USC Chapter 9

USC Chapter 9
in effect

25 U.S.C. § 334 Allotments to Indians not residing on reservations

Where any Indian not residing upon a reservation, or for whose tribe no reservation has been provided by treaty, act of Congress, or executive order, shall make settlement upon any surveyed or unsurveyed lands of the United States not otherwise appropriated, he or she shall be entitled, upon application to the local land office for the district in which the lands are located, to have the same allotted to him or her, and to his or her children, in quantities and manner as provided in this act for Indians residing upon reservations; and when such settlement is made upon unsurveyed lands the grant to such Indians shall be adjusted upon the survey of the lands so as to conform thereto; and patents shall be issued to them for such lands in the manner and with the restrictions as provided in sections 348 and 349 of this title. And the fees to which the officers of such local land office would have been entitled had such lands been entered under the general laws for the disposition of the public lands shall be paid to them, from any moneys in the Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated, upon a statement of an account in their behalf for such fees by the Secretary of the Interior or such officer as he may designate, and a certification of such account to the Secretary of the Treasury by the Secretary of the Interior.

25 U.S.C. § 335 Extension of provisions as to allotments

Unless otherwise specifically provided, the provisions of the Act of February 8, 1887 (Twenty-fourth Statutes at Large, page 388), as amended, are extended to all lands heretofore purchased or which may be purchased by authority of Congress for the use or benefit of any individual Indian or band or tribe of Indians.

25 U.S.C. § 336 Allotments to Indians making settlement

Where any Indian entitled to allotment under existing laws shall make settlement upon any surveyed or unsurveyed lands of the United States not otherwise appropriated, he or she shall be entitled, upon application to the local land office for the district in which the lands are located, to have the same allotted to him or her and to his or her children in manner as provided by law for allotments to Indians residing upon reservations, and such allotments to Indians on the public domain as herein provided shall be made in such areas as the President may deem proper, not to exceed, however, forty acres of irrigable land or eighty acres of nonirrigable agricultural land or one hundred sixty acres of nonirrigable grazing land to any one Indian; and when such settlement is made upon unsurveyed lands the grant to such Indians shall be adjusted upon the survey of the lands so as to conform thereto, and patent shall be issued to them for such lands in the manner and with the restrictions provided in sections 348 and 349 of this title. And the fees to which the officers of such local land office would have been entitled had such lands been entered under the general laws for the disposition of the public lands shall be paid to them from any moneys in the Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated, upon a statement of an account in their behalf for such fees by the Secretary of the Interior or such officer as he may designate, and a certification of such account to the Secretary of the Treasury by the Secretary of the Interior.

25 U.S.C. § 337 Allotments in national forests

The Secretary of the Interior is authorized, in his discretion, to make allotments within the national forests in conformity with the general allotment laws, to any Indian occupying, living on, or having improvements on land included within any such national forest who is not entitled to an allotment on any existing Indian reservation, or for whose tribe no reservation has been provided, or whose reservation was not sufficient to afford an allotment to each member thereof. All applications for allotments under the provisions of this section shall be submitted to the Secretary of Agriculture who shall determine whether the lands applied for are more valuable for agricultural or grazing purposes than for the timber found thereon; and if it be found that the lands applied for are more valuable for agricultural or grazing purposes, then the Secretary of the Interior shall cause allotment to be made as herein provided.

25 U.S.C. § 339 Tribes excepted from certain provisions

The provisions of this act shall not extend to the territory occupied by the Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Seminoles, and Osage, Miamies and Peorias, and Sacs and Foxes, in Oklahoma, nor to any of the reservations of the Seneca Nation of New York Indians in the State of New York, nor to that strip of territory in the State of Nebraska adjoining the Sioux Nation on the south added by Executive order.

25 U.S.C. § 340 Extension of certain provisions

The provisions of the Act of February 8, 1887, are declared to extend to and are made applicable to the Confederated Wea, Peoria, Kaskaskia, and Piankeshaw tribes of Indians, and the Western Miami tribe of Indians, located in the northeastern part of the former Indian Territory and to their reservation, in the same manner and to the same extent as if said tribes had not been excepted from the provisions of said act, except as to section 349 of this title, and as otherwise hereinafter provided.

25 U.S.C. § 341 Power to grant rights-of-way not affected

Nothing in this act shall be so construed as to affect the right and power of Congress to grant the right of way through any lands granted to an Indian, or a tribe of Indians, for railroads or other highways, or telegraph lines, for the public use, or to condemn such lands to public uses, upon making just compensation.

