The Indian Reoranization Act of 1934

The Indian Reorganization Act changed the status of Native Americans dramatically. Although it could not correct for the decades of abuse and mistreatment of native tribes, he gave the Indians control over their own territory. It undid some of the corrective actions that had turned out badly, and offered a path for the future. The act has been amended numerous times since its passage in 1934, but this was a first step in the process of restoration.

The history of conflict between whites and Indians goes back to the beginning of the colonial period, when Puritan Father John cotton quoted the Old Testament to justify the taking of land from the Indians in Massachusetts, despite the fact that the passage in the Bible referred food to the descendents of Adam and Eve in their right to a holy land in the Middle East. The issue continued in the early Republic When Chief Justice John Marshall ruled against the Cherokee Indians in the Supreme Court as follows:

If it be true that the Cherokee Nation have rights, this is not the tribunal in which those rights are to be asserted. If it be true that wrongs have been inflicted and that still greater are to be apprehended, this is not the tribunal which can redress the past or prevent the future.

If the Cherokee nation could not get justice in the United States Supreme Court, where were they supposed to go?
25 U.S.C.
United States Code, 2011 Edition
Title 25 - INDIANS
CHAPTER 14 - MISCELLANEOUS
SUBCHAPTER V - PROTECTION OF INDIANS AND CONSERVATION OF RESOURCES
From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov

SUBCHAPTER V—PROTECTION OF INDIANS AND CONSERVATION OF RESOURCES

§461. Allotment of land on Indian reservations

On and after June 18, 1934, no land of any Indian reservation, created or set apart by treaty or agreement with the Indians, Act of Congress, Executive order, purchase, or otherwise, shall be allotted in severalty to any Indian.

(June 18, 1934, ch. 576, §1, 48 Stat. 984.)

Short Title of 2004 Amendment

Pub. L. 108–204, §1(a), Mar. 2, 2004, 118 Stat. 542, provided that: “This Act [amending sections 476, 640d–24, and 712e of this title and provisions set out as notes under section 301 of Title 7, Agriculture, section 7420 of Title 10, Armed Forces, and section 431 of Title 16, Conservation] may be cited as the ‘Native American Technical Corrections Act of 2004’.”

Short Title

Act June 18, 1934, which enacted this section and sections 462, 463, 464, 465, 466 to 470, 471, 472, 473, 474, 475, 476 to 478, and 479 of this title, is popularly known as the “Indian Reorganization Act”.

§462. Existing periods of trust and restrictions on alienation extended

The existing periods of trust placed upon any Indian lands and any restriction on alienation thereof are extended and continued until otherwise directed by Congress.

(June 18, 1934, ch. 576, §2, 48 Stat. 984.)

§462a. Omitted

Codification

Section, act Apr. 11, 1940, ch. 80, 54 Stat. 106, related to reimposition and extension of trust period on lands of Crow Reservation.

§463. Restoration of lands to tribal ownership

(a) Protection of existing rights

The Secretary of the Interior, if he shall find it to be in the public interest, is authorized to restore to tribal ownership the remaining surplus lands of any Indian reservation heretofore opened, or authorized to be opened, to sale, or any other form of disposal by Presidential proclamation, or by any of the public-land laws of the United States: Provided, however, That valid rights or claims of any persons to any lands so withdrawn existing on the date of the withdrawal shall not be affected by this Act: Provided further, That this section shall not apply to lands within any reclamation project heretofore authorized in any Indian reservation.

(b) Papago Indians; permits for easements, etc.

(1), (2) Repealed. May 27, 1955, ch. 106, §1, 69 Stat. 67.

(3) Water reservoirs, charcos, water holes, springs, wells, or any other form of water development by the United States or the Papago Indians shall not be used for mining purposes under the terms of this Act, except under permit from the Secretary of the Interior approved by the Papago Indian Council: Provided, That nothing herein shall be construed as interfering with or affecting the validity of the water rights of the Indians of this reservation: Provided further, That the appropriation of living water heretofore or hereafter affected, by the Papago Indians is recognized and validated subject to all the laws applicable thereto.

(4) Nothing herein contained shall restrict the granting or use of permits for easements or rights-of-way; or ingress or egress over the lands for all proper and lawful purposes.

(June 18, 1934, ch. 576, §3, 48 Stat. 984; Aug. 28, 1937, ch. 866, 50 Stat. 862; May 27, 1955, ch. 106, §1, 69 Stat. 67.)

References in Text

“Heretofore”, referred to in subsec. (a), means before June 18, 1934.

The public-land laws of the United States, referred to in subsec. (a), are classified generally to Title 43, Public Lands.

This Act, referred to in subsecs. (a) and (b)(3), is act June 18, 1934, which is classified generally to this subchapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 461 of this title and Tables.

Amendments

1955—Subsec. (b)(1). Act May 27, 1955, repealed par. (1) which restored lands of Papago Indian Reservation to exploration and location.

Subsec. (b)(2). Act May 27, 1955, repealed par. (2) which required person desiring a mineral patent to pay $1 per acre in lieu of annual rental.

Subsec. (b)(4). Act May 27, 1955, struck out provisions relating to authority to issue or promulgate rules or regulations in conflict with Executive Order of Feb. 1, 1917 or act of Feb. 21, 1931 (46 Stat. 1202).

1937—Subsec. (a). Act Aug. 28, 1937, designated existing provisions of first par. as subsec. (a).

Subsec. (b)(1). Act Aug. 28, 1937, designated existing provisions of first par. as par. (1), substituted “damages shall be paid to the superintendent or other officer in charge of the reservation for the credit of the owner thereof” for “damages shall be paid to the Papago Tribe” and “to be the fair and reasonable value of such improvement” for “but not to exceed the cost of said improvements” and struck out “and payments derived from damages or rentals shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the Papago Tribe” after “mining operations,”.

Subsec. (b)(2). Act Aug. 28, 1937, designated existing provisions of first par. as par. (2), inserted “pay to the superintendent or other officer in charge of the reservation, for” before “deposit”, substituted “Provided, That an applicant for patent shall also pay to the Secretary or other officer in charge of the said reservation for the credit of the owner” for “Provided further, That patentee shall also pay into the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the Papago Tribe” substituted “but the sum thus deposited, except for a deduction of rental at the annual rate hereinbefore provided, shall be refunded to the applicant in the event that patent is not acquired” for “the payment of $1.00 per acre for surface use to be refunded to patentee in the event that patent is not acquired” after “determination by the Secretary of the Interior, but not to exceed the cost thereof”.

Subsec. (b)(3). Act Aug. 28, 1937, added par. (3).

Subsec. (b)(4). Act Aug. 28, 1937, designated second par. as par. (4).

Transfer of Functions

Functions of all other officers of Department of the Interior and functions of all agencies and employees of Department, with two exceptions, transferred to Secretary of the Interior, with power vested in him to authorize their performance or performance of any of his functions by any of those officers, agencies, and employees, by Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1950, §§1, 2, eff. May 24, 1950, 15 F.R. 3174, 64 Stat. 1262, set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.

Restoration of Vacant and Undisposed-of Ceded Lands in Certain Indian Reservations

Pub. L. 85–420, May 19, 1958, 72 Stat. 121, provided: “That all lands now or hereafter classified as vacant and undisposed-of ceded lands (including townsite lots) on the following named Indian reservations are hereby restored to tribal ownership, subject to valid existing rights:

 
Reservation and State Approximate acreage
Klamath River, California 159.57
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho 12,877.65
Crow, Montana 10,260.95
Fort Peck, Montana 41,450.13
Spokane, Washington 5,451.00

Provided, That such restoration shall not apply to any lands while they are within reclamation projects heretofore authorized.

“Sec. 2. Title to the lands restored to tribal ownership by this Act shall be held by the United States in trust for the respective tribe or tribes, and such lands are hereby added to and made a part of the existing reservations for such tribe or tribes.

“Sec. 3. The lands restored to tribal ownership by this Act may be sold or exchanged by the tribe, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior.”

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