tribal members, 
because of more than a century of intermarriage among the three 
component bands of the Tribe, find it difficult to determine from which 
band they descend. Of course, the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe has and 
continues to serve all of these members equally regardless of their 
band affiliation.

  In reviewing the history and the circumstances surrounding this bill, 
I can only conclude that H.R. 2822 addresses nothing more than a tribal 
membership issue of the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe, and that Congress 
should not interfere in this matter. It is an issue for the sovereign 
Saginaw Chippewa Tribe and its governing body. Congress must respect 
this.
  If Congress were to do otherwise and pass H.R. 2822, its effect would 
be to mandate that a splinter group of a well established and long 
recognized tribe break off and form its own nation, complete with the 
rights and privileges of all legitimate Indian tribes. It would allow 
the Swan Creek Group to claim the treaty-preserved rights, jurisdiction 
and sovereignty currently held by the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe. This is 
an affront to the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe's sovereignty--and to the 
sovereignty of all Indian nations. If Congress were to split the 
Saginaw Chippewa Tribe with H.R. 2822, nothing will stop it from 
unilaterally splitting other federally recognized tribes when splinter 
groups come forward. This cannot be the precedent Congress sets--
especially when, as in this case, gaming and the establishment of a 
casino are the motivating factors for recognition. H.R. 2822 would set 
this dangerous precedent--and I cannot allow that to happen.
  Process. The second argument against H.R. 2822 boils down to process. 
Since 1978, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), through its Bureau of 
Acknowledgement and Research (BAR), has been the appropriate forum for 
determining whether groups merit federal recognition as Indian tribes. 
The BAR process calls for extensive research and analysis. The BAR 
staff has the expertise and the experience to conduct such study and 
review. With all due respect to my fellow Representatives, Congress 
does not. Congress cannot play the role of the BIA.
  Of course, I realize that Congress has granted legislative 
recognition to tribes in the past. Yet, the circumstances of those were 
quite different from what we see before us today with the Swan Creek 
Group. The Swan Creek Group has not even attempted the administrative 
process. It is my understanding that they filed a letter of intent with 
the BIA in 1993. This merely opens a file in anticipation of a petition 
for recognition. As of yet, however, the Group has filed to provide any 
documentation or to even pursue this process in any way. The Group's 
file lays dormant in line behind over 100 groups awaiting recognition.
  It is my contention that the Swan Creek Group, if it is to pursue 
federal recognition, should be directed back to the BIA. It would be 
wholly unfair for Congress to allow this Group that has provided no 
documentation whatsoever for recognition to be recognized ahead of all 
the other groups who have abided by the process simply because the Swan 
Creek Group and its representatives have walked the halls of Congress 
pushing legislation.
  Congress is not equipped to decipher the Group's history and 
genealogy to determine whether it merits recognition. This, along with 
the simple fact that many of the Group's participants remain members of 
the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe and receive the benefits and privileges as 
such, convinces me that Congress should not pass this bill. Congress 
must not interfere with the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe's sovereignty. If we 
are to take any action at all on H.R. 2822, it should be to oppose it 
to allow the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe, the appropriate governing body for 
this issue, to resolve the matter. Beyond that, the Group is welcome to 
pursue the established administrative process for recognition. In 
efforts to uphold tribal sovereignty and established process, I cannot 
condone any other action by Congress on this issue.

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