25 U.S.C. § 342 Removal of Southern Utes to new reservation

Nothing in this act shall be so construed as to prevent the removal of the Southern Ute Indians from their present reservation in southwestern Colorado to a new reservation by and with the consent of a majority of the adult male members of said tribe.

25 U.S.C. § 343 Correction of errors in allotments and patents

In all cases where it shall appear that a double allotment of land has been wrongfully or erroneously made by the Secretary of the Interior to any Indian by an assumed name or otherwise, or where a mistake has been made in the description of the land inserted in any patent, said Secretary is authorized and directed, during the time that the United States may hold the title to the land in trust for any such Indian, and for which a conditional patent may have been issued, to rectify and correct such mistakes and cancel any patent which may have been thus erroneously and wrongfully issued whenever in his opinion the same ought to be canceled for error in the issue thereof, and if possession of the original patent cannot be obtained, such cancellation shall be effective if made upon the records of the Bureau of Land Management; and no proclamation shall be necessary to open to settlement the lands to which such an erroneous allotment patent has been canceled, provided such lands would otherwise be subject to entry: And provided, That such lands shall not be open to settlement for sixty days after such cancellation: And further provided, That no conditional patent that has been or that may be executed in favor of any Indian allottee, excepting in cases hereinbefore authorized, and excepting in cases where the conditional patent is relinquished by the patentee or his heirs to take another allotment, shall be subject to cancellation without authority of Congress.

25 U.S.C. § 344 Cancellation of allotment of unsuitable land

If any Indian of a tribe whose surplus lands have been ceded or opened to disposal has received an allotment embracing lands unsuitable for allotment purposes, such allotment may be canceled and other unappropriated, unoccupied, and unreserved land of equal area, within the ceded portions of the reservation upon which such Indian belongs, allotted to him upon the same terms and with the same restrictions as the original allotment, and lands described in any such canceled allotment shall be disposed of as other ceded lands of such reservation. This provision shall not apply to the lands formerly comprising Indian Territory. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to prescribe rules and regulations to carry this law into effect.

25 U.S.C. § 345 Actions for allotments

All persons who are in whole or in part of Indian blood or descent who are entitled to an allotment of land under any law of Congress, or who claim to be so entitled to land under any allotment Act or under any grant made by Congress, or who claim to have been unlawfully denied or excluded from any allotment or any parcel of land to which they claim to be lawfully entitled by virtue of any Act of Congress, may commence and prosecute or defend any action, suit, or proceeding in relation to their right thereto in the proper district court of the United States; and said district courts are given jurisdiction to try and determine any action, suit, or proceeding arising within their respective jurisdictions involving the right of any person, in whole or in part of Indian blood or descent, to any allotment of land under any law or treaty (and in said suit the parties thereto shall be the claimant as plaintiff and the United States as party defendant); and the judgment or decree of any such court in favor of any claimant to an allotment of land shall have the same effect, when properly certified to the Secretary of the Interior, as if such allotment had been allowed and approved by him, but this provision shall not apply to any lands now held by either of the Five Civilized Tribes, nor to any of the lands within the Quapaw Indian Agency: Provided, That the right of appeal shall be allowed to either party as in other cases.

25 U.S.C. § 346 Proceedings in actions for allotments

The plaintiff shall cause a copy of his petition filed under section 345 of this title, to be served upon the United States attorney in the district wherein suit is brought, and shall mail a copy of same, by registered letter, to the Attorney General of the United States, and shall thereupon cause to be filed with the clerk of the court wherein suit is instituted an affidavit of such service and the mailing of such letter. It shall be the duty of the United States attorney upon whom service of petition is made as aforesaid to appear and defend the interests of the Government in the suit, and within sixty days after the service of petition upon him, unless the time should be extended by order of the court made in the case to file a plea, answer, or demurrer on the part of the Government, and to file a notice of any counterclaim, set-off, claim for damages, or other demand or defense whatsoever of the Government in the premises: Provided, That should the United States attorney neglect or refuse to file the plea, answer, demurrer, or defense, as required, the plaintiff may proceed with the case under such rules as the court may adopt in the premises; but the plaintiff shall not have judgment or decree for his claim, or any part thereof, unless he shall establish the same by proof satisfactory to the court.

25 U.S.C. § 347 Limitations of actions for lands patented in severalty under treaties

In all actions brought in any State court or United States court by any patentee, his heirs, grantees, or any person claiming under such patentee, for the possession or rents or profits of lands patented in severalty to the members of any tribe of Indians under any treaty between it and the United States of America, where a deed has been approved by the Secretary of the Interior to the land sought to be recovered, the statutes of limitations of the States in which said land is situate shall be held to apply, and it shall be a complete defense to such action that the same has not been brought within the time prescribed by the statutes of said State the same as if such action had been brought for the recovery of land patented to others than members of any tribe of Indians.

