The Grand River Bands has been going through the federal recognition process for three decades with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, debating criteria used to determine a tribe’s status.
Michigan Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters have now introduced the Grand River Bands of Ottawa Indians Restoration Act of 2024, seeking to clarify the tribe’s status with federal recognition.
Congresswoman Hillary Scholten introduced a companion bill in the U.S. House.
That designation would provide tribal members with access to resources and funding for social services, education, housing, elder care, treaty rights and input on federal legislation impacting tribes, says Ron Yob, chairman of the Grand River Bands.
“You know we are who we are and we’re trying to reestablish that especially for future generations because every generation that comes through, I believe it gets harder for them to do that.”
Tribal leaders say the Grand River Bands is the last treaty tribe east of the Mississippi River without federal recognition even though its history in southwestern Michigan has been widely documented since 1795.
Today, most of the tribe’s members live in Kent, Muskegon, and Oceana counties.
