1 | 1 | | I |
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2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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3 | 3 | | 1 |
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4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 411 |
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5 | 5 | | To provide compensation to the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community for the |
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6 | 6 | | taking without just compensation of land by the United States inside |
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7 | 7 | | the exterior boundaries of the L’Anse Indian Reservation that were |
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8 | 8 | | guaranteed to the Community under a treaty signed in 1854. |
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9 | 9 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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10 | 10 | | JANUARY15, 2025 |
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11 | 11 | | Mr. B |
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12 | 12 | | ERGMANintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the |
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13 | 13 | | Committee on Natural Resources |
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14 | 14 | | A BILL |
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15 | 15 | | To provide compensation to the Keweenaw Bay Indian Com- |
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16 | 16 | | munity for the taking without just compensation of land |
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17 | 17 | | by the United States inside the exterior boundaries of |
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18 | 18 | | the L’Anse Indian Reservation that were guaranteed to |
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19 | 19 | | the Community under a treaty signed in 1854. |
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20 | 20 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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21 | 21 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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22 | 22 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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23 | 23 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Keweenaw Bay Indian 4 |
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24 | 24 | | Community Land Claim Settlement Act of 2025’’. 5 |
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25 | 25 | | SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 |
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26 | 26 | | Congress finds that— 7 |
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30 | 30 | | (1) the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community is a 1 |
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31 | 31 | | federally recognized Indian Tribe residing on the 2 |
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32 | 32 | | L’Anse Indian Reservation in Baraga County in the 3 |
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33 | 33 | | Upper Peninsula of the State of Michigan; 4 |
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34 | 34 | | (2) the Community is a successor in interest to 5 |
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35 | 35 | | the Treaty with the Chippewa Indians of the Mis-6 |
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36 | 36 | | sissippi and Lake Superior, made and concluded at 7 |
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37 | 37 | | La Pointe of Lake Superior October 4, 1842 (7 8 |
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38 | 38 | | Stat. 591) (referred to in this section as the ‘‘1842 9 |
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39 | 39 | | Treaty’’), which, among other things, guaranteed the 10 |
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40 | 40 | | usufructuary rights of the Community over a large 11 |
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41 | 41 | | area of land that was ceded to the United States, 12 |
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42 | 42 | | until such time that those usufructuary rights were 13 |
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43 | 43 | | properly and legally extinguished; 14 |
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44 | 44 | | (3) the Community is also a successor in inter-15 |
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45 | 45 | | est to the Treaty with the Chippewa Indians of Lake 16 |
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46 | 46 | | Superior and the Mississippi, made and concluded at 17 |
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47 | 47 | | La Pointe September 30, 1854 (10 Stat. 1109) (re-18 |
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48 | 48 | | ferred to in this section as the ‘‘1854 Treaty’’); 19 |
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49 | 49 | | (4) article 2, paragraph 1 of the 1854 Treaty 20 |
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50 | 50 | | created the L’Anse Indian Reservation as a perma-21 |
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51 | 51 | | nent reservation; 22 |
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52 | 52 | | (5) pursuant to article 13 of the 1854 Treaty, 23 |
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53 | 53 | | the 1854 Treaty became ‘‘obligatory on the con-24 |
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57 | 57 | | tracting parties’’ when ratified by the President and 1 |
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58 | 58 | | the Senate on January 10, 1855; 2 |
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59 | 59 | | (6) in 1850, Congress enacted the Act of Sep-3 |
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60 | 60 | | tember 28, 1850 (commonly known and referred to 4 |
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61 | 61 | | in this section as the ‘‘Swamp Land Act’’) (9 Stat. 5 |
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62 | 62 | | 519, chapter 84), which authorized the State of Ar-6 |
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63 | 63 | | kansas and other States, including the State of 7 |
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64 | 64 | | Michigan, to ‘‘construct the necessary levees and 8 |
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65 | 65 | | drains to reclaim’’ certain unsold ‘‘swamp and over-9 |
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66 | 66 | | flowed lands, made unfit thereby for cultivation’’ 10 |
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67 | 67 | | and stating that those lands ‘‘shall remain unsold at 11 |
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68 | 68 | | the passage of this act. . . .’’; 12 |
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69 | 69 | | (7) following enactment of the Swamp Land 13 |
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70 | 70 | | Act, the State claimed thousands of acres of swamp 14 |
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71 | 71 | | land in the State pursuant to that Act; 15 |
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72 | 72 | | (8) between 1893 and 1937, the General Land 16 |
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73 | 73 | | Office patented 2,743 acres of land to the State that 17 |
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74 | 74 | | were located within the exterior boundaries of the 18 |
