A22-

FED ERA LLY OWNED LAND IN NEV ADA HELD IN TRUST

FOR THE PAIUTE AND SHOSHONE TRIB ES OF THE

FALLON INDIAN RESERVATION

GOVERNMENT

Storage U M EN TS

s?? 2 0 ’977

F A R R E L L L IB R A fH EARING

KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY BEFORE THE

U.S. SENAT E 

SELECT COMMITTEE ON 

IND IAN AFFAIRS

S. 785

TO DE CL AR E CE RT AIN FEDE RA LL Y OWNED LAND IN 

NEVA DA HEL D IN TR US T FO R TH E PA IU TE AND 

SHOS HO NE TRIB ES OF TH E FALLON INDIAN 

RE SE RV AT ION

JU LY 19, 1977

KSU LIBRARIES

Print ed fo r th e use of the 

U.S. Se na te Select Comm itte e on In di an Affairs

94-438 O

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 1977
0 ' c 

»» L Kt <

SELECT COMMITTEE ON IND IAN AFFAIR S

[Created by S. Res. 4, 95th Cong.]

JAMES ABOUREZK, South Dakota, Chairman

HOWARD METZENBAUM, Ohio DEWEY F. BARTLETT, Oklahoma

JOHN ME LCH ER, Montana MARK O. HATFIE LD, Oregon

Ernest L. Stevens, Sta ff Director

Alan Parker, General Counsel

Michael D. Cox, Minority Counsel

(n)


FEDERALLY OWNED LAND IN NEVADA HELD IN TRUST

FOR THE PAIUTE AND SHOSHONE TRIBES OF THE

FALLON INDIAN RESERVATION

TUESDAY, JULY 19, 1977

U.S. Senate,

Select Committee on I ndian Affairs,

Washington, D.C.

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., in room 6202, 

Dirksen Senate Office Building, Senator James Abourezk (chairman 

of the committee) presiding.

Present: Senators Abourezk and Hatfield.

Staff present: Alan Parke r, chief counsel, and Barbara Berger, 

staff attorney.

Chairm an Abourezk. The committee will come to order.

This is a hearing on S. 785: A bill to declare certain federally owned 

land in Nevada held in trust for the Paiute and Shoshone Tribes of 

the Fallon Indian Reservation.

The purpose of this hearing this morning is to take testim ony on 

that bill which would declare t ha t 2,640 acres of land presently owned 

by the United States be held in tru st for the Paiute and Shoshone 

Tribes of the Fallon Ind ian Reservation in Fallon, Nev.

The present reservation occupies 5,480 acres, including 2,600 acres 

that are not irrigable. The additional acreage encompassed in this 

bill would provide sufficient irrigable land to enable the tribes to 

make full use of their water right acreage of 4,780 acres. Most of the 

tribal members earn their livelihood from agriculture, and the acquisition of this land would raise their economic status and establish a 

higher degree of development for social improvement.

This bill was introduced by Senators Cannon and Laxalt and has 

the sup port of the State of Nevada.

Without objection, I shall order the departmental report and bill 

inserted in the record at this point.

[The bill and departmental report follows:]

(l)
2

95th CON GRESS 

1st Session S. 785

IN TH E SENA TE OE TH E UN ITED STA TES

February 24 (legislative day, F ebruary 21), 1977

Mr. Cannon (for himself and Mr. Laxalt) ini reduced the following hill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Select Committee on Ind ian 

Affairs

A BILL

To declare tha t all right, title, and interest of the United States 

in two thousand six hundred and forty acres, more or less, 

are hereby held by the United States in trust for the Paiute 

and Shoshone Tribes of the Fallon Indian Reservation, 

Nevada, to promote the economic self-sufficiency of the 

Paiu te and Shoshone Tribes, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Sen ate and House of Bepresenta -

2 tives of the Uni ted States of Am erica in Congress assembled,

3 That, subject to valid existing rights, all right, title, and

4 interest of &e United States in two thousand six hundred

5 and forty acres, more or less, described below are hereby

6 declared to be held by the United States in trust for the

7 Paiute and Shoshone Tribes of the Fallon Ind ian Reserva8 tion, Nevada:
1 Mount Diablo Meri dia n

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Township 19 north, range 30 east, section 2, northwest 

quarter; section 3, north half and southwest quarter; section 

4, all; section 8, north half and southwest quarter;

Township 20 north, range 30 east; section 33, south 

half; section 34, south half; section 35, west half southeast 

quarter and southwest quarter.

Sec. 2. The lands held in trust pursuant to this Act 

shall be included in and deemed a part of the Fallon Indian 

Reservation, Nevada.

Sec. 3. The Paiute and Shoshone Tribes of the Fallon 

Indian Reservation, Nevada, shall be entitled to the revenues 

reserved by the United States under any lease, contract, permit, right-of-way, or easement issued prior to this Act 

covering lands declared to he held in trust by this Act. In 

the event tha t such trust lands do not cover all of the land 

embraced within any such lease, contract, permit, right-ofway, or easement, the Paiu te and Shoshone Tribes shall 

be entitled only to the proportionate amount of the revenues 

reserved by the United States under such lease, contract, 

permit, right-of-way, or easement which results from multiplying the total of such revenues by a fraction in which 

the numerator is the acreage of such lease, contract, permit, 

right-of-way, or easement which is included in the land 

declared to be held in trust pursuant to this Act and the
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denominator is the total acreage contained in such lease, 

contract, permit, right-of-way, or easement.

Sec. 4. (a) Upon the request of Indian allottees, their 

heirs, or successors, and with the consent of the Fallon 

Paiute and Shoshone Tribes Business Council, the Secretary 

of the Inte rior is hereby authorized and directed, under 

such rules and regulations as he may prescribe after consultation with the Paiute and Shoshone Tribes Business 

Council, to transfer the right, or any part thereof, to the 

use of water appurtenant to other lands within the Fallon 

Indian Reservation, to the lands, or any part thereof, declared to be held in trust by this Ac t: Provided, Tha t the 

Secretary of the Interio r may act for any minor without 

natural parent or guardian, adjudicated incompetent, or unknown heir in effecting any such transfer.

(b) The Fallon Paiute and Shoshone Tribes Business 

Council or the Secretary of the Interior, aeting at the request 

of the tribes, is authorized to acquire through purchase, gift, 

or exchange the wate r rights appurtenant to any allotted 

lands within the boundaries of the Fallon Indian Reservation. The tribes are hereby authorized to transfer such acquired wate r right, or any part thereof, to the lands, or any 

part thereof, declared to be held in trust by this Act. The use 

of any tribal judgment or trust fund or grants to the tribes 

earmarked for such purpose is hereby authorized for the
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acquisition of such water righ t and the title to all water 

rights acquired, transferred, or developed under the authority 

of this Act shall be held in trust by the United States for the 

benefit of the Paiute and Shoshone Tribes of the Fallon 

Indian Reservation in Nevada.

Sec. 5. The Fallon Paiute and Shoshone Tribes Business 

Council or the Secretary of the Interior, acting at the request 

of the tribes, is authorized to acquire through purchase, gift, 

or exchange any lands or interest in lands within the boundaries of the Fallon Indian Reservation in Nevada for the 

purpose of consolidating landholdings, eliminating factionated 

heirship interests in Indian trust lands, providing land for 

any tribal program for the improvement of the economy of 

the tribe and its members through the development of industry, recreational facilities, housing projects, and the general 

rehabilitation and enhancement of the total resource potential 

of the reservation. The use of any tribal judgment of trust 

fund or grants to the tribes earmarked for such purpose is 

hereby authorized for the acquisition of such lands or interest 

in lands and title to any land acquired under the authority 

of this Act shall be taken in the name of the United States 

in trust for the Paiu te and Shoshone Tribes of the Fallon 

Indian Reservation in Nevada.

