Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, H.R. 297 will extend Federal recognition to the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana. Federal recognition of Native American Tribes is critical to protecting their tribal sovereignty and restoring a tribe's ability to control its land, its water, and its resources, as well as the ability to govern and to protect the health, safety, and welfare of its members. The Little Shell Tribe has resided in Montana for well over a century and has long been recognized as a tribe by the State of Montana. The Little Shell Tribe is a political successor to the signatories of the Pembina Treaty of 1863, under which a large area of the land in the State of North Dakota was ceded to the United States. While the Federal Government has federally recognized the two other Tribes that are successors to the signatories of the treaty, the Little Shell have inexplicably been left in limbo. The Little Shell Tribe has repeatedly petitioned the Federal Government for Federal recognition, first in the 1930s and 1940s under the Indian Reorganization Act, and later, starting in 1978, through the Department of the Interior's recognition process. However, despite their long and well-documented history, they were deprived of their rightful Federal recognition each time. H.R.…”