1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to Indians; recognizing the Sandy Lake Band 
  1.3             of Mississippi Chippewa as a state recognized Indian 
  1.4             tribe. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  [POPULAR NAME.] 
  1.7      This act may be cited as the "Sandy Lake Band of 
  1.8   Mississippi Chippewa Indians Act." 
  1.9      Sec. 2.  [DEFINITIONS.] 
  1.10     For purposes of this act, the term "band" means the Sandy 
  1.11  Lake Band of Mississippi Chippewa Indians. 
  1.12     Sec. 3.  [FINDINGS.] 
  1.13     The state of Minnesota finds that: 
  1.14     (1) the Sandy Lake Band of Mississippi Chippewa Indians are 
  1.15  descendants of and political successors to the signatories of 
  1.16  the treaties of 1825, 1826, 1837, 1842, 1847, 1854, 1855, 1863, 
  1.17  1864, and 1867 with the United States of America, those treaties 
  1.18  having been negotiated to achieve peace and friendship between 
  1.19  the Indian peoples of the constituent bands and the United 
  1.20  States of America; 
  1.21     (2) the Sandy Lake Band consists of approximately 250 
  1.22  members who continue to reside close to their ancestral homeland 
  1.23  as recognized in the Treaty with the Chippewa, 1855 (7 Statutes 
  1.24  at Large 591, 10 Statutes at Large 1165) near the town of 
  1.25  McGregor in Aitkin county, Minnesota and throughout Minnesota; 
  2.1      (3) the Sandy Lake Band historically existed, and continues 
  2.2   to exist and carry out political and social activities with a 
  2.3   viable tribal government as a separate and distinct Indian 
  2.4   tribe; 
  2.5      (4) the Sandy Lake Band has a historical precedence that 
  2.6   exists to support state recognition which dates back to at least 
  2.7   1794; 
  2.8      (5) the Sandy Lake Band is also a beneficiary of Executive 
  2.9   Order No. 2144 signed by President Woodrow Wilson on March 4, 
  2.10  1915, that established a reservation at Sandy Lake and also 
  2.11  reaffirmed the Sandy Lake Ojibwe's right of occupancy on the 
  2.12  Sandy Lake Reservation located on Lots 2 and 3 of Section 32, 
  2.13  Township 50 North, Range 23 West, Fourth Principal Meridian in 
  2.14  Aitkin county, Minnesota; 
  2.15     (6) the Sandy Lake Band finds and determines that the 
  2.16  treaties that are applicable to any constituent signatory bands 
  2.17  whose members are also descendants of the signatories of the 
  2.18  treaties referred to in clause (1) of peace and friendship with 
  2.19  the United States of America have been recognized by the federal 
  2.20  government as distinct Indian tribes; 
  2.21     (7) the Sandy Lake Band have never relinquished their 
  2.22  separate inherent rights to be self-governing and therefore 
  2.23  possesses the sovereign right to autonomy; 
  2.24     (8) the United States government and the local government 
  2.25  have had continuous dealings with the recognized political 
  2.26  leaders of the band from 1825 to the present; and 
  2.27     (9) the Aitkin county commissioners, all members voting 
  2.28  "yes" adopted a resolution supporting the Sandy Lake Band as a 
  2.29  governmental entity to be established as a tribe in a 
  2.30  reservation separate and apart from all other Ojibwe bands in 
  2.31  Minnesota. 
  2.32     Sec. 4.  [STATE RECOGNITION.] 
  2.33     By this act, the Sandy Lake Band of Mississippi Chippewa 
  2.34  Indians is recognized by the state of Minnesota as an 
  2.35  independent tribe, separate and apart from any other state or 
  2.36  federally recognized tribe or Indian community.