HR226-119

What This Bill Does

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Historic Lands Reacquisition Act transfers specified TVA-managed lands around Tellico Reservoir in Monroe County, Tennessee into trust for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. The trust lands include about 46.0 acres around the Sequoyah Museum parcels, about 11.9 acres of support parcel land, and about 18.2 acres around the Chota Memorial and Tanasi Memorial, including the Chota Memorial circle. The bill also takes permanent easements below the 820-foot contour into trust for the Chota Memorial 2 parcel and the Chota-Tanasi Trail. TVA must consult with the Eastern Band and the Secretary of the Interior and submit revised maps to the House Natural Resources Committee and Senate Indian Affairs Committee within one year after the transaction. The lands may be used for Cherokee memorials, museum operations, cultural interpretation, reinterment, Trail of Tears interpretation, recreational activities, and related support facilities, but section 5 preserves TVA's reservoir-management and flood-control rights and section 7 prohibits class II or class III gaming.

Who Benefits and How

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Cherokee cultural-preservation staff, Sequoyah Birthplace Museum visitors, families connected to Cherokee reinterment sites, Chota Memorial caretakers, Tanasi Memorial caretakers, Chota-Tanasi Trail users, Monroe County heritage-tourism businesses, and Cherokee history educators benefit because federal trust status protects culturally significant lands, confirms tribal ownership of memorial improvements, supports museum and trail uses, and gives the tribe a clearer legal base for interpreting Cherokee history around Tellico Reservoir.

Who Bears the Burden and How

The Tennessee Valley Authority, TVA reservoir managers, TVA map-preparation staff, the Secretary of the Interior, House Natural Resources Committee staff, Senate Indian Affairs Committee staff, road easement holders, utility easement holders, the Eastern Band's land-management officials, and gaming operators bear burdens because the transfer requires revised maps, consultation, trust administration, consent for certain water-use facilities, preservation of TVA flood and right-of-entry powers, restrictions below the 824-foot and 815-foot contours, and a ban on class II and class III gaming on the lands.

Key Provisions

• Takes about 76 acres of specified TVA-managed memorial, museum, support, Chota, and Tanasi lands into trust for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
• Takes permanent Chota Memorial 2 and Chota-Tanasi Trail easements into trust for the tribe.
• Requires TVA, after consultation with the tribe and Interior Secretary, to submit corrected trust-land maps to House and Senate committees.
• Preserves TVA authority to flood, draw down, fluctuate, enter, and manage Tellico Reservoir for river-control purposes.
• Limits tribal construction near reservoir contours to approved water-use facilities and nonhabitable improvements.
• Prohibits class II and class III gaming on the trust lands.