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75 | 75 | | Reservation (referred to in this section as ‘‘Reserva-19 |
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76 | 76 | | tion Swamp Lands’’); 20 |
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77 | 77 | | (9) the right of the Community to use and oc-21 |
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78 | 78 | | cupy the unsold land within the Reservation had not 22 |
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79 | 79 | | been extinguished when the United States patented 23 |
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80 | 80 | | the Reservation Swamp Lands to the State; 24 |
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84 | 84 | | (10) in 1852, Congress enacted the Act of Au-1 |
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85 | 85 | | gust 26, 1852 (10 Stat. 35, chapter 92) (referred to 2 |
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86 | 86 | | in this section as the ‘‘Canal Land Act’’), to facili-3 |
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87 | 87 | | tate the building of the Sault Ste. Marie Canal at 4 |
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88 | 88 | | the Falls of the St. Mary’s River, to connect Lake 5 |
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89 | 89 | | Superior to Lake Huron; 6 |
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90 | 90 | | (11) pursuant to the Canal Land Act, the 7 |
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91 | 91 | | United States granted the State the right to select 8 |
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92 | 92 | | 750,000 acres of unsold public land within the State 9 |
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93 | 93 | | to defray the cost of construction of the Sault Ste. 10 |
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94 | 94 | | Marie Canal; 11 |
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95 | 95 | | (12) the State identified and selected, among 12 |
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96 | 96 | | other land, a minimum of 1,333.25 and up to 2,720 13 |
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97 | 97 | | acres within the exterior boundaries of the Reserva-14 |
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98 | 98 | | tion (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Reservation 15 |
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99 | 99 | | Canal Lands’’); 16 |
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100 | 100 | | (13) the Department of the Interior approved 17 |
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101 | 101 | | the land selections of the State, including the Res-18 |
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102 | 102 | | ervation Canal Lands, after ratification of the 1854 19 |
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103 | 103 | | Treaty; 20 |
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104 | 104 | | (14) the Secretary noted that the approval de-21 |
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105 | 105 | | scribed in paragraph (13) was ‘‘subject to any valid 22 |
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106 | 106 | | interfering rights’’; 23 |
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107 | 107 | | (15) the 1854 Treaty set apart from the public 24 |
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108 | 108 | | domain all unsold land within the Reservation to the 25 |
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112 | 112 | | Community as of September 30, 1854, which pre-1 |
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113 | 113 | | ceded the date on which the State established legally 2 |
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114 | 114 | | effective title to the Reservation Canal Lands; 3 |
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115 | 115 | | (16) the Community made claims to the De-4 |
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116 | 116 | | partment of the Interior with respect to the Reserva-5 |
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117 | 117 | | tion Swamp Lands and the Reservation Canal 6 |
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118 | 118 | | Lands, providing legal analysis and ethnohistorical 7 |
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119 | 119 | | support for those claims; 8 |
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120 | 120 | | (17) in December 2021, the Department of the 9 |
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121 | 121 | | Interior stated that ‘‘We have carefully reviewed per-10 |
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122 | 122 | | tinent documents, including the Tribe’s expert re-11 |
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123 | 123 | | ports, and have determined that the Tribe’s claims 12 |
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124 | 124 | | to the Swamp Lands and Canal Lands have merit’’; 13 |
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125 | 125 | | (18) the United States, through the actions of 14 |
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126 | 126 | | the General Land Office, deprived the Community of 15 |
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127 | 127 | | the exclusive use and occupancy of the Reservation 16 |
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128 | 128 | | Swamp Lands and the Reservation Canal Lands 17 |
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129 | 129 | | within the Reservation, without just compensation as 18 |
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130 | 130 | | required under the Takings Clause of the Fifth 19 |
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131 | 131 | | Amendment to the Constitution of the United 20 |
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132 | 132 | | States; 21 |
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133 | 133 | | (19) the loss of the Reservation Swamp Lands 22 |
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134 | 134 | | and the Reservation Canal Lands without just com-23 |
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135 | 135 | | pensation has— 24 |
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139 | 139 | | (A) impacted the exercise by the Commu-1 |
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140 | 140 | | nity of cultural, religious, and subsistence 2 |
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141 | 141 | | rights on the land; 3 |
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142 | 142 | | (B) caused a harmful disconnect between 4 |
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143 | 143 | | the Community and its land; 5 |
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144 | 144 | | (C) impacted the ability of the Community 6 |
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145 | 145 | | to fully exercise its economy within the Reserva-7 |
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146 | 146 | | tion; and 8 |
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147 | 147 | | (D) had a negative economic impact on the 9 |
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148 | 148 | | development of the economy of the Community; 10 |
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149 | 149 | | (20) certain non-Indian individuals, entities, 11 |
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150 | 150 | | and local governments occupy land within the 12 |
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151 | 151 | | boundaries of the Reservation— 13 |
