Keweenaw Bay Community Settles 170-Year-Old Land Claim for $33.9 Million, Securing Titles for Current Landowners

This bill, officially the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Land Claim Settlement Act of 2025, is about finally settling a huge, decades-long land dispute in Michigan. Essentially, the federal government is admitting it messed up by taking thousands of acres of land from the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (the Community) between 1893 and 1937 and giving it to the State of Michigan. This land was part of the L’Anse Reservation, established by treaties in 1842 and 1854.

The Check That Clears the Debt

To fix this historical wrong—which the bill calls a violation of the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause—the Act authorizes a payment of $33,900,000 to the Community (Sec. 5). This money is meant to be compensation for the lost land, specifically the parcels designated as "Reservation Swamp Lands" and "Reservation Canal Lands." Once the Secretary of the Interior has the funds appropriated (which is set for fiscal year 2026), they must transfer the money to the Community. The Community can use these funds for almost anything—government services, economic development, resource protection—except for one major restriction.

Clearing the Clouded Titles

This payment isn't just about compensating the Community; it’s also about providing certainty for everyone else living on or owning property in the area. The findings section notes that the federal government wants to clear up the "clouds" on land titles for non-Indian people who bought property in good faith. The moment the Community receives that $33.9 million, Section 6 kicks in: all past and future claims the Community or its members might have had against those specific Reservation Swamp Lands and Canal Lands are extinguished. For current property owners, this is a massive deal. It means their land titles are finally secure and free from the threat of a major, complex lawsuit over historical ownership.

The Catch: No Casinos Allowed

While the Community gets substantial financial flexibility, the bill includes a notable restriction on how they can spend the settlement money. Section 5 explicitly states that the Community cannot use any of the $33.9 million to buy land specifically for gaming purposes, such as casinos or racetracks. Section 7 reinforces this, stating the Act does not give the Secretary the power to put land into trust for the Community for gambling use. This provision is worth noting because while the settlement resolves a historical injustice and provides needed funds, it also places a specific limit on the Community’s economic self-determination regarding a potentially lucrative industry.

The Real-World Trade-Off

For the average person in Baraga County, Michigan (the designated County in the bill), this settlement is primarily about stability. If you bought property years ago that happened to be on one of these disputed parcels, this Act secures your investment and removes the potential legal risk that could have tied up your land in court for years. For the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, this is a long-overdue financial settlement that provides significant capital for community investment, even with the specific restriction on gaming land acquisition. The entire Act is a legislative trade-off: cash compensation in exchange for permanently relinquishing land claims, providing a final answer to a nearly 170-year-old problem.