Sec. 6. Nothing in this Act shall affect rights subject to 

adjudication in .United States against Alpine Land and

9 4 -4 3 8 0 - 77 - 2
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Reservoir Company, et at, Equ ity No. D-183, U.S. Dist. 

Ct., Nevada, and United States against Truckee-Carson 

Irrig ation District, et al., Civ. No. R-2987, U.S. Dist. Ct., 

Nevada.

Sec. 7. (a) The Secretary of the Inte rior is authorized 

and directed to improve and extend the existing system for 

the delivery and distribution of irrigation water within the 

Eallon Indian Reservation and to construct such additional 

canals, laterals, and irrigation works as are necessary to 

deliver sufficient water to irrigate the practicably arable acres 

included in the Eallon Ind ian Reservation pursuant to this 

Act.

(b) The Secretary of the Interio r is authorized and directed, if requested by the Paiute and Shoshone Tribes 

Business Council, to make loans to the tribes for subjugation 

purposes, out of funds appropriated pursuant to this Act, in 

amounts of money equal to the full cost of subjugating up to 

one thousand eight hundred acres.

(c) Out of funds appro priated pursuant to this Act, the 

Secretary of the Inte rior is authorized to make grants to the 

Fallon Paiute and Shoshone Tribes to develop and implement plans for using newly irrigated reservation lands in 

an orderly, efficient, and profitable mann er and to establish 

and carry out training programs for Indian farmers, including courses in marketing and agricultural economics.
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Sec. 8. (a) There are hereby authorized to be appropriated for the oonstruction of Water resource project facilities 

and improvement a nd extension of existing irrigation delivery 

and distribution systems under section 7 (a) of this Act the 

suto of $l,250>000 during fiscal year 1978, and such sums 

as may be necessary during each subsequent fiscal y ear for 

construction purposes Under this Act.

{b) There are authorized to be appropriated for grants 

to the Paiu te and Shoshone Tribes to implement sections 

7 (b) and 7 (c) of this Act, the sum of $900,000 during 

fiscal year 1978, and such sums as m ay be necessary during 

each subsequent fiscal year.
8

United States Departm ent of the Interior

OFFICE OF TH E SECRETARY . 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20240

JUL 101977

Honorable James Abourezk 

Chairman, Select Coirmittee on 

Indian Affairs

Uhited States Senate 

Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Mr. Chairman:

This responds to your request for our views on S. 785, a bill "7b 

declare that all right, title, and interest of the United States 

in two thousand six hundred and forty acres, more or less, are 

hereby held by the United States in trust for the Paiute and Shoshone 

Tribes of the Fallen Indian Reservation, Nevada, to promote the 

economic self-sufficiency of the Paiute and Shoshone Tribes, and for 

other purposes."

We reoctimend that the bill be enacted if amended as suggested herein.

S. 785 would declare that subject to v a l i d existing rights, all right, 

title, and interest of the United States i n 2,640 acres be held in 

trust by the United States for the Paiute-Shoshone Tribe of the Fallon 

Reservation, Nevada, and wou ld make such lands part of the Reservation

Upon request of Indian allottees, and with the conse nt of the Fallon 

Paiute and Shoshone Business Council, the Secretary of the Interior 

is directed to transfer certain existing wate r rights to other lands 

within the Reservation to the 2,640 acres transferred by S. 785. 

Background

The history of the present-day Paiute Shoshone Tribe stems from 

allotments made from the public d r - m a in to c e r t a i n Paiute and Shoshone 

Indians pursuan t to the General Allotment Act of February 8, 1887 

(25 Stat. 388), as amended. In 1890, fifty allotments of 160 acres 

each were made, and in 1893-94, 146 more allotments of the same 

acreage wer e made. Thes e allotments totaled about 31,000 acres 

and were, for the most part, located with in wha t later became the 

Truckee-Carson Irrigation District, a part of the Newlands Project, 

authorized by the 1902 Act.
9

Cn August 5, 1906, an agreement was mad e whereb y the Indians woul d 

release their original 169-acre allotments of non-irrigable land and 

receive therefor ten-acre allotments of irrigable land with paid-op 

wat er rights. Of the 196 original allottees on the public domain,

189 allottees consented to have their 160-acre allotments cancelled 

and exchanged for ten acres of irrigable land. An order of the 

Department of the Interior, dated April 20, 1907, reserved an area 

of 4,640 acres (the original Fallon Reservation) on behalf of Indians 

who had relinquished thei r original allotments and such other Indians 

as might, o n investigation, be found entitled to allotments thereon.

These acres were allott ed to qualifying Indians pursuant to the Tot 

of Apri l 30, 1908 (35 Stat. 85). An additional 840 acres adjoining 

the nort h boundary of the original reservation were se t aside by 

Departmental Or der of November 21, 1917. Under date of November 11,

1908, a water rig ht cert ificate, No. 01196, was issued for the 4,640 

acres ccrrprising the original reservation. Water rights wer e adjusted 

to 4,077.0 acres o n January 19, 1914. By application of July 1, 1926, 

a water right of 800.3 acres was acqui red for the 840 acres added to 

the reservation on January 14, 1910. As of June 30, 1973, there were 

840 acres of tribal trust land and 4,640 acres of allotted tru st land 

within the reservation boundary, all within the Carson Division of 

the Newlands Project.

Man y of the owners of the origina l allotments d id not receive full 

compensation for relinqu ishing them. The tribe, in good faith, '

exchan ged with the Uni ted States its 31,000 acre reservation for 

the smaller area on the pro mise that this smaller area would have 

fully paid-up water rights. Although, at the time of the exchange 

these 4,640 acres we re thought to be irrigable, after the transfer 

the tribe found that for reasons of soil or topography, about 2,600 

acres wer e not irrigable. Thus, the exchan ge program was never 

fully oonsumated acco rding to the agreement. Nevertheless, the 

United States has pa id for and continues to pay for a wate r right 

for the other approximately 2,600 acres that the tribe has never 

been able to irrigate.

Preliminary surveys indicate that seme 1,800 acres of irrigable lands 

as establ ished by the Bureau of Reclamation are wit hin the 2,640 

acres of publ ic doma in presently under withdrawal by that bureau and 

the U.S. Fish and Wildlif e Serve. The lands un der the bill are 

contiguous to the north boundary of the reservation. It is almost 

impossible to separate the 1,800 irrigable acres from the 800 non-irrigable 

acres in th e tract as the se lands are all checkerboarded.

2
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The Tribal Council has ad opted resolutions requesting legislation 

to add the land in question to the reservation. Section 4(a) w ould 

transfer the water rights th e tribe now has to non-irrigable acres 

within the reservation to irrigable acres within the new land.

The amount of water available to irrigate the 1,800 acres is determined 

by court decrees. A duty of wat er of 3.065 acre fee t per acre at 

the farm headgate was set for irrigation of lands in the North and 

South Carson Divisions of the Newlands Project. Thus, the irrigable 

acres to be added to the reservation by S. 785 would require 

approximately 5,400 acre feet of wate r at the farm headgate during 

the course of a year. The tr ibe believes that this additional acre 

feet can be provided witho ut any additional diversions of Truckee 

River water either new or i n the future.

