§ 348. — Patents to be held in trust; descent and partition.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 25USC348]
TITLE 25--INDIANS
CHAPTER 9--ALLOTMENT OF INDIAN LANDS
Sec. 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 the law of descent in force in the State or Territory where such
lands are situate shall apply thereto after patents therefor have been
executed and delivered, except as provided by the Indian Land
Consolidation Act [25 U.S.C. 2201 et seq.] or a tribal probate code
approved under such Act and except as herein otherwise provided: 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.
(Feb. 8, 1887, ch. 119, Sec. 5, 24 Stat. 389; Mar. 3, 1901, ch. 832,
Sec. 9, 31 Stat. 1085; 1946 Reorg. Plan No. 3, Sec. 403, eff. July 16,
1946, 11 F.R. 7876, 60 Stat. 1100; Pub. L. 106-462, title I,
Sec. 106(a)(2), Nov. 7, 2000, 114 Stat. 2007.)
References in Text
This act, referred to in text, is act Feb. 8, 1887, ch. 119, 24
Stat. 388, as amended, and is popularly known as the Indian General
Allotment Act. For classification of this act to the Code, see Short
Title note set out under section 331 of this title and Tables.
The Indian Land Consolidation Act, referred to in text, is title II
of Pub. L. 97-459, Jan. 12, 1983, 96 Stat. 2517, as amended, which is
classified generally to chapter 24 (Sec. 2201 et seq.) of this title.
For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title
note set out under section 2201 of this title and Tables.
Amendments
2000--Pub. L. 106-462, in second proviso of first par., struck out
``and partition'' after ``law of descent'' and substituted ``except as
provided by the Indian Land Consolidation Act or a tribal probate code
approved under such Act and except as herein otherwise provided:'' for
``except as herein otherwise provided:''.
Transfer of Functions
For transfer of functions of other officers, employees, and agencies
of Department of the Interior, with certain exceptions, to Secretary of
the Interior, with power to delegate, see Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1950,
Secs. 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.
``Bureau of Land Management'' substituted in text for ``General Land
Office'' on authority of Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1946, set out in the
Appendix to Title 5.
Delegation of Functions
For delegation to Secretary of the Interior of authority vested in
President by this section, see Ex. Ord. No. 10250, June 5, 1951, 16 F.R.
5385, set out as a note under section 301 of Title 3, The President.
Extension of Trust Periods
The periods of trust applying to Indian lands, whether of a tribal
or individual status, which would expire during the years 1943 to 1950,
were extended for a further period of twenty-five years, respectively,
by Ex. Ord. No. 9272, Nov. 17, 1942, 7 F.R. 9475; Ex. Ord. No. 9398,
Nov. 25, 1943, 8 F.R. 16269; Ex. Ord. No. 9500, Nov. 14, 1944, 9 F.R.
13699; Ex. Ord. No. 9659, Nov. 21, 1945, 10 F.R. 14353; Ex. Ord. No.
9811, Dec. 17, 1946, 11 F.R. 14483; Ex. Ord. No. 9920, Jan. 8, 1948, 13
F.R. 143; Ex. Ord. No. 10027, Jan. 7, 1949, 14 F.R. 107; Ex. Ord. No
10091, Dec. 11, 1949, 14 F.R. 7513.
Ex. Ord. No. 10191. Extension of Trust Periods on Indian Lands Expiring
During 1951
Ex. Ord. No. 10191, Dec. 13, 1950, 15 F.R. 8889, provided:
By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by section 5
of the act of February 8, 1887, 24 Stat. 388, 389 [this section], by the
act of June 21, 1906, 34 Stat. 325, 326, and by the act of March 2,
1917, 39 Stat. 969, 976, and other applicable provisions of law, it is
hereby ordered that the periods of trust or other restrictions against
alienation contained in any patent applying to Indian lands, whether of
a tribal or individual status, which, unless extended, will expire
during the calendar year 1951, be, and they are hereby, extended for a
further period of twenty-five years from the date on which any such
trust would otherwise expire.
This order is not intended to apply to any case in which the
Congress has specifically reserved to itself authority to extend the
period of trust on tribal or individual Indian lands.
Harry S Truman.
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 334, 336, 348a, 349, 371 of
this title.