25 U.S.C. § 348 Patents to be held in trust; descent and partition

Upon the approval of the allotments provided for in this act by the Secretary of the Interior, he shall cause patents to issue therefor in the name of the allottees, which patents shall be of the legal effect, and declare that the United States does and will hold the land thus allotted, for the period of twenty-five years, in trust for the sole use and benefit of the Indian to whom such allotment shall have been made, or, in case of his decease, of his heirs according to the laws of the State or Territory where such land is located, and that at the expiration of said period the United States will convey the same by patent to said Indian, or his heirs as aforesaid, in fee, discharged of said trust and free of all charge or incumbrance whatsoever: Provided, That the President of the United States may in any case in his discretion extend the period. And if any conveyance shall be made of the lands set apart and allotted as herein provided, or any contract made touching the same, before the expiration of the time above mentioned, such conveyance or contract shall be absolutely null and void: Provided, That, subject to section 8(b) of the American Indian Probate Reform Act of 2004 (Public Law 108–374; 118 Stat. 1810), the rules of intestate succession under the Indian Land Consolidation Act (25 U.S.C. 2201 et seq.) (including a tribal probate code approved under that Act or regulations promulgated under that Act) shall apply to that land for which patents have been executed and delivered: And provided further, That at any time after lands have been allotted to all the Indians of any tribe as herein provided, or sooner if in the opinion of the President it shall be for the best interests of said tribe, it shall be lawful for the Secretary of the Interior to negotiate with such Indian tribe for the purchase and release by said tribe, in conformity with the treaty or statute under which such reservation is held, of such portions of its reservation not allotted as such tribe shall, from time to time, consent to sell, on such terms and conditions as shall be considered just and equitable between the United States and said tribe of Indians, which purchase shall not be complete until ratified by Congress, and the form and manner of executing such release shall also be prescribed by Congress: Provided, however, That all lands adapted to agriculture, with or without irrigation so sold or released to the United States by any Indian tribe shall be held by the United States for the sole purpose of securing homes to actual settlers and shall be disposed of by the United States to actual and bona fide settlers only in tracts not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres to any one person, on such terms as Congress shall prescribe, subject to grants which Congress may make in aid of education: And provided further, That no patents shall issue therefor except to the person so taking the same as and for a homestead, or his heirs, and after the expiration of five years’ occupancy thereof as such homestead; and any conveyance of said lands so taken as a homestead, or any contract touching the same, or lien thereon, created prior to the date of such patent, shall be null and void. And the sums agreed to be paid by the United States as purchase money for any portion of any such reservation shall be held in the Treasury of the United States for the sole use of the tribe or tribes of Indians; to whom such reservations belonged; and the same, with interest thereon at 3 per centum per annum, shall be at all times subject to appropriation by Congress for the education and civilization of such tribe or tribes of Indians or the members thereof. The patents aforesaid shall be recorded in the Bureau of Land Management, and afterwards delivered, free of charge, to the allottee entitled thereto. And if any religious society or other organization was occupying on February 8, 1887, any of the public lands to which this act is applicable, for religious or educational work among the Indians, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to confirm such occupation to such society or organization, in quantity not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres in any one tract, so long as the same shall be so occupied, on such terms as he shall deem just; but nothing herein contained shall change or alter any claim of such society for religious or educational purposes heretofore granted by law. And in the employment of Indian police, or any other employees in the public service among any of the Indian tribes or bands affected by this act, and where Indians can perform the duties required, those Indians who have availed themselves of the provisions of this act and become citizens of the United States shall be preferred. Provided further, That whenever the Secretary of the Interior shall be satisfied that any of the Indians of the Siletz Indian Reservation, in the State of Oregon, fully capable of managing their own business affairs, and being of the age of twenty-one years or upward, shall, through inheritance or otherwise, become the owner of more than eighty acres of land upon said reservation, he shall cause patents to be issued to such Indian or Indians for all of such lands over and above the eighty acres thereof. Said patent or patents shall be issued for the least valuable portions of said lands, and the same shall be discharged of any trust and free of all charge, incumbrance, or restriction whatsoever; and the Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed to ascertain, as soon as shall be practicable, whether any of said Indians of the Siletz Reservation should receive patents conveying in fee lands to them under the provisions of this Act.

25 U.S.C. § 348a Extension of trust period for Indians of Klamath River Reservation

The period of trust on lands allotted to Indians of the Klamath River Reservation, California, which expired July 31, 1919, and the legal title to which is still in the United States, is reimposed and extended for a period of twenty-five years from July 31, 1919: Provided, That further extension of the period of trust may be made by the President, in his discretion, as provided by section 348 and section 391 of this title.

