SAINT PAUL, Minn. - This week, Representative Alicia ‘Liish’ Kozlowski (DFL-Duluth) presented multiple bills in the Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee and State and Local Government Committee to support tribal sovereignty and enhance economic benefits for local governments in Minnesota for years to come.
Most reservation boundaries were established by treaties and the lands set aside for Indian peoples in the 1800s. At the turn of the century, federal laws aimed at forcing Native Americans to assimilate into “civilized” society permitted the U.S. government to parcel out and transfer Fond du Lac Band’s land to timber companies, where it was used for extensive logging operations, and it authorized the government to break up American Indian reservations into small parcels granted to non-native peoples, rather than tribes. More than a hundred years later, these laws have had lasting consequences on Indian country.
“Assimilation policies not only attempted to break apart Indigenous families, devastate ecosystems, and eliminate Native languages, they also worked to weaken land claims and Tribal land ownership. The checkboard system of land ownership on many reservations historically left communities and landowners unable to make basic decisions about their homelands,” said Rep. Kozlowski “These bills put the power back in the hands of Tribal communities to determine how their lands are used — from conservation to economic development while creating greater transparency and economic strength for local and state government.”
HF 4193 would enable the University of Minnesota to fully move forward with the agreement to return the land encompassed by the Cloquet Forestry Center (approximately 3400 acres) to the Fond du Lac Band. The complex and lengthy process of rematriating the land, which is entirely located within the borders of the reservation boundaries, has been a collaborative effort between the Fond du Lac Band, the University of Minnesota, and the State of Minnesota.
HF3783 would provide Tribes with a Right of First Refusal for tax-forfeited parcels within the boundary of the reservation. This is a process that has been used many times in development of the annual Lands Bill. Currently, counties bring the land to auction where they struggle to find a buyer, and if they do, typically receive less than the appraised value. This bill is mutually beneficial, focusing on repairing the historic wrongs inflicted on Minnesota's Tribal nations by the federal and state government, while ensuring counties across Minnesota get full appraised value, with survey and appraisal costs included in any sale.
The bills were laid over for possible inclusion in future committee bills.
Additional information and documents from the hearings are available on the Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee webpage and the State and Local Government Finance and Policy Committee webpage.
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