119-hr411

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 411 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 411

 To provide compensation to the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community for the 
 taking without just compensation of land by the United States inside 
 the exterior boundaries of the L'Anse Indian Reservation that were 
 guaranteed to the Community under a treaty signed in 1854.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 January 15, 2025

 Mr. Bergman introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To provide compensation to the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community for the 
 taking without just compensation of land by the United States inside 
 the exterior boundaries of the L'Anse Indian Reservation that were 
 guaranteed to the Community under a treaty signed in 1854.

 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 ``Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Land 
Claim Settlement Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

 Congress finds that--

    (1) the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community is a federally 
 recognized Indian Tribe residing on the L'Anse Indian 
 Reservation in Baraga County in the Upper Peninsula of the 
 State of Michigan;

    (2) the Community is a successor in interest to the Treaty 
 with the Chippewa Indians of the Mississippi and Lake Superior, 
 made and concluded at La Pointe of Lake Superior October 4, 
 1842 (7 Stat. 591) (referred to in this section as the ``1842 
 Treaty''), which, among other things, guaranteed the 
 usufructuary rights of the Community over a large area of land 
 that was ceded to the United States, until such time that those 
 usufructuary rights were properly and legally extinguished;

    (3) the Community is also a successor in interest to the 
 Treaty with the Chippewa Indians of Lake Superior and the 
 Mississippi, made and concluded at La Pointe September 30, 1854 
 (10 Stat. 1109) (referred to in this section as the ``1854 
 Treaty'');

    (4) article 2, paragraph 1 of the 1854 Treaty created the 
 L'Anse Indian Reservation as a permanent reservation;

    (5) pursuant to article 13 of the 1854 Treaty, the 1854 
 Treaty became ``obligatory on the contracting parties'' when 
 ratified by the President and the Senate on January 10, 1855;

    (6) in 1850, Congress enacted the Act of September 28, 1850 
 (commonly known and referred to in this section as the ``Swamp 
 Land Act'') (9 Stat. 519, chapter 84), which authorized the 
 State of Arkansas and other States, including the State of 
 Michigan, to ``construct the necessary levees and drains to 
 reclaim'' certain unsold ``swamp and overflowed lands, made 
 unfit thereby for cultivation'' and stating that those lands 
 ``shall remain unsold at the passage of this act. . . .'';

    (7) following enactment of the Swamp Land Act, the State 
 claimed thousands of acres of swamp land in the State pursuant 
 to that Act;

    (8) between 1893 and 1937, the General Land Office patented 
 2,743 acres of land to the State that were located within the 
 exterior boundaries of the Reservation (referred to in this 
 section as ``Reservation Swamp Lands'');

    (9) the right of the Community to use and occupy the unsold 
 land within the Reservation had not been extinguished when the 
 United States patented the Reservation Swamp Lands to the 
 State;

    (10) in 1852, Congress enacted the Act of August 26, 1852 
 (10 Stat. 35, chapter 92) (referred to in this section as the 
 ``Canal Land Act''), to facilitate the building of the Sault 
 Ste. Marie Canal at the Falls of the St. Mary's River, to 
 connect Lake Superior to Lake Huron;

    (11) pursuant to the Canal Land Act, the United States 
 granted the State the right to select 750,000 acres of unsold 
 public land within the State to defray the cost of construction 
 of the Sault Ste. Marie Canal;

    (12) the State identified and selected, among other land, a 
 minimum of 1,333.25 and up to 2,720 acres within the exterior 
 boundaries of the Reservation (referred to in this section as 
 the ``Reservation Canal Lands'');

    (13) the Department of the Interior approved the land 
 selections of the State, including the Reservation Canal Lands, 
 after ratification of the 1854 Treaty;

    (14) the Secretary noted that the approval described in 
 paragraph

    (13) was ``subject to any valid interfering rights'';

    (15) the 1854 Treaty set apart from the public domain all 
 unsold land within the Reservation to the Community as of 
 September 30, 1854, which preceded the date on which the State 
 established legally effective title to the Reservation Canal 
 Lands;

    (16) the Community made claims to the Department of the 
 Interior with respect to the Reservation Swamp Lands and the 
 Reservation Canal Lands, providing legal analysis and 
 ethnohistorical support for those claims;

    (17) in December 2021, the Department of the Interior 
 stated that ``We have carefully reviewed pertinent documents, 
 including the Tribe's expert reports, and have determined that 
 the Tribe's claims to the Swamp Lands and Canal Lands have 
 merit'';

    (18) the United States, through the actions of the General 
 Land Office, deprived the Community of the exclusive use and 
 occupancy of the Reservation Swamp Lands and the Reservation 
 Canal Lands within the Reservation, without just compensation 
 as required under the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment to 
 the Constitution of the United States;

    (19) the loss of the Reservation Swamp Lands and the 
 Reservation Canal Lands without just compensation has--
        (A) impacted the exercise by the Community of 
 cultural, religious, and subsistence rights on the 
 land;
        (B) caused a harmful disconnect between the 
 Community and its land;
            (C) impacted the ability of the Community to fully 
 exercise its economy within the Reservation; and
            (D) had a negative economic impact on the 
 development of the economy of the Community;

