§ 640d-7. — Determination of tribal rights and interests in land.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 25USC640d-7]
TITLE 25--INDIANS
CHAPTER 14--MISCELLANEOUS
SUBCHAPTER XXII--NAVAJO AND HOPI TRIBES: SETTLEMENT OF RIGHTS AND
INTERESTS
Sec. 640d-7. Determination of tribal rights and interests in
land
(a) Authorization to commence and defend actions in District Court
Either tribe, acting through the chairman of its tribal council for
and on behalf of the tribe, is each hereby authorized to commence or
defend in the District Court an action against the other tribe and any
other tribe of Indians claiming any interest in or to the area described
in the Act of June 14, 1934, except the reservation established by the
Executive Order of December 16, 1882, for the purpose of determining the
rights and interests of the tribes in and to such lands and quieting
title thereto in the tribes.
(b) Allocation of land to respective reservations upon determination of
interests
Lands, if any, in which the Navajo Tribe or Navajo individuals are
determined by the District Court to have the exclusive interest shall
continue to be a part of the Navajo Reservation. Lands, if any, in which
the Hopi Tribe, including any Hopi village or clan thereof, or Hopi
individuals are determined by the District Court to have the exclusive
interest shall thereafter be a reservation for the Hopi Tribe. Any lands
in which the Navajo and Hopi Tribes or Navajo or Hopi individuals are
determined to have a joint or undivided interest shall be partitioned by
the District Court on the basis of fairness and equity and the area so
partitioned shall be retained in the Navajo Reservation or added to the
Hopi Reservation, respectively.
(c) Actions for accounting, fair value of grazing, and claims for
damages to land; determination of recovery; defenses
(1) Either as a part of or in a proceeding supplementary to the
action authorized in subsection (a) of this section, either tribe,
through the chairman of its tribal council for and on behalf of the
tribe, including all villages, clans, and individual members thereof,
may prosecute or defend an action for the types of relief, including
interest, specified in section 640d-17 of this title, including all
subsections thereof, against the other tribe, through its tribal
chairman in a like representative capacity, and against the United
States as to the types of recovery specified in subsection (a)(3) of
section 640d-17 of this title and subject to the same provisions as
contained in said subsection, such action to apply to the lands in issue
in the reservation established by the Act of June 14, 1934 (48 Stat.
960).
(2) In the event the Hopi Tribe or Navajo Tribe is determined to
have any interest in the lands in issue, the right of either tribe to
recover hereunder shall be based upon that percentage of the total sums
collected, use made, waste committed, and other amounts of recovery,
which is equal to the percentage of lands in issue in which either tribe
is determined to have such interest.
(3) Neither laches nor the statute of limitations shall constitute a
defense to such proceedings if they are either prosecuted as a part of
the action authorized by this section or in a proceeding supplemental
thereto, if instituted not later than twenty-four months following a
final order of partition and exhaustion of appeals in an action filed
pursuant to this section.
(d) Denial of Congressional interest in merits of conflicting claims;
liability of United States
Nothing in this section shall be deemed to be a Congressional
determination of the merits of the conflicting claims to the lands that
are subject to adjudication pursuant to this section, or to affect the
liability of the United States, if any, under litigation now pending
before the Indian Claims Commission.
(e) Payment of legal fees, court costs and other expenses
The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to pay any or all
appropriate legal fees, court costs, and other related expenses arising
out of, or in connection with, the commencing of, or defending against,
any action brought by the Navajo, San Juan Southern Paiute or Hopi Tribe
under this section.
(f) Provision of attorney fees for San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe
(1) Any funds made available for the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe
to pay for attorney's fees shall be paid directly to the tribe's
attorneys of record until such tribe is acknowledged as an Indian tribe
by the United States: Provided, That the tribe's eligibility for such
payments shall cease once a decision by the Secretary of the Interior
declining to acknowledge such tribe becomes final and no longer
appealable.
(2) Nothing in this subsection shall be interpreted as a
congressional acknowledgement of the San Juan Southern Paiute as an
Indian tribe or as affecting in any way the San Juan Southern Paiute
Tribe's Petition for Recognition currently pending with the Secretary of
the Interior.
(3) There is hereby authorized to be appropriated not to exceed
$250,000 to pay for the legal expenses incurred by the Southern Paiute
Tribe on legal action arising under this section prior to November 16,
1988.
(Pub. L. 93-531, Sec. 8, Dec. 22, 1974, 88 Stat. 1715; Pub. L. 96-305,
Sec. 2, July 8, 1980, 94 Stat. 929; Pub. L. 100-666, Sec. 9, Nov. 16,
1988, 102 Stat. 3933.)
References in Text
Act of June 14, 1934, referred to in subsecs. (a) and (c)(1), is act
June 14, 1934, ch. 521, 48 Stat. 960, which was not classified to the
Code.
The Indian Claims Commission, referred to in subsec. (d), terminated
Sept. 30, 1978. See Codification note set out under former section 70 et
seq. of this title.
Amendments
1988--Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 100-666, Sec. 9(a), inserted ``, San Juan
Southern Paiute'' after ``Navajo''.
Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 100-666, Sec. 9(b), added subsec. (f).
1980--Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 96-305 substituted provision authorizing,
as part of the determination of tribal rights and interests in land,
actions for accounting, fair value of grazing, and claims for damages,
specifying the formula for determining recovery, and limiting defenses
for provision authorizing exchange of reservation lands.
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 640d-9, 640d-13, 640d-14,
640d-15, 640d-18, 640d-27 of this title.