Unde r present diversions for the reclamation project, 195,000 acre 

feet of project water wi ll be delivered to the farm headgates of 

Carson Division lands. The additional 5,400 acre feet needed by 

the tribe at the fa rm headgate a re 2.8% of the 195,000 acre feet 

available. Even under projected operating criteria for the reclamation project for the inmediate future and the ultimate future, the 

tribe's needs would only be respectively about 3.7% and 3.4% of 

the total acre feet to be del ievered to the farm headgate. Thus, 

the impact of this additional amount on the reclamation project 

is negligible.

Re oen rne ndation s

Because there is not en ough arable land on the reservation to fulfill 

the Indians' wat er rights, and suitable land is available adjacent to 

the reservation, w e support enact ment of S. 785 if amended as 

suggested herein.

While we support enactment of section 1 of S. 785, we would point 

out that the Federal land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (90 Stat. 

2757) provides criteria and guidelines for the conveyance of public 

lands. Further, section 209 of the Act provides tha t federally 

owned minerals shall be reserved to the United States, unless certain 

criteria are met. If these crit eria are satisfied, then conveyance 

of the minera l estate shall be mad e upon payment of administrative 

costs and the fair marke t value of the interests being conveyed.

This Department will be developing a policy concerning these 

criteria and guidelines and conveyance of land such as those in this 

bill.

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Under section 3, th e Tribe would be entitled to any revenues reserved 

by the United States under any lease, contract, permit, right-of-way, 

or easement, issued prior to enactment of S. 785, covering the lands 

transferred by the bill. Ihe language of section 3 is ambiguous as 

it could be interpreted as retroactively entitling the Tribe to 

these revenues, a resul t we cannot support. Further, we do not knew 

the meanin g of the term "reserved" in this context, and suggest that 

"received" may have bee n intended. Accordingly, we recommend that 

lines 11-20, page 2, be deleted, a nd the following substitute in lieu 

thereof:

"Sec. 3. The Paiute and Shoshone Tribes of the Fallon 

Indian Reservation and Colony shall hereafter be 

entitled, from the date of enactment of this Act, to 

the revenues to be received by the United States under 

any existing lease, contract, permit, right-of-way 

or easement covering lands declared to be held in 

trust by this Act. In the event that such trust lands 

do not cover all of the land embra ced within any such 

lease, contract, permit, right-of-way, o r easement, 

said Tribes shall hereafter be entitled, from the date 

of enactm ent of this Act, t o the proportionate amount 

of the revenues to be recei ved by the United States 

under any existing lease, contract"

Sections 4 (b) and 5 authorize either the tribe or the Secretary of the 

Interior to acquire, lands or interests ther ein within the 

reservation in order to consolidate land holdings, eliminate fractionated 

heirships, and improve the tribe's economy.

Sections 4(b) and 5 are ambiguous as to the source of funds for the 

acquisition of lands and interests t herein by the Tribe or Secretary.

It would appear that the use of tribal funds i s contemplated for this 

purpose, a result whi ch we support. In orde r to clarify this ambiguity, 

we recommend that the word s ", with funds provided by the Fallon 

Paiut e and Shoshone Tribes," b e inserted between the words "aoquire" 

and "through" on line 18, page 3, and on line 8, page 4. Further, 

since the third sentence in section 4 (b) and the second sentence in 

sectio n 5 are responsible for the ambiguity as to the sourc e of funds 

for acquisition, w e recommend that bot h sentences be deleted through 

the wor d "and" (line 1, page 4 for section 4(b); line 20, page 4 for 

secti on 5) and the remaining language be made a ne w sentence.

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We would further point out that the purpose of these sections should 

authorize the exchange, disposal and acquisition of Indian trust lands 

and interests therein, but not confer any authorities wit h regard to 

othe r lands or interests therein under the jurisdiction of the 

Secretary. Such authorization should depend upon the willingness of 

all parties concerned and should not be mandatory. Further, the 

language in sections 4 (b) and 5 concerning exchange should not supersede 

the requirements of the Federal Land Policy and Mana gement Act of 

1976 with respect public lands or interests therein.

Accordingly, w e reacrrmend that section 5 beocme subsection 5(a) and 

the following subsection 5(b) be added:

"Sec. 5(b). Nothin g in this section or subsection 4(b) 

of this Ac t shall confer any authority or impose any 

requirement on the Secretary to exchange, dispos e of or 

otherwise utilize oth er lands or interests therein 

under his administration in connection with any exchange, 

disposal o r acquisition of Indian trust land or interests 

therein authorized by this section and subsection 4 (b) 

of this Act. Nothin g in this section or in subsection 

4(b) of this Act shall supersede or repeal by implication 

the requirements of the Ac t of October 21, 1976 (90 Stat. 

2743). Any acquisition or exchange pursuant to this 

section or subsection 4 (b) of this Act which involves 

public lands or interests therein as defined in the 

Act of October 21, 1976, shall also meet the requirements 

of said 1976 Act."

Section 6 is a savings clause which woul d insure that the bill will not 

affect, restrict or supersede any a judications concerning water rights 

in certain suits currently pending in the U.S. District Court for 

the District of Nevada.

Section 7 of S. 785 directs the Secretary to develop irrigation facilities 

for the lands to be hel d in trust under the bill; section 8 authorizes 

$1.25 million for that purpose. Section 7 also directs the Secretary 

to make loans to the Tribe for the subjugation of up to 1,800 acres 

and to make grants for irrigation and agricultural training and planning. 

Section 8 authorizes $900,000 for such purpose.
13

We ar e ag ai ns t enactment of se ctions 7 and 8. These ac ti v it ie s ar e 

autho riz ed under pr es en t law (25 U.S.C. 13). These ac ti v it ie s should 

be con sidered along with th e needs of a l l th e ot he r tr ib es in th e BIA 

budget process. Thus, we reccrmend th a t thes e two se ctio ns be de lete d.

The Offic e of Management and Budget has advised th a t th er e is no 

ob jection to th e pr es en tatio n of th is re po rt from t he sta nd po int 

of th e Ad mi nis tra tio n's program.

Sincerely ,

Acting SECRETARY

a

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Chairman Abourezk. I would like to introduce our first witness, 

our colleague, Senator Cannon of Nevada who is one of the principal 

sponsors of this legislation.

I would like to welcome you, Senator, to the committee. In fact, 

you created this committee earlier this year.

If you are ready to testify, we are ready to hear from you.

STATEM ENT OF HON. HOWARD W. CANNON, A U.S. SENATOR 

FROM NEVADA

Senator Cannon. Mr. Chairman, I,wish to thank and compliment, 

you and the members of your committee for your thoughtfulness in 

holding an early hearing on S. 785.

I am making this statement on behalf of myself and Senator 

Laxalt. He could not be here this morning.

I introduced, with Senator Laxalt, the legislation you are considering today, in order to correct a serious injustice inflicted on the Fallon 

Paiute and Shoshone Tribes of Nevada more than 70 years ago. In 

1906, tribal members held more tha n 31,000 acres in 160-acre allotments located in what today is the hea rt of the Carson Division of the 

Newlands reclamation project.

In order to guarantee the success of the Newlands project, the U.S. 

requested that Indians relinquish their allotments and retain a 

smaller part of the original allotment area. The members of the Fallon 

Paiute and Shoshone Tribes agreed on condition that all of the 

smaller land base contain irrigable acres and that the U.S. guarantee 

a free water right for the lands. The U.S. accepted the conditions of 

the Indians.

The tribes relinquished approximately 26,000 acres of land and 

retained a 4,640-acre area which was ultimately reallotted in 10-acre 

allotments.

