But the bands across Michigan continued to try to recover their tribal status. In the 20th century, the tribes organized, working to respond to the President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Indian New Deal - the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, which encouraged Native Americans to reorganize their tribal governments. But the Michigan Ottawa were prohibited from organizing under this act. In Michigan, three main groups organizing through the 1930s and 1940s were the Michigan Indian Defense Association (1933), the Michigan Indian Foundation (1941), and the Northern Michigan Ottawa Association (NMOA) (1948). The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa was known as the NMOA, Unit 1, as there were other bands represented in this group. NMOA, Unit 1 filed a civil suit to gain protected fishing rights under its 19th-century treaty, arguing that it had not given up fishing rights when ceding control over its lands. The federal courts refused to recognize NMOA Unit 1 as a tribe because they were an organization. Heartened by the success of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians in gaining federal recognition in 1980, the Little Traverse bands reorganized again. Their members passed a constitution and set up a government, taking the name 'Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians.' A federal court still denied the tribe treaty fishing rights, saying that it was not federally recognized so had no status under the treaties. Given its well-documented treaty relations of its historic bands with the federal government, the Little Traverse Bay tribe began to pursue legislative reaffirmation of its tribal status. On September 21, 1994, President Bill Clinton signed into law Senate Bill 1357, which reaffirmed the United States' political relationship with the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians (and with the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, which was also recognized). The tribe is made up of descendants of nine bands of Odawak who traditionally lived in this area:  1) North Shore (Naubinway west to Escanaba);  2) the Beaver Islands;  3) Cross Village; 4) Burt Lake;  5) Good Heart (Middle Village);  6) Harbor Springs;  7) Petoskey;  8) Bay Shore; and  9) Charlevoix. Most tribal members continue to live in the area of their traditional homeland. The historically delineated reservation area, located at , encompasses approximately of land in Charlevoix and Emmet counties.