NEWS RELEASE
U.S. SENATOR GARY PETERS
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WASHINGTON, DC – The Senate Indian Affairs Committee advanced bipartisan, bicameral legislation authored by U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) to settle the longstanding land claims of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC).
“For years, the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community has worked to settle these land claims and provide clear title to those who currently own the property in question,” said Senator Peters. “Our Tribal partners and local community members agree – this legislation would help right this wrong, and I’m pleased it has now advanced to the full Senate.”
Through Treaties signed in 1842 and 1854, the KBIC was granted occupancy over a large area of land established as the L’Anse Reservation in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Despite those treaties, thousands of acres of reservation land were taken by the federal government without compensation and awarded to the State of Michigan between 1855 and 1937.
The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Land Claim Settlement Act of 2025 – which Peters reintroduced with U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin (MI) – would clear the title of current landowners in the community and provide compensation to the KBIC through the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI). U.S. Representative Jack Bergman (R-MI-01) introduced companion legislation in the House.
“This legislation represents our Community, our neighbors, and the Michigan delegation coming together to acknowledge the unlawful taking of our lands and provide a solution for a better future for the Tribe and our neighbors. This settlement has been generations in the making, and the Tribal Council and the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community share our sincere gratitude to Senator Peters, Senator Slotkin, and Representative Bergman for their leadership to right this historic wrong,” said KBIC President Robert “RD” Curtis, Jr. and the KBIC Tribal Council.
The KBIC’s land claims involve the dispossession of between approximately 1,333 and 2,720 acres of land transferred by the United States government to the State of Michigan as compensation for the construction of the Sault Ste. Marie Canal, as well as approximately 2,743 acres of swamplands. The KBIC asserts that as a result of the 1842 and 1854 Treaties, these lands were not available for transfer and therefore transferred illegally. The KBIC contends that the inappropriate transfer of these lands has created substantial economic and other harm, through the loss of valuable land in prime locations along Lake Superior that could have been used for a variety of revenue-generating activities over the past 150 years. Meanwhile, non-Indian individuals, entities, and local governments have since acquired the land at issue – in good faith – and now seek to ensure they possess clear title to the land.
The bill – which unanimously passed the Senate last Congress – would authorize funds through the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) that may be used by the KBIC for governmental services, economic development, natural resource protection, and land acquisition.
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