In 1917, an 840-acre parcel was added to the Fallon Indian Reservation. The United States has purchased water rights to cover 4,877.3 

acres of the 5,480-acre reservation. The tribes, however, have never 

been able to farm substantial portions of their lands because of waterlogging and the alkaline condition of the soil. Today, due to soil and 

topographical conditions, 1,597 acres of Indian land with paid-up 

water rights on the Fallon India n Reservation cannot be farmed.

The purpose of S. 785 is to provide the Fallon Paiute and Shoshone 

Tribes lands tha t can be farmed and an opportunity to exercise their 

existing water rights on these lands. The 2,640-acre t rac t included in 

this legislation contains approximately 1,600 irrigable acres. Thus, 

S. 785, if enacted, will enable the tribes to exercise their water rights 

to the full extent for the first time since 1906.

I want to particularly emphasize the importance of sections 7 and 

8 of this legislation. Section 7 authorizes and directs the Secretary of 

the Interior to improve and extend the existing water delivery system 

on the Fallon Indian Reservation and to make grants to the tribes for 

subjugation. Section 8 authorizes $1.25 million to be appropriated for 

the construction of water resource project facilities and the improvement and extension of the existing reservation water delivery system, 

and authorizes appropriations not to exceed $900,000 for grants for 

subjugation.
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If we are, in fac t, to corre ct the injustic e don e to the tribes, it is 

essent ial th at the tribes ha ve a delivery syste m in place an d funding 

for subju ga tio n so th at th ey can ac tually pu t their water righ t to 

beneficial use wi thou t fu rth er delay. Th e tribe s have alr eady wa ite d 

long enough. Th e tr ust responsib ilit y of t he Un ite d States c an o nly be 

fulfilled whe n th e lan ds inc lud ed in this legislation can be cu lti va ted.

Finally , I wan t to comm ent on my pro posed am en dm en t to S. 785 

which I sen t t o y ou, Mr. Ch air man, on Ju ne 10, 1977. T he a men dm en t 

wou ld tra ns fer in tr ust to the Fallon Pa iu te and Shoshone Tr ibes 60 

acres of l and kno wn as the Fa llo n colony. Th is off-reservat ion colony 

was established of nec ess ity ab ou t 70 ye ars ago when a nu mbe r of 

tri ba l memb ers who ha d received 10-acre all otmen ts in the red uced 

res erva tio n disc ove red th at the land th ey ha d been allotte d could no t 

be farmed.

Of the 60 acre s 40 were “re ser ved for In di an p urposes ” in 1917 a nd 

20 addit ion al acre s were wi thdraw n in 1958 in aid of legisla tion . Th e 

60 acres are occupied exclu sive ly b y tri ba l m em be rs; however, the tribes 

do no t have tit le to this lan d.

Th ey wish to ma ke im provem ents on the se lan ds and ca nn ot meet 

eligibility requ ire men ts for vario us Fe deral co mmun ity develop me nt 

pro gra ms unle ss the lan ds are held in trus t. Leg islation to place the se 

60 acres in tr ust passed the S enate in 1971, b ut no actio n was tak en in 

the H ouse. I h ope th e c om mi ttee will act fav orab ly on this am en dm ent.

Mr. Ch air ma n, once aga in I wan t to t ha nk you a nd y ou r comm ittee 

for the excellent trea tm en t accorded the In dian comm unitie s of 

Ne va da and urge the comm ittee to ac t favo rably on S. 785, with my 

pro posed am endm ent.

Ch air man Abourezk . Tha nk y ou very m uch , Se na tor Ca nnon. We 

appreciat e yo ur appeara nce here to da y and yo ur su pp or t of this 

legisla tion . I kno w the tribes are v ery m uch i nterested. I am sure th ey 

are grateful for yo ur spo nso rship in pushing th e bill as you have.

Ch airm an Abourezk . Our n ex t witness is Ra ym on d Bu tle r, Ac ting 

Dep ut y Comm issio ner, Bu reau of In di an Affairs.

Mr. Bu tle r, we w elcome you. We will follow the usu al pro ced ure on 

tes tim on y. I th in k th at it has work ed very well for bo th of us in tim es 

pa st.

STATEMENT OP RAYMOND V. BUTLER, ACTING DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF IND IAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTE RIOR,

ACCOMPANIED BY RALPH REES ER, DIRECTOR, CONGRESSIONAL

AND LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS, BUREAU OF INDIA N AFFAIRS ; AND

PH IL LI P CORKE, DIVISION OF TRUST R ESPO NSIB ILITIES, BUREAU

OF IND IAN AFF AIR S

Mr. B ut le r. T ha nk y ou, Mr. Ch air ma n.

I would like to i ntr od uce the me mb ers of t he s taff who are w ith m e 

this m or ni ng : M r. Ra lph Reese r from ou r Legislative Office and Mr. 

Phil Corke from our Tru st Re sponsib ility Office.

M r. Ch air man, it is my p leasur e to ap pe ar b efor e you this mo rning 

to testi fy in favor of S. 785: A bill to pro vid e lan d and ce rta in a ut ho ritie s for the Pa iu te and Shoshone Tr ibe of the F all on Re servation and 

colo ny in Ne vada.

Mr. Ch air ma n, I will su bm it my p repa red stat em en t for the recor d.

Ch airm an Abou rez k. W ith ou t obj ection , it is so ordered.

[The prepared stat em en t of Ra ym on d V. But ler follows:]
16

STATEMENT OF RAYMOND V. BUTLER, ACTING DEPUTY COMM ISSIONER OF INDIAN 

AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,1 ON S. 785, BEFORE TOE JULY 19, 1977 

HEARING OF THE SENATE SELECT COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS ON A BILL "TO 

DECLARE THAT ALL RIOTT, TITLE, A ND INTEREST OF TOE UNITED STATES IN TOO 

THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED AND FORTY ACRES, MORE OR LESS, ARE HEREBY HELD BY 

THE UNITED STATES IN TRUST FOR THE PAIUTE AND SHOSHONE TRIBE OF THE 

FALLON INDIAN RESERVATION, NEVADA, TO PROMOTE TOE ECONOMIC SEIF-SUFFICIENCY OF THE PAIUTE AND SHOSHONE TRIBES, AND FO R OTHER PURPOSES."

Mr. Chairman And members of the Caimittee, I a m pleased to testify in 

favor of enactment of S. 785, a bill to provide land and certain authorities for the Paiute and Shoshone Tribe of the Fallon Reservation and

Colony in Nevada.

S. 785 would declare that a certain 2,640 acres of public dcmain land is 

held in trust for the Fallon Tribe. The land adjoins the north boundary 

of the Fallon Reservation and has been under withdrawals by the Bureau of 

Reclamation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who have no objection

to the transfer.

The transfer of the 2,640 acres is necessary because the Federal Government 

has not fulfilled a 1906 agreement whereby 189 allottees exchanged their 

160-acre allotments for 10-acre allotments of what was to be irrigable land 

wit h fully paid-u p water rights. Therefore, sane 30,240 acres of land was 

exchanged for 1,890 acres. With other additions, the Fallon Reservation 

new includes 840 acres of tribal trust land and 4,640 acres of allotted

trust land.

The need for the additional 2,640 acres to be transferred by S. 785 results 

fran the fact that only about 2,000 of the 4,640 acres are irrigable 

leaving 2,600 acres not irrigable. The 2,640 acres to be transferred by 

S. 785 includes sane 1,800 irrigable acres.
17

The Fallon Tribe has a membership estimated at 1200 of which sane 224 

live on the Fall en Reservation or the nearby Fallon Colony. Indians 

are farming 81% of the reservation land, 17% is idle or unsuited for 

farming, and 2% is leased to non-Indians for farming.

