Notice2023-03945
Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Grand River Bands of Ottawa Indians
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
February 27, 2023
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentIndian Affairs Bureau
Abstract
The Department of the Interior (Department) gives notice that the Office of the Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs (AS-IA) proposes to determine that the petitioner, Grand River Bands of Ottawa Indians (Petitioner #146), is not an Indian Tribe within the meaning of Federal law. This notice is based on a determination that Petitioner #146 does not meet one of the seven mandatory criteria for a government-to- government relationship with the United States. This proposed finding (PF) is based on only one criterion.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 38 (Monday, February 27, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 38 (Monday, February 27, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12401-12403]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-03945]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Indian Affairs
[234A2100DD/AAKC001030/A0A501010.999900]
Proposed Finding Against Federal Acknowledgment of the Grand
River Bands of Ottawa Indians
AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Department of the Interior (Department) gives notice that
the Office of the Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs (AS-IA) proposes
to determine that the petitioner, Grand River Bands of Ottawa Indians
(Petitioner #146), is not an Indian Tribe within the meaning of Federal
law. This notice is based on a determination that Petitioner #146 does
not meet one of the seven mandatory criteria for a government-to-
government relationship with the United States. This proposed finding
(PF) is based on only one criterion.
DATES: Comments on this PF are due on or before August 28, 2023. We
must receive any request for a technical assistance meeting by April
28, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Please address comments on the PF or requests for a paper
copy of the report to the Department of the Interior, Office of the
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs, Attn: Office of Federal
Acknowledgment, 1849 C Street NW, MS-4071 MIB, Washington, DC 20240.
Electronic copies of the PF, as well as other related documents, are
available on OFA's website (<a href="http://www.bia.gov/as-ia/ofa">www.bia.gov/as-ia/ofa</a>). Parties who make
comments on the PF must also provide a copy of their comments to the
Petitioner.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: R. Lee Fleming, Director, Office of
Federal Acknowledgment (OFA) at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#c3a0acaeaea6adb7b083a1aaa2eda4acb5"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="35565a5858505b414675575c541b525a43">[email protected]</span></a> or (202) 513-7650.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to 25 CFR 83.10(h) (1994),\1\ the
Department gives notice that the AS-IA proposes to determine that the
Grand River Bands of Ottawa Indians (Petitioner #146), c/o Mr. Ron Yob,
P.O. Box 2937, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49501-2937, is not an Indian
Tribe within the meaning of the Federal law. This notice is based on a
preliminary finding that the petitioner fails to satisfy one of the
seven mandatory criteria for acknowledgement set forth in 25 CFR
83.7(a) through (g), and thus, does not meet the requirements for a
government-to-government relationship with the United States. Please
see the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice for more
information about the public comment period.
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\1\ All citations to 25 CFR part 83 in this notice are to the
version of the Federal acknowledgment regulations as revised in 1994
unless otherwise indicated.
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Petitioner
The Department received a letter of intent from the Petitioner
under the name ``Grand River Band Ottawa Council'' on November 16,
1994, and designated it Petitioner #146. On November 14, 1997, the
Petitioner submitted a ``Petitioner Update'' form indicating that
Petitioner #146 was now known as the ``Grand River Bands of Ottawa
Indians,'' with Ron Yob and Joseph Genia as Co-Chairs. The Petitioner
submitted materials for its documented petition in December 2000, July
2004, and November 2004. The Department conducted an initial review of
these materials and provided Petitioner #146 with a technical
assistance (TA) review letter on January 25, 2005. In June 2006 and
March 2007, the Petitioner supplied materials in response to the TA
review letter. The Department then placed Petitioner #146 on the
``Ready, Waiting for Active Consideration'' list on March 28, 2007.
The Department placed the Petitioner on active consideration on
December 1, 2013. The Petitioner submitted no additional documents
during the 60 days following, as allowed by the AS-IA's notice of
``information and guidance'' of March 31, 2005 (70 FR 16514), and as
advised by a Department letter of December 12, 2013. In a letter dated
March 12, 2014, the Department exercised its option under the same
guidance to ask for information the Petitioner had not submitted.
In an August 27, 2014, the Petitioner furnished 569 membership
files, a considerable increase from a membership list that the
Petitioner had submitted in June 2014, which indicated the group had
only 347 members. Additionally, thirty-six individuals on the June 2014
membership list also did not have membership files in the August 2014
submission. To ascertain the Petitioner's membership, the Department
asked for an updated membership list and an explanation of which
membership files were current. The Petitioner supplied this information
on October 31, 2014. Petitioner #146 provided additional material on
December 13, 2016, which the Department had requested in a
teleconference with the group on November 3, 2016.
