Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 114 Part 1.djvu/275

 PUBLIC LAW 106-194—MAY 2, 2000 114 STAT. 239 Public Law 106-194 106th Congress An Act To amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to restore certain lands to May 2, 2000 the Elim Native Corporation, and for other purposes. [H.R. 3090] Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION. 1. ELIM NATIVE CORPORATION LAND RESTORATION. Section 19 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1618) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: "(c)(1) FINDINGS. —The Congress finds that— "(A) approximately 350,000 acres of land were withdrawn by Executive orders in 1917 for the use of the United States Bureau of Education and of the Natives of Indigenous Alaskan race; "(B) these lands comprised the Norton Bay Reservation (later referred to as Norton Bay Native Reserve) and were set aside for the benefit of the Native inhabitants of the Eskimo Village of Elim, Alaska; "(C) in 1929, 50,000 acres of land were deleted from the Norton Bay Reservation by Executive order; "(D) the lands were deleted from the Reservation for the benefit of others; "(E) the deleted lands were not available to the Native inhabitants of Elim under subsection (b) of this section at the time of passage of this Act; "(F) the deletion of these lands has been and continues to be a source of deep concern to the indigenous people of Elim; and "(G) until this matter is dealt with, it will continue to be a source of great frustration and sense of loss among the shareholders of the Elim Native Corporation and their descendants. "(2) WITHDRAWAL. — The lands depicted and designated Withdrawal Area' on the map dated October 19, 1999, along with their legal descriptions, on file with the Bureau of Land Management, and entitled 'Land Withdrawal Elim Native Corporation', are hereby withdrawn, subject to valid existing rights, from all forms of appropriation or disposition under the public land laws, including the mining and mineral leasing laws, for a period of 2 years from the date of the enactment of this subsection, for selection by the Elim Native Corporation (hereinafter referred to as 'Elim'). "(3) AUTHORITY TO SELECT AND CONVEY. —Elim is authorized to select in accordance with the rules set out in this paragraph, 50,000 acres of land (hereinafter referred to as 'Conveyance Lands')

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