Because the Indians of the Fallon Reservation and Colony rejected 

application to them of the Indian Reorganization Act, the land consolida 

tian provisions of that Act are not applicable t o them. S. 785 would 

also provide needed land consolidation authorities for the Fallon

Reservation.

The Interior Department's report on S. 785 includes sane recarmended 

amendments which I shall not take time to repeat in this statement.

This concludes my prepared statement and I shall be pleased to respond 

to any questions the Carm ittee may have.
18

Mr. B utler. There are two basic points which I would like to share 

with the committee this morning. They relate, Mr. Chairman, to 

the authorizations in sections 7 and 8 of the bill.

Chairman Abourezk. That would be on pages 5 and 6?

Mr. Butler. Yes.

In our report we have raised some questions about the enactment 

of sections 7 and 8. It is our view that such auth ority is provided 

under our general “Snyder Act” authorization in 25 U.S.C. 13. 

However, Mr. Chairman, I wish to point out to the committee an 

inconsistency which I think would be unfair to these people, particularly with regard to section 7(b) where we would be authorized to 

“make loans to the tribes for subjugation purposes, out of funds 

appropriated pursuant to this Act.” Mr. Chairman, under our general 

program, subjugation costs would be p art of the project development 

costs. I think it would be totally unfair if I did n ot share with the 

committee my judgm ent that it would be inequitable to ask these 

people to apply for and repay a loan for this purpose, whereas other 

tribes are not required to do so.

Chairman Abourezk. So, your recommendation is to amend tha t 

to read “grants” instead of “loans”?

Mr. Butler. In essence, we would suggest putting section 7(a) 

and 7(b) together into one and make them all part of the project 

cost.

Second, Mr. Chairman, in section 8 certain specific amounts are 

authorized. It would be my judgment, that the amount be left open 

ended as is the case under our authority in 25 U.S.C. 13. Rather, 

for example, in section 7 the Congress could authorize and direct 

the Secretary to place, as a top priority, funding and development 

of the irrigation delivery and distribution system.

Chairman Abourezk. You are suggesting under section 8 th at there 

be a direction?

Mr. Butler. Yes.

Chairman Abourezk. On what line would th at be?

Mr. Butler. In lieu of section 8, Mr. Chairman, we would include 

the direction as a part of section 7(a). This is on page 5: “ The Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed to place as a top 

priority”-----

Chairman Abourezk. You would move section 8 back into section 

7. I guess it could be done either way. I think your intent is clear. I 

think you make a good point.

I will direct the staff to prepare that language.

Mr. Butler. Mr. Chairman, in followup to Senator Cannon’s 

comment about the Fallon colony, I would like to say that it is my 

judgment that, in my brief experience as the acting head of the BI A, 

the Bureau of Land Management within the Dep artm ent of the 

Interior would be delighted to get lands such as these straightened 

out where they have certain responsibilities for lands that Indian 

people have been occupying. I would suggest that the good Senator’s 

amendment, which has been submitted to the chairman, be given 

serious consideration.

Chairman Abourezk. What was the amendment recommended by 

Senator Cannon?
19

Mr. Butler. It is relative to the 60-acre Fallon colony which they 

now occupy and which is not held in trust for them by the Bureau 

of Indian Affairs.

Chairman Abourezk. He recommends that it be held in trust?

Mr. Butler. Yes.

Chairman Abourezk. Who owns it now?

Mr. Butler. It is under the administration of the Bureau of Land 

Management.

Chairman Abourezk. You want tha t included as an amendment?

Mr. Butler. Yes. I recommend that the committee give very 

serious consideration to that.

Chairman Abourezk. I wall direct the staff to include tha t as an 

amendm ent as well.

Mr. Butler. With that, Mr. Chairman, I will conclude my testimony. I will be pleased to respond to any questions.

Chairman Abourezk. Are you satisfied that the land transfer 

provided for in this bill will enable the tribes to make full use of their 

water rights?

Mr. Butler. Provided that we get the direction to provide them 

wdth the resources to deliver the water for this land.

Chairman Abourezk. Do you believe that sections 7 and 8, as 

amended, concerning the construction of irrigation facilities, would 

circumvent the normal planning and budget process of the Bureau of 

Indian Affairs.

Mr. Butler. It would direct us to consider it as a top priority.

Chairman Abourezk. But it will not circumvent the normal process?

Mr. Butler. My counsel advises me that, in effect, it may circumvent it because it would pu t them on top. [Laughter.]

Chairman Abourezk. You don’t have any argument with tha t, 

do you?

Mr. Butler. No.

Chairman Abourezk. Do you support conveyance of the subsurface 

interests in this land?

Mr. Butler. That is one, Mr. Chairman, that I think we would 

need to defer to the committee’s judgment because of the recently 

passed Bureau of Land Management Organic Act.

Chairman Abourezk. What do you mean by that?

Mr. Butler. Basically, Mr. Chairman, it is relative to the new 

Federal Land Policy Management Act of 1976, w hich provides certain 

criteria wThich are to be satisfied before conveyance of the mineral 

estate in public domain lands may be made by the Secretary.We are 

not opposing it, Mr. Chairman.

Chairman Abourezk. You are no t opposed to it?

Mr. Butler. No.

Chairman Abourezk. I will ask the staff to prepare language relative to that transfer.

Senator Hatfield?

Senator H atfield. Mr. Butler, about 6 years ago I introduced, along 

with Congressman A1 Ullman of Oregon, a bill for land consolidation. 

We held a hearing in Oregon a week ago on this bill which is now 

Senate bill 470. It is a land consolidation proposal.

In that we don’t have any authorization for projects on th at reservation, once it is consolidated.
20

I would like to get your response to something that troubles me 

about this bill. We are going to be faced with a num ber of consolidation acts. It seems to me that we ought to get some sort of criteria 

on what this committee is goingto recommend and what the agency 

is going to recommend vis-a-vis the consolidation acts where they 

stand on their own merits.

The question comes to my mind as to whether or not we should 

mix an act of consolidation, giving authority to consolidate, along 

with the projects that will ultimately have to be appropriated. In 

this case it is $1,250,000 for an irrigation project and $900,000 for agriculture development. Those two proposals, if this bill passes in 

its present form, could come back around to me on the Subcommittee 

on Public Works and the Appropriations Committee. I am going to 

be faced with them saying: “Why didn’t you get authorization for 

our projects, once consolidation takes place?” I am talking about the 

Umatillas.

My first reaction is that we ought to handle land consolidation 

auth ority as a basic, generic act to be applied to all tribes and let 

each develop their own plan for development of those lands. They 

could come back in another year in another process and stand in line, 

or whatever criteria this committee may set up for approving projects. 

Th at is an off-the-top-of-the-head reaction that I have. I am concerned about consolidation and the wise use of the lands once they 

are consolidated. It seems like we are mixing up too many things at 

one time in one bill.

Do you have any comments?

Mr. Butler. Senator Hatfield, I do; yes, I think in m any instances 

you are quite right—the consolidation is the primary objection to 

begin with. However, I think there are, perhaps, certain instances— 

and I use this particular bill as an example—where the two do go hand 

in hand in terms of developing the land tha t is to be consolidated. 

The administration and the Congress may be confronted with a 

limited number of those types of situations where they would go 

hand in hand.

In general, Senator, I would concur with you tha t the first priority, 

of course, is the land consolidation effort. The development then 

follows.

Mr. Reeser, do you have further comment?

Mr. Reeser. Senator, we too think that it would be the best case 

to have a general bill that would not require us to come to Congress for 

each tribe. Many tribes have individual legislation, and many tribes 

are subject to the authorization within the Indian Reorganization 

Act for land consolidation.

