H.R. 411 — Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Land Claim Settlement Act of 2025

This section states congressional findings recognizing the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community's usufructuary rights under the 1842 and 1854 Treaties to unsold lands within the L’Anse Indian Reservation; the United States' patenting, via the General Land Office, of 2,743 acres of reservation swamp lands to Michigan under the Swamp Land Act of 1850 (9 Stat. 519) and approval of the state's selection of 1,333.25 to 2,720 acres of reservation canal lands under the Canal Land Act of 1852 (10 Stat. 35), without extinguishing the Tribe's rights or providing just compensation in violation of the Takings Clause; the Department of the Interior's 2021 determination that the Tribe's claims have merit; adverse cultural, religious, subsistence, and economic impacts on the Tribe; good-faith interests of non-Indian landowners; and the value of a settlement to provide the Tribe just compensation while clearing title for current owners.

This section states the purposes of the Act: (1) acknowledging the federal government's uncompensated taking of the Reservation Swamp Lands and Reservation Canal Lands; (2) providing compensation to the Community for that taking; (3) extinguishing all claims by the Community to those lands and confirming ownership by current good faith landowners; (4) extinguishing all potential claims by the Community against the United States, the state, and current landowners concerning title to, use of, or occupancy of those lands; and (5) authorizing the Secretary to compensate the Community and take necessary actions to implement the Act.

This section defines seven terms for purposes of the Act: (1) Community as the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community; (2) County as Baraga County, Michigan; (3) Reservation as the L’Anse Indian Reservation, located in specified townships in Michigan; (4) Reservation Canal Lands as the 1,333.25 to 2,720 acres of Community land within the Reservation’s exterior boundaries conveyed by the federal government to the state pursuant to the Act of August 26, 1852 (chapter 92, 10 Stat. 35); (5) Reservation Swamp Lands as the 2,743 acres of land within the Reservation’s exterior boundaries conveyed by the federal government to the state between 1893 and 1937 pursuant to the Swamp Land Act of 1850 (43 U.S.C. 982 et seq.), which granted swamp and overflowed lands to states (except Kansas, Nebraska, and Nevada) for reclamation; (6) Secretary as the Secretary of the Interior; and (7) State as Michigan.

This section authorizes the appropriation of $33,900,000 for FY2026 (to remain available until expended) and directs the Secretary to transfer those funds to the Community as soon as practicable after availability. The Community may use the funds for any lawful purpose, including governmental services, economic development, natural resources protection, and land acquisition, but not to acquire land for gaming purposes.

This section extinguishes all claims by the Community to Reservation Swamp Lands and Reservation Canal Lands owned by persons or entities other than the Community and clears title to those lands for current owners of all preexisting rights held by the Community or its members, effective on the date the Community receives payment under section 5(a).

This section prohibits (1) the Secretary from taking land into trust for the benefit of the Community for gaming purposes and (2) the Community from using land acquired using amounts received under this Act for gaming purposes.