Bill Text: IN SR0072 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Study to determine whether the Miami Nation should be recognized as a tribe.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 4-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-04-04 - First reading: referred to Committee on Public Policy [SR0072 Detail]

Download: Indiana-2011-SR0072-Introduced.html

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Introduced Version

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SENATE RESOLUTION No. ___

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DIGEST OF INTRODUCED RESOLUTION

    A SENATE RESOLUTION urging the Legislative Council to assign an interim study committee the topic of determining whether the Miami Nation should be recognized as a tribe.

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Head, Banks, Waterman, Delph

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    _______________________, read first time and referred to Committee on

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Introduced

First Regular Session 117th General Assembly (2011)

SENATE RESOLUTION

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MADAM PRESIDENT:

    I offer the following resolution and move its adoption:

    A SENATE RESOLUTION urging the Legislative Council to assign an interim study committee the topic of determining whether the Miami Nation should be recognized as a tribe.

    Whereas, The Miami Indians of Indiana number over 5,000 members who are mainly located in north central Indiana and are governed by the Miami Nation of Indians of the State of Indiana, Inc.;

    Whereas, At the time of the first contact with white settlers, the Miami tribe occupied lands in Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin;

    Whereas, By the early 1700s, the Miamis had established their principle settlement near present day Fort Wayne, Indiana;

    Whereas, Following a military defeat in 1794, the Miamis entered into 11 treaties with the United States over the next 50 years and ceded millions of acres of land to the federal government while retaining only several small parcels of land for themselves in central Indiana;

    Whereas, A treaty signed in 1840 removed approximately half of the tribe from Indiana, resettling them in the Kansas Territory;

    Whereas, The two Miami tribes were then considered

separate and negotiated their own separate treaties in 1854, resulting in the recognition of the Miami Nation of Indians of Indiana as an Indian tribe;

    Whereas, In 1872 communally held lands in Indiana were given to members of one clan, numbering less than 20 persons, and the members of this clan were made citizens;

    Whereas, Based on a decision by an Assistant Attorney General of the United States regarding the citizenship of these 20 members of one clan of Miami Indians, the Department of Interior refused to acknowledge the Miami Nation of Indians of Indiana as an Indian tribe; and

    Whereas, Even though the Miami Nation of Indians of Indiana is not recognized as a tribe, it continues to maintain tribal relations and to function as an Indian tribe: Therefore,

Be it resolved by the Senate of the

General Assembly of the State of Indiana:

    SECTION 1. That the Legislative Council is urged to assign an interim study committee the topic of determining whether the Miami Nation should be recognized as a tribe.
    SECTION 2. That this resolution does not confer upon a state tribe the right or authority to do the following:
        (1) Allow negotiations between a state tribe and the state or federal government concerning tribal sovereignty.
        (2) Allow gaming on tribal land.
    SECTION 3. That a state tribe and the state tribe's enrolled members are not entitled to any special state rights or benefits unless the right or benefit is specifically conferred to the state tribe by statute.
    SECTION 4. That the citizenship criteria to determine the membership for each state tribe shall be determined solely by the governing body of the tribe.