Several months ago, we sent to the National Tribal Chairmen’s 

Association and the National Congress of American Indians a draft 

land consolidation bill for comment. We have been receiving comments over the last several nonths on t ha t bill. So far there has been 

no objection raised.

Previous a ttempts to come up with a general bill have sometimes 

raised objections from those tribes who did not want to have specific 

authorities provided. We have come up with a draft which authorizes 

the tribes to trigger the act's application to them. It is, hopefully, an 

answer to such objections.
21

Senator Hatfield. Would the consolidation occur in this instance 

with tribal funds? How would the consolidation be funded?

Mr. Butler. In this bill?

Senator Hatfield. Yes.

Mr. Butler. It could be; yes.

Mr. Reeser. Our report indicates that we assume that was what 

was intended. There is an authorization in the Indian Reorganization 

Act for $2 million a year for Federal funds for land consolidation 

efforts. However, that has not been funded for about a quarter of a 

century.

Senator Hatfield. In S. 470, we have what we call a “clean” 

bill. We say that consolidation shall occur o ut of tribal funds or out 

of funds provided by the tribe. They can encumber the land in order 

to meet certain financial requirements and so forth. We give them 

that authority.

Then we say to them tha t, working with the Secretary of the 

Interior, they have to come up with a plan for the development of tha t 

land. It has to be a comprehensive plan.

It seems to me sort of an orderly process. When we do this on an 

ad hoc basis, I think we raise—not intentionally—problems. For 

example, in the jurisdictional problem we tried to go ad hoc. The 

Umatillas would get certain jurisdiction. We made a rough draft about 

reconstituting the old things, and it was absolutely unbelievable the 

amount of bias and emotion which surfaced. We have had generations 

of peaceful coexistence there amongst the Indians.

I have a very uneasy feeling about moving without some basic 

criteria, at least a minimum. Then if there are exceptional cases, 

as you say, that is fine.

I think the American Indian Policy Review Commission made this 

recommendation. We could get a basic, generic land consolidation act. 

Then we could make the modifications as the cases may require.

Would tha t be your recommendation?

Mr. Butler. Yes; Senator Hatfield.

Under the authority of our general authorization, if the tribes were 

to move into these developmental processes, we would then be in a 

position to assist them with both technical assistance as well as the 

resources to accomplish their plan.

Senator Hatfield. Tha nk you.

Chairman Abourezk. Mr. Butler, if you had general authorization 

similar to the way that we began handling the native claims 3 or 4 

years ago where the process would sta rt with authorization under the 

Bureau of India n Affairs, then with extraordinary circumstances 

they could come to Congress. That has worked well in the claim 

situation, I think.

Mr. Butler. Yes; it has.

Chairman Abourezk. We might end up with something like that.

I have no more questions. I want to than k you very much for your 

testimony.

Mr. Butler. Thank you.

Chairman Abourezk. Our next witness is Mr. Chris Hicks, tribal 

chairman of the Paiute and Shoshone Tribes. He is accompanied 

by Mr. Bertram Hirsch, attorney.
22

STATEMENT OF CHRIS HICKS, TRIBAL CHAIRMAN, FALLON PAIUTE 

AND SHOSHONE TRIBES BUSINESS COUNCIL, ACCOMPANIED BY 

BERTRAM HIRSCH, ATTORNEY, AND DELL STEVE, COUNCILMAN

Mr. Hicks. I would like to introduce to you, Mr. Chairman, Dell

Steve, a member of our council.

Chairman Abourezk. I would like to welcome you.

Mr. Hicks. I have a prepared statement to submit for the record.

I will briefly summarize that statement.

Chairman Abourezk. Your written statement will be accepted

into the record at this point.

[The prepared statement of Chris Hicks follows:]
23

STATEMENT OF CHRIS HICKS, CHAIRMAN,

FALLON PAIUTE AND SHOSHONE TRIBES BUSINESS COUNCIL REGARDING S . 78$

Mr. Ch airma n, I wi sh to ex pre ss to you and th e members of th e 

S e le c t C onn itte e on In dia n A ffa ir s th e a p p re c ia ti o n of the F al lo n 

P aiu te and Shoshone T ri bes fo r th is opport unit y to te s ti f y in su pp or t 

o f S . 78 $. Fo r 70 ye ar s we hav e been ap pe al in g to th e U nited S ta te s 

fo r an eq u it ab le sett le m en t of our la nd and water rig h ts . We hav e ne ve r 

gi ve n up hope and th is hea ri ng co nf irm s ou r b e li e f th a t ju s ti c e w il l 

one day be do ne .

PURPOSES

The pu rp os es of S. 78$ a re :

1) To honor th e fe dera l. govern m ent's tr u s t o b li g a ti o n s to th e 

F all o n Paiu te and Shoshone T ri b es;

2) To a ll e v ia te pov er ty among tr ib a l members and dependency

on the fe d e ra l gov ernment th a t re s u lt from the p ast fa ilu re 

of the Un ite d S ta te s to p ro te c t th e la nd ba se of th e T ri b es;

3) To en ab le the T ri b es to pu t th e ir w ater rig h ts to b e n e fic ia l 

use ; and

h) To promote soun d econ omic gro wth and e f f ic ie n t la nd-u se and 

w ate r- re so u rc es managem ent.

SUMMARY OF MAJOR PROVISIONS

To ac co mplish th ese purp ose s, S . 78$ prop os es th a t th e United S ta te s:

1) Convey to th e F all o n Paiu te and Shoshone T ri bes ap pro xi m at el y 

2,6h 0 acre s of fe d e ra l la nd co nt ig uo us to th e nort h boundary 

of the F all on In dia n R es er vati on to be he ld in tr u s t by th e 

United S ta te s;
24

- 2 -

2) Authorize the Tribes to acq uire water ri ghts appurtenan t to 

any allotted Indian lands within the rese rv ation;

3) Tra nsf er water ri ght s now appurte nan t to Ind ian land s within

the Fallon Indian Reservation th at cannot be farmed

to the lands to be conveyed to the Tribes under the proposed 

le gis la tion;

U) Authorize the Tribes to consoli date landholdings and eliminate 

frac tio na ted he irs hip in te re st s in Indian tr u st lands^ ; and

5) Improve and extend the ex isting system for the de liv ery and 

dis tr ib ution of ir ri g ati o n water to lands withi n the 

rese rv ation and lands to be added to the rese rv atio n under 

the proposed le gis la ti on.

BACKGROUND AND NEED

The enro llment of the Fallo n Paiute and Shoshone Tribes is 631, with 

UlO members (76 famili es ) liv in g on the Fallon Indian Reservation and in 

the Fallo n Colony. The rese rv ation is loc ate d 12 miles ea st of the city

The land co nsoli datio n au thor ity is necessary because the Fallon Paiute 

and Shoshone Trib es are not organized under the Indian Reorganiz ation 

Act of June 18, 193h (U8 S ta t. 98U, 988; 25 U.S.C. U6h and h6$) and 

the land consoli datio n pro vision s of th at Act are not applicab le to 

them or th ei r lan ds.
25

- 3 -

of Fa llon , Nevada, and co ns ists of 5,hdO acres of land . The Colony is 

located on fe de ra l land on the ou ts ki rts of the cit y .

