A bill to provide for the equitable settlement of certain Indian land disputes regarding land in Illinois, and for other purposes.
This bill would create a one-time, exclusive path for the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma to pursue a land claim related to land in Illinois under the Treaty of Grouseland (signed August 21, 1805). It transfers the authority to hear and decide such a claim to the United States Court of Federal Claims and waives all time limits and delay defenses, meaning the claim could be pursued regardless of typical statutes of limitations. Importantly, the jurisdiction to hear this claim would lapse one year after the bill’s enactment unless the Miami Tribe files the claim within that window. If the tribe does not file within that year, or if the tribe has other claims to Illinois land, those other claims would be extinguished. In short, the bill is aimed at an “equitable settlement” by granting a single, time-limited Avenue for one specific claim while extinguishing all other potential or future Illinois land claims by the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma or its members or descendants.
Key Points
- 1Establishes jurisdiction in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to hear a land claim by the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma under the 1805 Treaty of Grouseland, without any statute of limitations or delay-based defenses.
- 2Creates a hard one-year deadline after enactment for the tribe to file the claim; if not filed, the jurisdiction granted by this bill expires.
- 3Specifies that, aside from the single claim filed under the new provision, all other claims (past, present, and future) by the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma or its members/descendants to land in Illinois are extinguished.
- 4Applies to land in Illinois that is tied to the Treaty of Grouseland, with the goal of an equitable settlement of longstanding disputes.
- 5The bill would be introduced in the Senate by Mr. Mullin (with Mr. Durbin as a co-sponsor) and reported without amendment.