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152 | 152 | | (A) acquired ownership interests in the 14 |
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153 | 153 | | Reservation Swamp Lands and the Reservation 15 |
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154 | 154 | | Canal Lands in good faith; and 16 |
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155 | 155 | | (B) have an interest in possessing clear 17 |
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156 | 156 | | title to that land; 18 |
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157 | 157 | | (21) this Act allows the United States— 19 |
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158 | 158 | | (A) to secure a fair and equitable settle-20 |
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159 | 159 | | ment of past inequities suffered by the Commu-21 |
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160 | 160 | | nity as a result of the actions of the United 22 |
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161 | 161 | | States that caused the taking of the Reserva-23 |
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162 | 162 | | tion Swamp Lands and the Reservation Canal 24 |
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163 | 163 | | Lands without just compensation; and 25 |
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167 | 167 | | (B) to ensure protection of the ownership 1 |
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168 | 168 | | of the Reservation Swamp Lands and the Res-2 |
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169 | 169 | | ervation Canal Lands by non-Indian occupants 3 |
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170 | 170 | | of the Reservation, through the settlement of 4 |
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171 | 171 | | the claims of the Community to that land, and 5 |
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172 | 172 | | through that action, the relief of any clouds on 6 |
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173 | 173 | | title; 7 |
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174 | 174 | | (22) a settlement will allow the Community to 8 |
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175 | 175 | | receive just compensation and the local landowners 9 |
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176 | 176 | | to obtain clear title to land, without long and pro-10 |
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177 | 177 | | tracted litigation that would be both costly and det-11 |
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178 | 178 | | rimental to all involved; and 12 |
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179 | 179 | | (23) this Act achieves both justice for the Com-13 |
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180 | 180 | | munity and security for current landowners through 14 |
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181 | 181 | | a restorative and non-confrontational process. 15 |
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182 | 182 | | SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 16 |
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183 | 183 | | The purposes of this Act are— 17 |
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184 | 184 | | (1) to acknowledge the uncompensated taking 18 |
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185 | 185 | | by the Federal Government of the Reservation 19 |
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186 | 186 | | Swamp Lands and the Reservation Canal Lands; 20 |
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187 | 187 | | (2) to provide compensation to the Community 21 |
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188 | 188 | | for the uncompensated taking of the Reservation 22 |
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189 | 189 | | Swamp Lands and the Reservation Canal Lands by 23 |
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190 | 190 | | the Federal Government; 24 |
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194 | 194 | | (3) to extinguish all claims by the Community 1 |
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195 | 195 | | to the Reservation Swamp Lands and the Reserva-2 |
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196 | 196 | | tion Canal Lands and to confirm the ownership by 3 |
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197 | 197 | | the current landowners of the Reservation Swamp 4 |
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198 | 198 | | Lands and the Reservation Canal Lands, who ob-5 |
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199 | 199 | | tained that land in good faith; 6 |
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200 | 200 | | (4) to extinguish all potential claims by the 7 |
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201 | 201 | | Community against the United States, the State, 8 |
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202 | 202 | | and current landowners concerning title to, use of, 9 |
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203 | 203 | | or occupancy of the Reservation Swamp Lands and 10 |
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204 | 204 | | the Reservation Canal Lands; and 11 |
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205 | 205 | | (5) to authorize the Secretary— 12 |
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206 | 206 | | (A) to compensate the Community; and 13 |
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207 | 207 | | (B) to take any other action necessary to 14 |
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208 | 208 | | carry out this Act. 15 |
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209 | 209 | | SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 16 |
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210 | 210 | | In this Act: 17 |
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211 | 211 | | (1) C |
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212 | 212 | | OMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘Community’’ 18 |
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213 | 213 | | means the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community. 19 |
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214 | 214 | | (2) C |
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215 | 215 | | OUNTY.—The term ‘‘County’’ means 20 |
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216 | 216 | | Baraga County, Michigan. 21 |
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217 | 217 | | (3) R |
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218 | 218 | | ESERVATION.—The term ‘‘Reservation’’ 22 |
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219 | 219 | | means the L’Anse Indian Reservation, located in— 23 |
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220 | 220 | | (A) T. 51 N., R. 33 W.; 24 |
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221 | 221 | | (B) T. 51 N., R. 32 W.; 25 |
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225 | 225 | | (C) T. 50 N., R. 33 W., E |
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226 | 226 | | 1 |
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227 | 227 | | ⁄2; 1 |
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228 | 228 | | (D) T. 50 N., R. 32 W., W |
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229 | 229 | | 1 |
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230 | 230 | | ⁄2; and 2 |
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231 | 231 | | (E) that portion of T. 51 N., R. 31 W. 3 |
