|
U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 1300j. Findings
The Congress finds the following:
(1) The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians is the descendant
of, and political successor to, the signatories of the Treaty of
Greenville 1795 (7 Stat. 49); the Treaty of Grouseland 1805 (7
Stat. 91); the Treaty of Spring Wells 1815 (7 Stat. 131); the
Treaty of the Rapids of the Miami of Lake Erie 1817 (7 Stat.
160); the Treaty of St. Mary's 1818 (7 Stat. 185); the Treaty of
Chicago 1821 (7 Stat. 218); the Treaty of the Mississinewa on the
Wabash 1826 (7 Stat. 295); the Treaty of St. Joseph 1827 (7 Stat.
305); the Treaty of St. Joseph 1828 (7 Stat. 317); the Treaty of
Tippecanoe River 1832 (7 Stat. 399); and the Treaty of Chicago
1833 (7 Stat. 431).
(2) In the Treaty of Chicago 1833, the Pokagon Band of
Potawatomi Indians was the only band that negotiated a right to
remain in Michigan. The other Potawatomi bands relinquished all
lands in Michigan and were required to move to Kansas or Iowa.
(3) Two of the Potawatomi bands later returned to the Great
Lakes area, the Forest County Potawatomi of Wisconsin and the
Hannahville Indian Community of Michigan.
(4) The Hannahville Indian Community of Michigan, the Forest
County Potawatomi Community of Wisconsin, the Prairie Band of
Potawatomi Indians of Kansas, and the Citizen Band Potawatomi
Indian Tribe of Oklahoma, whose members are also descendants of
the signatories to one or more of the aforementioned treaties,
have been recognized by the Federal Government as Indian tribes
eligible to receive services from the Secretary of the Interior.
(5) Beginning in 1935, the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians
petitioned for reorganization and assistance pursuant to the Act
of June 18, 1934 (25 U.S.C. 461 et seq., commonly referred to as
the "Indian Reorganization Act"). Because of the financial
condition of the Federal Government during the Great Depression
it relied upon the State of Michigan to provide services to the
Pokagon Band. Other Potawatomi bands, including the Forest County
Potawatomi and the Hannahville Indian Community were provided
services pursuant to the Indian Reorganization Act.
(6) Agents of the Federal Government in 1939 made an
administrative decision not to provide services or extend the
benefits of the Indian Reorganization Act [25 U.S.C. 461 et seq.]
to any Indian tribes in Michigan's lower peninsula.
(7) Tribes elsewhere, including the Hannahville Indian
Community in Michigan's upper peninsula, received services from
the Federal Government and were extended the benefits of the
Indian Reorganization Act [25 U.S.C. 461 et seq.].
(8) The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians consists of at least
1,500 members who continue to reside close to their ancestral
homeland in the St. Joseph River Valley in southwestern Michigan
and northern Indiana.
(9) In spite of the denial of the right to organize under the
Indian Reorganization Act [25 U.S.C. 461 et seq.], the Pokagon
Band has continued to carry out its governmental functions
through a Business Committee and Tribal Council from treaty times
until today.
(10) The United States Government, the government of the State
of Michigan, and local governments have had continuous dealings
with the recognized political leaders of the Band from 1795 until
the present.
|
|