25 U.S.C. § 349 Patents in fee to allottees

At the expiration of the trust period and when the lands have been conveyed to the Indians by patent in fee, as provided in section 348 of this title, then each and every allottee shall have the benefit of and be subject to the laws, both civil and criminal, of the State or Territory in which they may reside; and no Territory shall pass or enforce any law denying any such Indian within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law: Provided, That the Secretary of the Interior may, in his discretion, and he is authorized, whenever he shall be satisfied that any Indian allottee is competent and capable of managing his or her affairs at any time to cause to be issued to such allottee a patent in fee simple, and thereafter all restrictions as to sale, incumbrance, or taxation of said land shall be removed and said land shall not be liable to the satisfaction of any debt contracted prior to the issuing of such patent: Provided further, That until the issuance of fee-simple patents all allottees to whom trust patents shall be issued shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States: And provided further, That the provisions of this Act shall not extend to any Indians in the former Indian Territory.

25 U.S.C. § 350 Surrender of patent, and selection of other land

The Secretary of the Interior is authorized, in his discretion, and whenever for good and sufficient reason he shall consider it to be for the best interest of the Indians, in making allotments under the act of February 8, 1887, to permit any Indian to whom a patent has been issued for land on the reservation to which such Indian belongs, under treaty or existing law, to surrender such patent with formal relinquishment by such Indian to the United States of all his or her right, title, and interest in the land conveyed thereby, properly indorsed thereon, and to cancel such surrendered patent: Provided, That the Indian so surrendering the same shall make a selection, in lieu thereof, of other land and receive patent therefor, under the provisions of the act of February 8, 1887.

25 U.S.C. § 351 Patents with restrictions for lots in villages in Washington

The Secretary of the Interior is authorized, whenever in his opinion it shall be conducive to the best welfare and interest of the Indians living within any Indian village on any of the Indian reservations in the State of Washington to issue a patent to each of said Indians for the village or town lot occupied by him, which patent shall contain restrictions against the alienation of the lot described therein to persons other than members of the tribe, except on approval of the Secretary of the Interior; and if any such Indian shall die subsequent to June 25, 1910, and before receiving patent to the lot occupied by him, the lot to which such Indian would have been entitled if living shall be patented in his name and shall be disposed of as provided for in section 372 of this title.

25 U.S.C. § 352 Cancellation of trust patents within power or reservoir sites

The Secretary of the Interior, after notice and hearing, is authorized to cancel trust patents issued to Indian allottees for allotments within any power or reservoir site and for allotments or such portions of allotments as are located upon or include lands set aside, reserved, or required within any Indian reservation for irrigation purposes under authority of Congress: Provided, That any Indian allottee whose allotment shall be so canceled shall be reimbursed for all improvements on his canceled allotment, out of any moneys available for the construction of the irrigation project for which the said power or reservoir site may be set aside: Provided further, That any Indian allottee whose allotment, or part thereof, is so canceled shall be allotted land of equal value within the area subject to irrigation by any such project.

25 U.S.C. § 352a Cancellation of patents in fee simple for allotments held in trust

The Secretary of the Interior is authorized, in his discretion, to cancel any patent in fee simple issued to an Indian allottee or to his heirs before the end of the period of trust described in the original or trust patent issued to such allottee, or before the expiration of any extension of such period of trust by the President, where such patent in fee simple was issued without the consent or an application therefor by the allottee or by his heirs: Provided, That the patentee has not mortgaged or sold any part of the land described in such patent: Provided also, That upon cancellation of such patent in fee simple the land shall have the same status as though such fee patent had never been issued.

25 U.S.C. § 352b Partial cancellation; issuance of new trust patents

Where patents in fee have been issued for Indian allotments, during the trust period, without application by or consent of the patentees, and such patentees or Indian heirs have sold a part of the land included in the patents, or have mortgaged the lands or any part thereof and such mortgages have been satisfied, such lands remaining undisposed of and without incumbrance by the patentees, or Indian heirs, may be given a trust patent status and the Secretary of the Interior is, on application of the allottee or his or her Indian heirs, hereby authorized, in his discretion, to cancel patents in fee so far as they cover such unsold lands not encumbered by mortgage, and to cause new trust patents to be issued therefor, to the allottees or their Indian heirs, of the form and legal effect as provided by the Act of February 8, 1887 (24 Stat. 388), such patents to be effective from the date of the original trust patents, and the land shall be subject to any extensions of the trust made by Executive order on other allotments of members of the same tribe, and such lands shall have the same status as though such fee patents had never been issued: Provided, That this section and section 352a of this title shall not apply where any such lands have been sold for unpaid taxes assessed after the date of a mortgage or deed executed by the patentee or his heirs, or sold in execution of a judgment for debt incurred after date of such mortgage or deed, and the period of redemption has expired.