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232 | 232 | | lying west of Huron Bay. 4 |
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233 | 233 | | (4) R |
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234 | 234 | | ESERVATION CANAL LANDS .—The term 5 |
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235 | 235 | | ‘‘Reservation Canal Lands’’ means the 1,333.25 to 6 |
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236 | 236 | | 2,720 acres of Community land located within the 7 |
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237 | 237 | | exterior boundaries of the Reservation that the Fed-8 |
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238 | 238 | | eral Government conveyed to the State pursuant to 9 |
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239 | 239 | | the Act of August 26, 1852 (10 Stat. 35, chapter 10 |
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240 | 240 | | 92). 11 |
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241 | 241 | | (5) R |
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242 | 242 | | ESERVATION SWAMP LANDS .—The term 12 |
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243 | 243 | | ‘‘Reservation Swamp Lands’’ means the 2,743 acres 13 |
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244 | 244 | | of land located within the exterior boundaries of the 14 |
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245 | 245 | | Reservation that the Federal Government conveyed 15 |
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246 | 246 | | to the State between 1893 and 1937 pursuant to the 16 |
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247 | 247 | | Act of September 28, 1850 (commonly known as the 17 |
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248 | 248 | | ‘‘Swamp Land Act’’) (sections 2479 through 2481 of 18 |
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249 | 249 | | the Revised Statutes (43 U.S.C. 982 through 984)). 19 |
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250 | 250 | | (6) S |
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251 | 251 | | ECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 20 |
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252 | 252 | | the Secretary of the Interior. 21 |
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253 | 253 | | (7) S |
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254 | 254 | | TATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 22 |
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255 | 255 | | of Michigan. 23 |
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259 | 259 | | SEC. 5. PAYMENTS. 1 |
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260 | 260 | | (a) T |
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261 | 261 | | RANSFER OFFUNDS.—As soon as practicable 2 |
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262 | 262 | | after the date on which the amount authorized to be ap-3 |
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263 | 263 | | propriated under subsection (c) is made available to the 4 |
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264 | 264 | | Secretary, the Secretary shall transfer $33,900,000 to the 5 |
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265 | 265 | | Community. 6 |
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266 | 266 | | (b) U |
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267 | 267 | | SE OFFUNDS.— 7 |
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268 | 268 | | (1) I |
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269 | 269 | | N GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 8 |
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270 | 270 | | the Community may use the amount received under 9 |
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271 | 271 | | subsection (a) for any lawful purpose, including— 10 |
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272 | 272 | | (A) governmental services; 11 |
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273 | 273 | | (B) economic development; 12 |
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274 | 274 | | (C) natural resources protection; and 13 |
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275 | 275 | | (D) land acquisition. 14 |
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276 | 276 | | (2) R |
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277 | 277 | | ESTRICTION ON USE OF FUNDS .—The 15 |
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278 | 278 | | community may not use the amount received under 16 |
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279 | 279 | | subsection (a) to acquire land for gaming purposes. 17 |
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280 | 280 | | (c) A |
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281 | 281 | | UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 18 |
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282 | 282 | | authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 19 |
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283 | 283 | | out subsection (a), $33,900,000 for fiscal year 2026, to 20 |
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284 | 284 | | remain available until expended. 21 |
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285 | 285 | | SEC. 6. EXTINGUISHMENT OF CLAIMS. 22 |
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286 | 286 | | (a) I |
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287 | 287 | | NGENERAL.—Effective on the date on which the 23 |
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288 | 288 | | Community receives the payment under section 5(a), all 24 |
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289 | 289 | | claims of the Community to the Reservation Swamp 25 |
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293 | 293 | | Lands and the Reservation Canal Lands owned by persons 1 |
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294 | 294 | | or entities other than the Community are extinguished. 2 |
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295 | 295 | | (b) C |
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296 | 296 | | LEARTITLE.—Effective on the date on which 3 |
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297 | 297 | | the Community receives the payment under section 5(a), 4 |
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298 | 298 | | the title of all current owners to the Reservation Swamp 5 |
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299 | 299 | | Lands and the Reservation Canal Lands is cleared of all 6 |
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300 | 300 | | preexisting rights held by the Community and any of the 7 |
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301 | 301 | | members of the Community. 8 |
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302 | 302 | | SEC. 7. EFFECT. 9 |
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303 | 303 | | Nothing in this Act authorizes— 10 |
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304 | 304 | | (1) the Secretary to take land into trust for the 11 |
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305 | 305 | | benefit of the Community for gaming purposes; or 12 |
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306 | 306 | | (2) the Community to use land acquired using 13 |
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307 | 307 | | amounts received under this Act for gaming pur-14 |
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308 | 308 | | poses. 15 |
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309 | 309 | | Æ |
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