For the purpose of this chapter—
(1) “tribe” means any Indian tribe, band, group, pueblo, or community for which, or for the members of which, the United States holds lands in trust;
(2) “Indian” means any person who is a member of a tribe or any person who is recognized as an Indian by the Secretary of the Interior;
(3) “Secretary” means the Secretary of the Interior, and
(4) “trust or restricted lands” means lands, title to which is held by the United States in trust for an Indian or an Indian tribe or lands title to which is held by Indians or an Indian tribe subject to a restriction by the United States against alienation.
(Pub. L. 97–459, title II, §202, Jan. 12, 1983, 96 Stat. 2517.)
Pub. L. 102–238, §1, Dec. 17, 1991, 105 Stat. 1908, provided that: “This Act [amending sections 2203, 2703, and 2718 of this title, enacting provisions set out as a note under section 1437f of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, and repealing provisions set out as a note under section 1437f of Title 42] may be cited as the ‘Technical Amendments to Various Indian Laws Act of 1991’.”
Section 201 of title II of Pub. L. 97–459 provided that: “This title [enacting this chapter] may be cited as the ‘Indian Land Consolidation Act’.”
The provisions of section 465 of this title shall apply to all tribes notwithstanding the provisions of section 478 of this title: Provided, That nothing in this section is intended to supersede any other provision of Federal law which authorizes, prohibits, or restricts the acquisition of land for Indians with respect to any specific tribe, reservation, or state(s).
(Pub. L. 97–459, title II, §203, Jan. 12, 1983, 96 Stat. 2517.)
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any tribe, acting through its governing body, is authorized, with the approval of the Secretary to adopt a land consolidation plan providing for the sale or exchange of any tribal lands or interest in lands for the purpose of eliminating undivided fractional interests in Indian trust or restricted lands or consolidating its tribal landholdings: Provided, That—
(1) except as provided by subsection (c) of this section, the sale price or exchange value received by the tribe for land or interests in land covered by this section shall be no less than within 10 per centum of the fair market value as determined by the Secretary;
(2) if the tribal land involved in an exchange is of greater or lesser value than the land for which it is being exchanged, the tribe may accept or give cash in such exchange in order to equalize the values of the property exchanged;
(3) any proceeds from the sale of land or interests in land or proceeds received by the tribe to equalize an exchange made pursuant to this section shall be used exclusively for the purchase of other land or interests in land;
(4) the Secretary shall maintain a separate trust account for each tribe selling or exchanging land pursuant to this section consisting of the proceeds of the land sales and exchanges and shall release such funds only for the purpose of buying lands under this section; and
(5) any tribe may retain the mineral rights to such sold or exchanged lands and the Secretary shall assist such tribe in determining the value of such mineral rights and shall take such value into consideration in determining the fair market value of such lands.
The Secretary must execute such instrument of conveyance needed to effectuate a sale or exchange of tribal lands made pursuant to an approved tribal land consolidation plan unless he makes a specific finding that such sale or exchange is not in the best interest of the tribe or is not in compliance with the tribal land consolidation plan.
The Secretary may execute instruments of conveyance for less than fair market value to effectuate the transfer of lands used as homesites held, on December 17, 1991, by the United States in trust for the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Only the lands used as homesites, and described in the land consolidation plan of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma approved by the Secretary on February 6, 1987, shall be subject to this subsection.
(Pub. L. 97–459, title II, §204, Jan. 12, 1983, 96 Stat. 2517; Pub. L. 98–608, §1(1), Oct. 30, 1984, 98 Stat. 3171; Pub. L. 102–238, §3, Dec. 17, 1991, 105 Stat. 1908.)
1991—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 102–238, §3(1), substituted “(1) except as provided by subsection (c) of this section, the sale price” for “(1) the sale price”.
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 102–238, §3(2), added subsec. (c).
1984—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 98–608 amended subsec. (a) generally, substituting “: Provided, That—” for period at end and inserting five numbered pars., thereby correcting errors originally contained in this section as enacted by Pub. L. 97–459, the text of which had a portion of section 204 appearing in section 206 (classified to section 2205 of this title) as the result of inadvertent error in the execution of committee amendments (see House Report No. 97–908, Sept. 30, 1982) to the bill. Pub. L. 97–459 enacted subsec. (a) as ending with “tribal landholdings.”, and included portion of section 204 containing proviso and five numbered pars. within text of section 206.
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 98–608 included subsec. (b) within this section and substituted a period for the dash after “tribal land consolidation plan”, thereby correcting errors originally contained in this section as enacted by Pub. L. 97–459, which, as the result of inadvertent error in the execution of committee amendments (see House Report No. 97–908, Sept. 30, 1982) to the bill, enacted subsec. (b) as part of section 206(b) of Pub. L. 97–459 and ended it with “tribal land consolidation plan—”.