Due to these submission delays and the Department's competing
priorities, including the review of other pending petitions, the
Department extended the deadline for the PF to September 30, 2015. In
the interim, on July 1, 2015, the Department issued a final rule that
revised the acknowledgment regulations effective July 31, 2015. In a
letter dated August 28, 2015, the Department provided Petitioner #146
an opportunity to choose, by September 29, 2015, whether to complete
the evaluation process under the revised 2015 regulations or complete
its evaluation under the 1994 version of the acknowledgment
regulations. By letter dated September 14, 2015, the Petitioner's
governing body informed the Department that it wished to have its
petition evaluated under the 1994 regulations. On November 2, 2015, the
Department acknowledged receipt of this letter and also extended the
deadline for issuing the PF to March 28, 2016.
[[Page 12402]]
From March 2016 to April 2020, the Department found good cause to
provide additional extensions of the date for issuance of the PF for
Petitioner #146, pursuant to 83.10(h) of the 1994 regulations. On April
16, 2020, the Department conditionally suspended active consideration
of the PF based on administrative problems caused by the COVID-19
emergency. The Department lifted the suspension on April 15, 2022,
based on local public health conditions (transmission levels trending
to moderate and low) and the reopening of facilities on the local,
state, tribal, and Federal levels that are important for accessing
information and records related to the consideration of the petition.
Upon ending the conditional suspension, the Department scheduled the
issuance of the PF to occur on or before October 12, 2022.
The Department held a teleconference with Petitioner #146 on June
28, 2022, per the Petitioner's request. The teleconference was held to
answer Petitioner questions regarding the preparation of a current
membership list, submission of new member enrollment files, and
certification of the current membership list. Petitioner #146
subsequently submitted an updated current membership list and new
member enrollment files, which were received by the Department on
August 8, 2022. On October 4, 2022, the Department found good cause to
issue a 120-day extension of the deadline for issuing the PF with an
issuance date scheduled to occur on or before February 9, 2023. The
Department subsequently issued a final, two-week extension, with an
issuance date scheduled to occur on or before February 23, 2023.
Criterion 83.7(b) requires that ``a predominant portion of the
petitioning group comprises a distinct community and has existed as a
community from historical times until the present.'' Section 83.1
defines ``Community'' as ``any group of people which can demonstrate
that consistent interactions and significant social relationships exist
within its membership and that its members are differentiated from and
identified as distinct from nonmembers. Community must be understood in
the context of the history, geography, culture and social organization
of the group.''
Petitioner #146 claims descent from the historical Ottawa bands
that originally lived in the area of Michigan surrounding the Grand
River. With other Ottawa and Chippewa bands, these bands signed several
treaties during the early- to mid-nineteenth century. Following the
last of these treaties in 1855, the bands relocated to other parts of
Michigan, with the largest groups of them moving to settlements in
Oceana and Mason Counties and with smaller groups of them moving
elsewhere.
While the Petitioner's members appear to descend from these
historic Grand River-area bands (a claim that would be evaluated under
criterion 83.7(e) in an amended PF if the deficiencies in the PF are
resolved), the Petitioner has not demonstrated that its members
comprise a distinct community that has existed as a community through
time. In furtherance of its claim, the Petitioner submitted evidence of
groups of descendants occasionally joining together for various
purposes, including making claims against the Federal government, in
the name of the ``Grand River bands.''
The Petitioner asserts that these activities support its claim of a
continuously existing distinct community under criterion 83.7(b).
However, the evidence relating to these periodic activities indicates
otherwise. From one activity to another, the individuals purporting to
act on behalf of the Grand River Bands changed significantly. Instead
of reflecting the existence of a distinct community, these activities
appear to have been performed by several different groups of
descendants acting independently, in some cases, making different
decisions on the same issues. Furthermore, the proportion of current
members whose ancestors participated in any specific activity is low,
relative to the total membership. In addition, those ancestors of
members of Petitioner #146 who participated in the activities that the
Petitioner claims demonstrate community represent only a small portion
of each larger group of individuals who participated in the activities.
Instead of showing that Petitioner #146 represents a continuously
existing community, the evidence shows that Petitioner #146 was formed
recently by the merging of several different groups of descendants of
the historic Grand River-area bands. These different groups were based
in different parts of Michigan and appear to have acted independently,
each with its own separate leadership, membership, and activities.
These groups came together during the mid- to late-1990s, following the
congressional recognition of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa
Indians and the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians in 1994. The
leadership of the different groups expressed that seeking Federal
recognition was their main purpose for coming together, and the
decision to join into a single organization occurred after one of the
groups independently submitted its Letter of Intent to the Department.
Additionally, the decision to join into a single organization was
followed by a period of active recruitment of other individual
descendants of the treaty-era bands who had not previously been members
of any of the component organizations or otherwise been interacting
with other descendants as part of the Petitioner's claimed community.
In sum, although the claims of Petitioner #146 stem from descent
from a group of historic bands, the Petitioner has not documented any
activities since the treaty era that reflect a continuously existing
distinct community. Rather, the evidence shows that the Petitioner came
together beginning in 1995 from several independent groups. The absence
of a distinct community among the Petitioner's ancestors in earlier
evaluation periods is reflected in the continued lack of many
characteristics of a distinct community among the current membership.
Evidence since 1995 shows that there is a very small group of members,
often those in leadership positions, who are active as members, but the
overwhelming majority of members are not present and do not participate
in Petitioner-sponsored events and activities.
The evidence submitted by Petitioner #146, and evidence Department
staff obtained through its verification and evaluation research, is
insufficient to demonstrate, under the reasonable likelihood of the
validity of the facts standard, that Petitioner #146 meets the
mandatory criterion for Federal acknowledgment, 83.7(b), either as is
or as modified by 83.8.
In accordance with the regulations, the failure to meet any one of
the seven criteria requires a determination that a petitioning group is
not an Indian Tribe within the meaning of Federal law. See 25 CFR
83.6(d) and 25 CFR 83.10(m). Therefore, the Department proposes to
decline to acknowledge Petitioner #146 as an Indian Tribe.
According to the AS-IA ``Office of Federal Acknowledgment; Guidance
and Direction Regarding Internal Procedures'' of May 23, 2008:
If during the evaluation of a petition on active consideration
it becomes apparent that the petitioner fails on one criterion, or
more, under the reasonable likelihood of the validity of the facts
standard, OFA may prepare a proposed finding or final determination
not to acknowledge the group on the failed criterion or criteria
alone, setting forth the evidence, reasoning, and
[[Page 12403]]
analyses that form the basis for the proposed decision. See 73 FR
30148.
The burden of providing sufficient evidence under the criteria in
the regulations rests with the petitioner. See 25 CFR 83.5(c). Because
Petitioner #146 has not met criterion 83.7(b), it is not necessary for
the Department to make conclusions regarding the other six mandatory
criteria at this time.
The PF is based on the evidence currently in the record. Additional
evidence may be submitted during the comment period that follows
publication of this finding. If new evidence provided during the
comment period results in a reversal of this conclusion, the AS-IA will
issue an amended PF evaluating all seven criteria. See 73 FR 30148.
Public Comment Period
Publication of this notice of the PF in the Federal Register
initiates a 180-day comment period during which the Petitioner and
interested and informed parties may submit arguments and evidence to
support or rebut the PF. Comments on the PF should be addressed to both
the Petitioner and the Federal Government as required by 25 CFR
83.10(i) and as instructed in the ADDRESSES section of this notice by
the date listed in the DATES section of this notice. Parties who make
comments on the PF must also provide a copy of their comments to the
Petitioner, please see the Petitioner's address in the SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION section. The regulations, 25 CFR 83.10(k), provide the
Petitioner a minimum of 60 days to respond to any submissions on the PF
received from interested and informed parties during the comment
period. After expiration of the comment and response periods described
above, the Department will consult with the Petitioner and interested
parties to determine an equitable timeframe for consideration of
written arguments and evidence. The Department will notify the
Petitioner and interested parties of the date such consideration
begins. After consideration of the written arguments and evidence
rebutting or supporting the PF and the Petitioner's response to the
comments of interested and informed parties, the AS-IA will either
issue an amended PF or make a final determination regarding the
Petitioner's status. The Department will publish a summary of this
determination in the Federal Register.
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal information from
public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Authority
The Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs is recused from this
matter, and the Principal Deputy AS-IA is issuing this Proposed Finding
pursuant to the authority delegated. See 209 DM 8.4(A); 110 DM 8.2.
Wizipan Garriott,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs, Exercising by
delegation the authority of the Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2023-03945 Filed 2-24-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4337-15-P
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