25 U.S.C. § 1773 : US Code - Section 1773: Congressional findings and purpose

Search 25 U.S.C. § 1773 : US Code - Section 1773: Congressional findings and purpose

(a) Findings
The Congress finds and declares that:
(1) It is the policy of the United States to promote tribal
self-determination and economic self-sufficiency and to support
the resolution of disputes over historical claims through
settlements mutually agreed to by Indian and non-Indian parties.
(2) Disputes over certain land claims of the Puyallup Tribe and
other matters, including -
(A) ownership of the Commencement Bay tidelands and areas of
former Puyallup Riverbed, lands within the Puyallup Tribe's
Treaty Reservation, or intended reservation boundaries,
(B) railroad and other rights-of-way,
(C) control of fisheries resource and habitat,
(D) jurisdiction over law enforcement, environment,
navigation, and authority and control in the areas of land use,
(E) business regulation and zoning,
have resulted in difficult community relations and negative
economic impacts affecting both the Tribe and non-Indian parties.
(3) Some of the significant historical events that led to the
present circumstances include -
(A) the negotiation of the Treaty of Medicine Creek in
December 1854, by the Puyallup Indians and others, by which the
tribes ceded most of their territories but reserved certain
lands and rights, including fishing rights;
(B) the Executive Order of 1857 creating the Puyallup Indian
Reservation;
(C) the Executive Order of 1873, clarifying and extending the
Puyallup Reservation in the Washington Territory;
(D) the March 11, 1891, Report of the Puyallup Indian
Commission on allotments and the 1896 report by a second
Puyallup Indian Commission describing the problems with sales
of allotted lands; and
(E) the 1909 District Court for Tacoma decision of the United
States of America against J.M. Ashton and the 1910 Supreme
Court decision of United States of America against J.M. Ashton.
(4) It is recognized that both Indian and non-Indian parties
enter into this settlement to resolve certain problems and claims
and to derive certain benefits.
(5) There is a recognition that any final resolution of pending
disputes through a process of litigation would take many years
and entail great expense to all parties; continue economically
and socially damaging controversies; prolong uncertainty as to
the access, ownership, and jurisdictional status of issues in
question; and seriously impair long-term economic planning and
development for all parties.
(6) To advance the goals of Federal policy of Indian self-
determination and to carry out the trust responsibility of the
United States, and to advance the Federal policy of international
trade and economic development, and in recognition of the Federal
policy of settling these conflicts through comprehensive
settlement agreements, it is appropriate that the United States
participate in the funding and implementation of the Settlement
Agreement.
(b) Purpose
Therefore, it is the purpose of this subchapter -
(1) to approve, ratify, and confirm the agreement entered into
by the non-Indian settlement parties and the Puyallup Tribe of
Indians,
(2) to authorize and direct the Secretary to implement the
terms of such agreement, and
(3) to authorize the actions and appropriations necessary to
implement the provisions of the Settlement Agreement and this
subchapter.