Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 102 Part 2.djvu/573

 PUBLIC LAW 100-420—SEPT. 8, 1988

102 STAT. 1577

Public Law 100-420 100th Congress An Act To clarify the Federal relationship to the Lac Vieux Defeert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians as a distinct Indian tribe, to clarify the status of members of the band, to transfer title to trust lands, and for other purposes.

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 'Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians Act". SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds that— (1) the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, although currently recognized by the Federal Government as part of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, has historically existed, and continues to exist, as a separate and distinct Indian tribe that is located over 75 miles from the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community; (2) the Lac Vieux Desert Band consists of approximately 250 members who continue to reside close to their ancestral homeland near the town of Watersmeet, Michigan; (3) the Lac Vieux Desert Band entered into two treaties with the United States as a distinct tribal entity (7 Stat, 591, 10 Stat. 1109); (4) members of the Lac Vieux Desert Band currently reside on or otherwise occupy lands within the Township of Watersmeet, Michigan, which are held by the United States in trust for the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, and currently receive limited Federal benefits through the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community; and (5) because of its distance from Keweenaw Bay and the failure of the United States to recognize the independent status of the tribe, the Lac Vieux Desert Band and its members receive only limited benefits to which the tribe and its members are entitled. SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

Sept. 8, 1988 [H.R. 3679]

Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians Act. 25 USC 1300h note. 25 USC 1300h.

25 USC 1300h-l.

For purposes of this Act— (1) the term "Band" means the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians; (2) the term "member" means those individuals eligible for enrollment under section 5 in the Band; and (3) the term "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Interior. SEC. 4. FEDERAL TRUST RELATIONSHIP.

(a) The Federal recognition of the Band and the trust relationship between the United States and the Band is hereby reaffirmed. The Act of June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984), as amended, and all laws and rules of law of the United States of general application to Indians,

25 USC 1300h-2.

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