    (20) certain non-Indian individuals, entities, and local 
 governments occupy land within the boundaries of the 
 Reservation--
        (A) acquired ownership interests in the Reservation 
 Swamp Lands and the Reservation Canal Lands in good 
 faith; and
        (B) have an interest in possessing clear title to 
 that land;

    (21) this Act allows the United States--
        (A) to secure a fair and equitable settlement of 
 past inequities suffered by the Community as a result 
 of the actions of the United States that caused the 
 taking of the Reservation Swamp Lands and the 
 Reservation Canal Lands without just compensation; and
        (B) to ensure protection of the ownership of the 
 Reservation Swamp Lands and the Reservation Canal Lands 
 by non-Indian occupants of the Reservation, through the 
 settlement of the claims of the Community to that land, 
 and through that action, the relief of any clouds on 
 title;

    (22) a settlement will allow the Community to receive just 
 compensation and the local landowners to obtain clear title to 
 land, without long and protracted litigation that would be both 
 costly and detrimental to all involved; and

    (23) this Act achieves both justice for the Community and 
 security for current landowners through a restorative and non-
 confrontational process.

SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

 The purposes of this Act are--

    (1) to acknowledge the uncompensated taking by the Federal 
 Government of the Reservation Swamp Lands and the Reservation 
 Canal Lands;

    (2) to provide compensation to the Community for the 
 uncompensated taking of the Reservation Swamp Lands and the 
 Reservation Canal Lands by the Federal Government;

    (3) to extinguish all claims by the Community to the 
 Reservation Swamp Lands and the Reservation Canal Lands and to 
 confirm the ownership by the current landowners of the 
 Reservation Swamp Lands and the Reservation Canal Lands, who 
 obtained that land in good faith;

    (4) to extinguish all potential claims by the Community 
 against the United States, the State, and current landowners 
 concerning title to, use of, or occupancy of the Reservation 
 Swamp Lands and the Reservation Canal Lands; and

    (5) to authorize the Secretary--
        (A) to compensate the Community; and
        (B) to take any other action necessary to carry out 
 this Act.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

 In this Act:

    (1) Community.--The term ``Community'' means the Keweenaw 
 Bay Indian Community.

    (2) County.--The term ``County'' means Baraga County, 
 Michigan.

    (3) Reservation.--The term ``Reservation'' means the L'Anse 
 Indian Reservation, located in--
        (A) T. 51 N., R. 33 W.;
        (B) T. 51 N., R. 32 W.;
            (C) T. 50 N., R. 33 W., E\1/2\;
            (D) T. 50 N., R. 32 W., W\1/2\; and
        (E) that portion of T. 51 N., R. 31 W. lying west 
 of Huron Bay.

    (4) Reservation canal lands.--The term ``Reservation Canal 
 Lands'' means the 1,333.25 to 2,720 acres of Community land 
 located within the exterior boundaries of the Reservation that 
 the Federal Government conveyed to the State pursuant to the 
 Act of August 26, 1852 (10 Stat. 35, chapter 92).

    (5) Reservation swamp lands.--The term ``Reservation Swamp 
 Lands'' means the 2,743 acres of land located within the 
 exterior boundaries of the Reservation that the Federal 
 Government conveyed to the State between 1893 and 1937 pursuant 
 to the Act of September 28, 1850 (commonly known as the ``Swamp 
 Land Act'') (sections 2479 through 2481 of the Revised Statutes 
 (43 U.S.C. 982 through 984)).

    (6) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
 of the Interior.

    (7) State.--The term ``State'' means the State of Michigan.

SEC. 5. PAYMENTS.

    (a) Transfer of Funds.--As soon as practicable after the date on 
which the amount authorized to be appropriated under subsection
            (c) is 
made available to the Secretary, the Secretary shall transfer 
$33,900,000 to the Community.

    (b) Use of Funds.--

    (1) In general.--Subject to paragraph

    (2) , the Community 
 may use the amount received under subsection

    (a) for any lawful 
 purpose, including--
        (A) governmental services;
        (B) economic development;
            (C) natural resources protection; and
            (D) land acquisition.

    (2) Restriction on use of funds.--The community may not use 
 the amount received under subsection

    (a) to acquire land for 
 gaming purposes.
            (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out subsection

    (a) , $33,900,000 
for fiscal year 2026, to remain available until expended.

SEC. 6. EXTINGUISHMENT OF CLAIMS.

    (a) In General.--Effective on the date on which the Community 
receives the payment under 

section 5

    (a) , all claims of the Community to 
the Reservation Swamp Lands and the Reservation Canal Lands owned by 
persons or entities other than the Community are extinguished.

    (b) Clear Title.--Effective on the date on which the Community 
receives the payment under 

section 5

    (a) , the title of all current 
owners to the Reservation Swamp Lands and the Reservation Canal Lands 
is cleared of all preexisting rights held by the Community and any of 
the members of the Community.

SEC. 7. EFFECT.

 Nothing in this Act authorizes--

    (1) the Secretary to take land into trust for the benefit 
 of the Community for gaming purposes; or

    (2) the Community to use land acquired using amounts 
 received under this Act for gaming purposes.
 <all>