Bill Text: MI HR0246 | 2021-2022 | 101st Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: A resolution to urge the United States Department of the Interior to approve the petition of the Grand River Bands of Ottawa Indians for federal acknowledgment.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-03-03 - Referred To Committee On Government Operations [HR0246 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2021-HR0246-Introduced.html
house resolution no.246
Reps. LaGrand, Hood, Hope, Ellison, Sneller, Cherry, Sowerby, Clemente and Brabec offered the following resolution:
Whereas, The Grand River Bands of Ottawa Indians (GRBOI), are the political successor-in-interest of the Grand River Ottawa people that first established a sovereign-to-sovereign relationship with the United States via the 1836 Treaty of Washington (7 Stat 491) and as further strengthened by the Treaty of Detroit (1855) with a specific reservation set aside for GRBOI located in western Michigan, including areas north of the Grand River in and around Muskegon and Grand Rapids (see Article VI of the Treaty of Detroit (1855)); and
Whereas, Such sovereign-to-sovereign relationship is consistent with the legal history of other successor-in-interest Michigan treaty tribes (see Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa & Chippewa Indians v United States Attorney for the Western District of Michigan, 46 F. Supp. 2d 689 (1999)), including an award from the Indian Claims Commission (Docket 40-k) on March 27, 1968; and
Whereas, The State of Michigan previously recognized GRBOI, in 1996, as a historic Indian tribe that continues to exist as a tribal entity; and
Whereas, In 1997, U.S. Congress, even though GRBOI was not yet formally acknowledged at the time, enacted the Michigan Indian Land Claims Settlement Act (P.L. 105-143) and as part of the law enacted provisions that were intended to distribute land claims settlement funds to GRBOI in anticipation of their recognition; and
Whereas GRBOI filed a petition (Petition #146) for federal acknowledgement with the United States Department of the Interior, Office of Federal Acknowledgement, that is currently pending a decision from the Office of Federal Acknowledgement; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives, That we urge the Department of the Interior to approve the petition of the Grand River Bands of Ottawa Indians for federal acknowledgement; and be it further
Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to Governor and the U.S. Secretary of the Interior.