The Trib e* have paid-up water righ ts to ir ri g ate U,877 acr es of 

th eir rese rv ation under the terms of an agreement entered into between 

the Tribes and the United Sta te s; bu t, owing to the mismanagement of 

the Tr ibes' land by the Fed era l Government, the Tribes have only 3,277 

acr es of ara ble and pr ac tic ab ly ir ri gab le land . As a re su lt , the 

Tribes su ffer nee dless economic and so ci al hardships , and the United St ates 

inc urs su bst an tial annual expenses for the re li e f of these conditions— 

conditions th at the Tribes fe el they can co rrec t through th eir own 

eff ort s under the terms of S. 785. The proposed b ill would tran sf er 

su ff ic ie nt land to the Trib es to ir ri g ate an ad ditio na l 1,600 ac res; 

represen tin g a 50 per cen t inc rea se in the amount of land the Tribes

could farm.

At one time the Fallo n Indian Reservation comprised 31,360 acr es 

of lan d. I t consi ste d of 196 allotm ents of 160 acre s eac h, all ott ed 

between 189O-189U under the Gene ral Allotm ent Act of 1887 (2h S ta t. 338). 

The allotm ents were made to encourage tr ib a l members to become self - 

su ff ic ie nt through farm ing. The land was ar id and the Indians liv ing 

on i t , alth oug h in du striou s, were in extreme poverty and thus could 

not affo rd the grea t expense of purchasing equipment with which to work 

the land or to co ns tru ct ir ri g ati o n ditche s th at would ca rry water to 

the land . Consequently, much of the land was not tinder cu ltiv at io n.
Follo win g en ac tm en t of th e Rec lam atio n Act of 1902 (32 S t a t . 33 8), 

th e U ni te d S ta te s Re cla mati on Ser vi ce began e ff o rts to ac quir e most of 

th e In dia n la nds fo r th e prop osed Ca rso n D iv is io n o f th e Newlands P ro je ct 

in ord er to gu ar an te e th e su cc es s of th e P ro je c t. The U ni ted S ta te s 

re quest ed th a t th e In dia ns re li n q u is h th e ir all otm ents and r e ta in on ly 

a sm al l p a rt of th e o rig in a l re se rv a ti o n . The members of th e F all o n 

Pal ute and Shoshone T ri bes ag re ed on co n d it io n th a t a l l of th e sm al le r 

la nd ba se conta in ara b le and p ra c ti c a b ly ir rig a b le acre s and th a t th e 

United S ta te s gu ar an te e water rig h ts fo r th e la nd s and co n str u ct and oper at e 

and m ai nta in a w at er d e li v e ry system to se rv e th e la n d s. The United S ta te s 

ac ce pt ed th es e c o n d it io n s. In 1907 th e T ribes re li n q u is h ed n e a rl y 26 ,00 0 

acre s of la nd and re ta in e d a U ,6 h0 -a cr e a re a , of which U,0 10 was 

a llo tte d in 10 -a cr e a ll o tm e n ts . The la nd th e T ri bes gave up was 

pr om ptly s e ttle d by ho mes tead ers a tt ra c te d by th e o p p o rt u n it ie s th a t 

th e Newlands P ro je c t would a ffo rd .

On November 11 , 1908 , th e Rec lamation -Service is su ed water rig h ts 

c e r tif ic a te s co ve ring the U,6U0 acre s un de r th e Ac t of A p ri l 30 , 1908 

(35 S ta t. 85). Th is c e r t if ic a te o b li g ate d th e United S ta te s to pay 

Ir r ig a tio n co n st ru cti o n and opera ti o n and mainten an ce c o s ts .

Soon a fte r th e Newlands P ro je c t began o p e ra ti o n s, al m os t th e e n ti re 

P ro je c t became water lo gg ed and a lk a lie d . The P aiu te and Sho shone la n d s, 

which are in th e lo wes t p a rt of th e La honta n V all ey , were th e worst 

a ffe c te d . Fur th er m or e, th e Re clam ation Serv ic e f a ile d to c o n str u c t a
27

- 5 -

de liv ery system adequate to ir ri g ate a ll of the new 10-acre allotm ents 

and allowed the ir ri g ati o n ditche s th a t i t did co ns tru ct to de terior ate* 

Some of the tr ib a l members, when they discovered the lands they 

had been all ott ed could not be farmed, moved off the rese rv ation and 

es tabl ishe d the Fallon Colony. In 1917, the Feder al Government 

res erv ed bO acres of land for the Colony and added 20 acr es in 1958.

On February 5, 191b, the Federal Government removed 563 acr es of 

the rese rv atio n from the coverage of the 1908 water righ ts cert if ic ate , 

sin ce the se land s, even under the most favorable co nd ition s, could not 

be farmed; and the cert if ic ate was adjus ted to provide water righ ts 

for the remaining b,O77 ac re s. On November 21, 1917, the Department 

of the In te ri or added an 8b0-acre tr a c t free of seepage to the Fallon 

Indian Reservation to inc rea se the ir ri gab le aoreage. Water righ ts 

were acq uired fo r 800.3 acres of th is new tr a c t on July 1, 1926, under 

the Act of May 10, 1926 (bb S ta t. b66 ). This brought the to ta l acreage 

covered by water ri ghts to its present leve l of b ,877.3 ac re s.

The problems of the Tribes were compounded when, in 1926, the 

United St ates tran sf er re d management of th e Newlands Pr ojec t to the 

Truckee«£arson Ir ri gati on D is tr ic t. There follow ed con tinuing 

controve rsi es between the Ir ri gati on D is tr ic t and the Federal Government 

over opera tion and maintenance co sts regard ing de liv er y of water to the

Fallon Ind ian Reservation and, during th is time, the D is tr ic t ei th er
28

- 6 -

fa iled to maintain the drainag e ditche s properly or refuse d to provide

water service at a ll. Add ition ally, seepage from pr oj ec t canals

caused fu rthe r damage to lands in the northern po rtion of the re se rv atio n.

For th e f ir s t 15 years of the pr oje ct , 19O9-19)Lh, the average 

acreage in cu ltiv at io n was 1,200-1 ,500 ac re s. Between 1915-1929,

■embers of the Tribes suffe red approximately 10 crop fa il ure s because 

of the fa il ure to de liv er water and the inadequate maintenance of 

dr ai ns . Conditions worsened between 1921* and 1929. By 1929 the cu ltiv at ed 

area of the Fallon Indian Reservation had shrunk to a mere 800 ac re s.

In 1932, the Senate Committee on Ind ian Affairs inve sti ga ted 

conditio ns on the Fallon Indian Re ser vation. The conditio n of the land 

was so bad th at one government witnes s te sti fi e d , "I would not turn 

a wild burro on i t , le t alone a ci viliz ed human being."

Since th at tim e, over the pa st h5 ye ars, farming opera tions have 

gradually improved on the rese rv ation and the Tribes have been able to 

ir ri g ate inc rea sin g amounts of lan d.

However, today he irs hip problems make i t d if fic u lt to farm a 

su bs ta ntial portion of the land pres en tly in the Tribe s’ ownership.

Of the U,65O all ott ed acres on the rese rv ation, 910 acr es have two 

to five owners and 1,360 acr es have si x or more owners. Unless the 

he irsh ip provision s of the proposed le gis la tion are ena cted, the problem 

can only get worse.
The United St ates has inv est ed $lb5,858 to purchase water 

c e rt if ic ate s for the Fallon Paiute and Shoshone Tr ibes . The Tribes 

ask th at the fu ll amount of th is investment be put to work and S. 785 

prov ides the means to do th is . I t w ill provide the land s and funds 

needed to put the se water ri ghts to be ne fici al use and i t w ill enable 

the Tribe s to solv e the p erplexing he irsh ip problem in order to make 

more ef fe ct iv e use of the Tr ibes ' land and water resource s.