25 U.S.C. § 352c Reimbursement of allottees or heirs for taxes paid on lands patented in fee before end of trust

The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized, under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, to reimburse Indian allottees, or Indian heirs or Indian devisees of allottees, for all taxes paid, including penalties and interest, on so much of their allotted lands as have been patented in fee prior to the expiration of the period of trust without application by or consent of the patentee: Provided, That if the Indian allottee, or his or her Indian heirs or Indian devisees, have by their own act accepted such patent, no reimbursement shall be made for taxes paid, including penalties and interest, subsequent to acceptance of the patent: Provided further, That the fact of such acceptance shall be determined by the Secretary of the Interior. In any case in which a claim against a State, county, or political subdivision thereof, for taxes collected upon such lands during the trust period has been reduced to judgment and such judgment remains unsatisfied in whole or in part, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized, upon reimbursement by him to the Indian of the amount of taxes including penalties and interest paid thereon, and upon payment by the judgment debtor of the costs of the suit, to cause such judgment to be released: Provided further, That in any case, upon submission of adequate proof, the claims for taxes paid by or on behalf of the patentee or his Indian heirs or Indian devisees have been satisfied, in whole or in part, by the State, county, or political subdivision thereof, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to reimburse the State, county, or political subdivision for such amounts as may have been paid by them.

25 U.S.C. § 353 Sections inapplicable to certain tribes

The provisions of this Act shall not apply to the Osage Indians, nor to the Five Civilized Tribes, in Oklahoma. Where deeds to tribal lands in the Five Civilized Tribes have been or may be issued, in pursuance of any tribal agreement or Act of Congress, to a person who had died, or who dies before the approval of such deed, the title to the land designated therein shall inure to and become vested in the heirs, devisees, or assigns of such deceased grantee as if the deed had issued to the deceased grantee during life.

25 U.S.C. § 354 Lands not liable for debts prior to final patent

No lands acquired under the provisions of this Act shall, in any event, become liable to the satisfaction of any debt contracted prior to the issuing of the final patent in fee therefor.

25 U.S.C. § 355 Laws applicable to lands of full-blooded members of Five Civilized Tribes

The lands of full-blooded members of any of the Five Civilized Tribes are made subject to the laws of the State of Oklahoma, providing for the partition of real estate. Any land allotted in such proceedings to a full-blood Indian, or conveyed to him upon his election to take the same at the appraisement, shall remain subject to all restrictions upon alienation and taxation obtaining prior to such partition. In case of a sale under any decree, or partition, the conveyance thereunder shall operate to relieve the land described of all restrictions of every character.

25 U.S.C. § 356 Allowance of undisputed claims of restricted allottees of Five Civilized Tribes

No undisputed claims to be paid from individual moneys of restricted allottees, or their heirs, or uncontested agricultural and mineral leases (excluding oil and gas leases) made by individual restricted Indian allottees, or their heirs, shall be forwarded to the Secretary of the Interior for approval, but all such undisputed claims or uncontested leases (except oil and gas leases) shall be paid, approved, rejected, or disapproved by the Superintendent for the Five Civilized Tribes of Oklahoma: Provided, however, That any party aggrieved by any decision or order of the Superintendent for the Five Civilized Tribes of Oklahoma may appeal from the same to the Secretary of the Interior within thirty days from the date of said decision or order.

25 U.S.C. § 357 Condemnation of lands under laws of States

Lands allotted in severalty to Indians may be condemned for any public purpose under the laws of the State or Territory where located in the same manner as land owned in fee may be condemned, and the money awarded as damages shall be paid to the allottee.

25 U.S.C. § 358 Repeal of statutory provisions relating to survey, classification, and allotments which provide for repayment out of Indian moneys

Any and all provisions contained in any Act passed prior to March 7, 1928, for the survey, resurvey, classification, and allotment of lands in severalty under the provisions of the Act of February 8, 1887 (24 Stat. 388), which provide for the repayment of funds appropriated proportionately out of any Indian moneys held in trust or otherwise by the United States and available by law for such reimbursable purposes, are repealed: Provided further, That the repeal shall not affect any funds authorized to be reimbursed by any special Act of Congress wherein a particular or special fund is mentioned from which reimbursement shall be made.

Starting a business? Corpus forms LLCs in all 50 states and DC.