Any Indian tribe may purchase at no less than the fair market value part or all of the interests in any tract of trust or restricted land within that tribe's reservation or otherwise subject to that tribe's jurisdiction with the consent of the owners of such interests. The tribe may purchase all of the interests in such tract with the consent of the owners of over 50 per centum of the undivided interests in such tract: Provided, That—
(1) any Indian owning any undivided interest, and in actual use and possession of such tract for at least three years preceding the tribal initiative, may purchase such tract by matching the tribal offer;
(2) if, at any time within five years following the date of acquisition of such land by an individual pursuant to this section, such property is offered for sale or a petition is filed with the Secretary for removal of the property from trust or restricted status, the tribe shall have 180 days from the date it is notified of such offer or petition to acquire such property by paying to the owner the fair market value as determined by the Secretary;
(3) all purchases and sales initiated under this section shall be subject to approval by the Secretary.
(Pub. L. 97–459, title II, §205, Jan. 12, 1983, 96 Stat. 2517; Pub. L. 98–608, §1(2), Oct. 30, 1984, 98 Stat. 3171.)
1984—Pub. L. 98–608 amended section generally, substituting “the owners of such interests. The tribe may purchase all of the interests in such tract with the consent of the owners of over 50 per centum of the undivided interests in such tract” for “of over 50 per centum of the owners or with the consent of the owners of over 50 per centum of undivided interests in such tract” before proviso.
Par. (1). Pub. L. 98–608 redesignated par. (2) as (1) and inserted “for at least three years preceding the tribal initiative,” before “may purchase such tract”. Former par. (1), which provided that no such tract shall be acquired by any Indian or tribe over the objections of three or less owners owning 50 per centum or more of the total interest in such tract, was struck out.
Par. (2). Pub. L. 98–608 added par. (2). Former par. (2) redesignated (1).
Pars. (3), (4). Pub. L. 98–608 redesignated par. (4) as (3), and in par. (3), as so redesignated, substituted “subject to approval” for “approved” and struck out former par. (3), which provided that “this section shall not apply to any tract of land owned by less than fifteen persons; and”.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any Indian tribe, subject to approval by the Secretary, may adopt its own code of laws to govern descent and distribution of trust or restricted lands within that tribe's reservation or otherwise subject to that tribe's jurisdiction, and may provide that nonmembers of the tribe or non-Indians shall not be entitled to receive by devise or descent any interest or 1 trust or restricted lands within that tribe's reservation or otherwise subject to that tribe's jurisdiction: Provided, That in the event a tribe takes such action—
(1) if an Indian dies intestate, the surviving non-Indian or nonmember spouse and/or children may elect to receive a life estate in as much of the trust or restricted lands as such person or persons would have been entitled to take in the absence of such restriction on eligibility for inheritance and the remainder shall vest in the Indians or tribal members who would have been heirs in the absence of a qualified person taking a life estate;
(2) if an intestate Indian descendent has no heir to whom interests in trust or restricted lands may pass, such interests shall escheat to the tribe, subject to any non-Indian or nonmember spouse and/or children's rights as described in paragraph (1) of this section;
(3) if an Indian decedent has devised interests in trust or restricted lands to persons who are ineligible for such an inheritance by reason of a tribal ordinance enacted pursuant to this section, the devise shall be voided only if, while the estate is pending before the Secretary for probate, the tribe acquires such interests by paying to the Secretary, on behalf of the devisees, the fair market value of such interests as determined by the Secretary as of the date of the decedent's death: Provided, That any non-Indian or nonmember spouse and/or children of such decedent who have been devised such interests may retain, at their option, a life estate in such interests.
Any ineligible devisee shall also have the right to renounce his or her devise in favor of a person or persons who are eligible to inherit.
The right to receive a life estate under the provisions of this section shall be limited to—
(1) a spouse and/or children who, if they had been eligible, would have inherited an ownership interest of 10 per centum or more in the tract of land; or
(2) a spouse and/or children who occupied the tract as a home at the time of the decedent's death.
(Pub. L. 97–459, title II, §206, Jan. 12, 1983, 96 Stat. 2518; Pub. L. 98–608, §1(3), Oct. 30, 1984, 98 Stat. 3172.)
1984—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 98–608 amended subsec. (a) generally, designating existing provisions as subsec. (a), substituting provisions allowing adoption of a code of laws by an Indian tribe to govern descent and distribution of trust or restricted lands within the reservation or jurisdiction of the tribe, subject to the Secretary's approval for former provisions which allowed tribes to act “by appropriate action of its governing body”, and inserting proviso and numbered pars. (1) to (3) and sentence following par. (3). Amendment by Pub. L. 98–608 corrected errors originally contained in this section as enacted by Pub. L. 97–459, which as the result of inadvertent error in the execution of committee amendments (see House Report No. 97–908, Sept. 30, 1982) to the bill, contained provisions set out following proviso and preceding final pars. (1) to (3), such provisions consisting of pars. (1) to (5) and subsec. (b), which were intended to be part of section 204 of Pub. L. 97–459, which is classified to section 2203 of this title.
Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 98–608 substituted provisions allowing election of life estate with remainder vesting in Indians or tribal members who would have been heirs for former provisions which provided for entitlement to life estate.
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 98–608 added subsec. (b).
This section is referred to in section 2207 of this title.
1 So in original. Probably should be “in”.
No undivided interest held by a member or nonmember Indian in any tract of trust land or restricted land within a tribe's reservation or outside of a reservation and subject to such tribe's jurisdiction shall descend by intestacy or devise but shall escheat to the reservation's recognized tribal government, or if outside of a reservation, to the recognized tribal government possessing jurisdiction over the land if such interest represents 2 per centum or less of the total acreage in such tract and is incapable of earning $100 in any one of the five years from the date of decedent's death. Where the fractional interest has earned to its owner less than $100 in any one of the five years before the decedent's death, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that such interest is incapable of earning $100 in any one of the five years following the death of the decedent.
Nothing in this section shall prohibit the devise of such an escheatable fractional interest to any other owner of an undivided fractional interest in such parcel or tract of trust or restricted land.
Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, any Indian tribe may, subject to the approval of the Secretary, adopt its own code of laws to govern the disposition of interests that are escheatable under this section, and such codes or laws shall take precedence over the escheat provisions of subsection (a) of this section, provided, the Secretary shall not approve any code or law that fails to accomplish the purpose of preventing further descent or fractionation of such escheatable interests.
(Pub. L. 97–459, title II, §207, Jan. 12, 1983, 96 Stat. 2519; Pub. L. 98–608, §1(4), Oct. 30, 1984, 98 Stat. 3172; Pub. L. 101–644, title III, §301(a), Nov. 29, 1990, 104 Stat. 4666.)
1990—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 101–644 substituted “No undivided interest held by a member or nonmember Indian in any tract of trust land or restricted land within a tribe's reservation or outside of a reservation and subject to such tribe's jurisdiction shall descend by intestacy or devise but shall escheat to the reservation's recognized tribal government, or if outside of a reservation, to the recognized tribal government possessing jurisdiction over the land” for “No undivided interest in any tract of trust or restricted land within a tribe's reservation or otherwise subject to a tribe's jurisdiction shall descend by intestacy or devise but shall escheat to that tribe”.
1984—Pub. L. 98–608 amended section generally, designating existing provisions as subsec. (a), striking out “fractional” before “interest in any tract”, substituting “descend” for “descendent” before “by intestacy or devise”, and “is incapable of earning $100 in any one of the five years from the date of decedent's death” for “has earned to its owner less than $100 in the preceding year before it is due to escheat”, and inserting second sentence and adding subsecs. (b) and (c).
The Secretary in carrying out his responsibility to regulate the descent and distribution of trust lands under section 372 of this title, and other laws, shall give full faith and credit to any tribal actions taken pursuant to section 2205 of this title, which provision shall apply only to estates of decedent's whose deaths occur on or after the effective date of tribal ordinances adopted pursuant to this chapter.
(Pub. L. 97–459, title II, §208, Jan. 12, 1983, 96 Stat. 2519.)
The Secretary shall have the authority to issue deeds, patents, or such other instruments of conveyance needed to effectuate a sale or exchange of tribal lands made pursuant to the terms of this chapter and to remove, at the request of an Indian owner, the trust status of individually held lands or interests therein, where authorized by law.
(Pub. L. 97–459, title II, §209, Jan. 12, 1983, 96 Stat. 2519.)
Title to any land acquired under this chapter by any Indian or Indian tribe shall be taken in trust by the United States for that Indian or Indian tribe.
(Pub. L. 97–459, title II, §210, Jan. 12, 1983, 96 Stat. 2519.)
All lands or interests in land acquired by the United States for an Indian or Indian tribe under authority of this chapter shall be exempt from Federal, State and local taxation.
(Pub. L. 97–459, title II, §211, Jan. 12, 1983, 96 Stat. 2519.)
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as vesting the governing body of an Indian tribe with any authority which is not authorized by the constitution and by-laws or other organizational document of such tribe.
(Pub. L. 97–459, title II, §212, as added Pub. L. 98–608, §1(5), Oct. 30, 1984, 98 Stat. 3173.)
This chapter, referred to in text, was in the original “this Act”, meaning Pub. L. 97–459, Jan. 12, 1983, 96 Stat. 2515, as amended, title II of which is classified to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables.