S. 642 — Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Land Claim Settlement Act of 2025

This section states congressional findings concerning the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community's successor interests under the 1842 and 1854 Treaties with the Chippewa, which reserved unsold lands within the L’Anse Indian Reservation in Michigan. The findings declare that the United States, through the General Land Office, patented to Michigan 2,743 acres of swamp lands within the reservation boundaries (pursuant to the Swamp Land Act of 1850, 43 U.S.C. 982 et seq.) and approved the state's selection of 1,333.25 to 2,720 acres of canal lands within those boundaries (pursuant to the Canal Land Act of 1852) after the 1854 Treaty's ratification, without extinguishing the tribe's rights and in violation of the Takings Clause; that the Department of the Interior determined in December 2021 that the tribe's claims have merit; that the takings caused cultural, religious, subsistence, and economic harm to the tribe; and that the Act provides a settlement to compensate the tribe justly while confirming clear title for good-faith non-Indian 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 terms for purposes of the Act, including (1) "Community" as the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community; (2) "County" as Baraga County, Michigan; (3) "Reservation" as the L’Anse Indian Reservation comprising specified townships and portions thereof; (4) "Reservation Canal Lands" as 1,333.25 to 2,720 acres of Community land within the Reservation conveyed by the federal government to Michigan under the Act of August 26, 1852 (10 Stat. 35); (5) "Reservation Swamp Lands" as 2,743 acres within the Reservation conveyed by the federal government to Michigan between 1893 and 1937 under the Swamp Land Act of 1850 (43 U.S.C. 982 et seq.), which granted certain states swamp and overflowed lands 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 and directs the Secretary to transfer those funds to the Community as soon as practicable after availability, to remain available until expended. The Community may use the funds for any lawful purpose—including governmental services, economic development, natural resources protection, and land acquisition—but not for acquiring 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 any 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.