IMPACT ON EXISTING RIGHTS

Leases

Se cti on 1 of S. 785 de cla res th a t the 2,6hO acres of fe de ra l land 

to be tran sf er re d in tr u st to the Fallon Paiut e and Shoshone Tribes

sh al l be "sub jec t to va lid ex isting ri ghts ."

Ex isting righ ts Include a geothermal lease and four o il and gas

le as es i

Geothermal lea se No. 1173 was granted to the Union Oil Company of 

Califo rn ia fo r a primary lease term of ten ye ars. The ef fe ct iv e date 

is October 1, 1975. The annual lea se re nta l is $2.0 0 per ac re. The 

lease covers 8U3 acr es and inc lud es 320 acr es of the 2,6hO acres affected 

by the b ill.

Oil and Gas lease Nos. 6275, 6276 and 68U5 were granted to the 

Standard Oil Company of Califor nia fo r a ten -year lease term . The 

ef fe ct iv e date of Lease Nos. 6275 and 681*5 is January 1, 197h and the
30

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e ffe c ti v e date of Lease Mo. 6276 is Fe br ua ry 1, 197U. The an nu al le ase 

re n ta l is $0 .5 0 pe r a cre . The le a se s co ve r 3,9 00 acr es and in cl ud e 

ap pr ox im at el y 1,68 0 acre s of the 2,6h 0 acr es a ffe cte d by th e su bje ct 

b i l l .

O il and Gas Lease No. 6385 was gra nte d to th e Mo untain S ta te Fu el Supply 

Company of S a lt Lake C it y , Utah fo r a te n-y ear le ase te rm . The 

e ffe c ti v e da te of th e le ase is A p ri l H , 197 h. The an nu al re n ta l la 

$0 .5 0 per a cre . The le ase co ve rs 2, b0 0 acr es and in cl udes UOO acr es of 

th e 2,6U0 acre s a ff e c te d by th e su b je ct b i l l .

The o i l and gas le ase s are in an ar ea 100 m ile s d is ta n t from -U rNev ada's on ly prod uc ing o il f ie ld . The United S ta te s G eo lo gic al Survey 

advis es th a t pro sp ec ts fo r o i l dis cover y ar e remote.

A ll of th es e le ases co nta in pro vis io ns th a t pe rm it ex te nsi on of 

th e le a se term .

In th e p a st, an nu al gr az in g pe rm its have been is su ed co ve ring 

p a rt of th e 2,6hO a c re s.

S. 785 w il l have no impact on th es e le a se s.

Water R ig hts L it ig a ti o n

The re is p re sen tl y pe nd ing bef or e th e Un ite d S ta te s D is tric t Co urt 

fo r Nevada U nited S ta te s v . Al pine Land and R es er voir Company, e t a l . .

E quity No. D-I8 3 BRT (D. Ne v.) and United S ta te s v. Tr uc ke e-Ca rso n 

I r r ig a tio n D is tr ic t, e t a l . , Civ . No. R-2987 BRT (D. Ne v.)
S e cti o n 6 of S . 785 pro vid es th a t th e su b je c t b i l l w ill not a ffe c t 

an y rig h ts su b je c t to a d ju d ic a ti o n in A lpine and Tr uc ke e-Ca raon Ir rig a tio n

D i s t r i c t .

In A lp in e, f ile d on May 11 , 1925, th e U ni te d S ta te s se ek s to q u ie t 

t i t l e to i t s and a l l o th er p ers o n s’ rig h ts to th e use of th e w at er s

of th e Ca rso n R iv er and i t s tr ib u ta r ie s in th e s ta te s of C a li fo rn ia 

and Nev ada. In Tr uc ke e Ca rso n I r r ig a tio n D i s t r i c t , f ile d in Dec emb er, 1973 

a g a in st a l l w at er use rs on the Truckee R iv er in th e s ta te of Nevad a, 

th e United S ta te s se ek s to q u ie t i t s t i t l e , h eld in tr u s t fo r th e use 

and b e n e fit of th e Pyramid Lake T ri be of P aiu te In d ia n s, to s u f fic ie n t 

w at er in th e Tr uckee R iv er to m ai nta in th e lo ng- te rm le v e l of Pyram id 

Lake and to pe rm it th e est abli sh m ent of a fish e ry in Pyramid Lake and

in th e Tr uc ke e R iv er.

A ll of th e w at er rig h ts of th e F all on P aiu te and Shoshon e T ri bes 

and i t s members are rig h ts to w at er s of th e Ca rso n R iv er. P re se n tl y , 

th e w at er s of th e Ca rso n R iv er and p a rt of the w at er s of the Tru cke e 

R iv er are comm ingled in th e Lahon ton R es erv oir of th e Newlands P ro je c t. 

Tr uckee R iv er water in th e Lahonton R es erv oir is d iv e rte d thro ug h the 

Truckee Can al to ir r ig a te far m la nds of th e F all on P aiu te and Shoshon e 

T ri bes and o th ers in th e Ca rso n D iv is io n of th e Newlands P ro je c t.

S ecti o n 6 p ro te c ts th e r ig h t of th e U ni ted S ta te s to co ntinu e 

unim peded i t s e ff o rts to l i t i g a t e th e Truckee R iv er w at er rig h ts of 

th e Pyramid Lake Tribe of P aiu te In d ia n s. The se rig h ts once adju dic ate d
32

io

nay adv ersely aff ect the use of Truckee River water by Carson Div isio n 

water use rs . The se ction also protec ts th e ri ghts of Carson River 

water users to li ti g a te ri ghts to Carson River wa ter without prior 

Congressional lim itat io n on those righ ts fo r the be ne fit of the

Fallon Paiute and Shoshone Tr ibes.

Section 6 assures th at the Fallon Paiute and Shoshone Trib es 

w il l not obtain through S. 785 water righ ts they do not now poesess and 

ass ure s th at no Truckee River or Carson River water users w ill lose through 

th is le gis la tion water ri ght s cu rren tly possessed or claimed by them.

LEGISUTIVE HISTORY

Propo sals to inc rea se the size of the Fallon Indian Reservatio n 

to enable the Tribes to put th ei r water rights to be ne fici al use are 

a t le ast ha lf a cen tury old, and the cu rren t eff o rt was begun more 

than a decade ago. In September 1966 the Sup erintend ent of th e Western 

Nevada Agency wrote to the Phoenix Area Office recommending an ad ditio n 

of 2,6h0 acr es to the re se rv at io n, and in December of tha t year the Tribes 

passed a reso lutio n formally req uesting th is ad di tion .

In order to fa c il it a te the le gis la ti ve process, the Department of 

the In te ri or then began to resolve ju ri sd ic ti onal issu es re la ting to 

the management of the 2,6hO-acre tr a c t to be conveyed to the Tribes 

under S. 785. In 1966, th is tr a c t was pa rt of the Newlands Reclamation
33

- l i -

Pr ojec t and the Stillw at er W ild life Management Area. All ma tters 

concerning lands withi n the Stillw at er W ild lif e Management Area are 

governed by a November 26, 19U8 agreement between the Truckee-Carson 

Ir ri gati on D is tr ic t, the Nevada St ate Board of Fish and Game Coranissioners, 

and the United St at es Fish and Wildlife Se rvice . In 1970, the pa rtie s 

to the 19h8 agreement consented to releas e th at pa rt of the 2,6UO ac re s— 

1,760 ac res—conta ined in the Wild life Management Area, and the Bureau 

of Reclamation agreed to re lin qu ish the reclamatio n withdrawals on the 

2,6liO-acre tr a c t. The Bureau of Reclamation at th at time informed 

the Bureau of Ind ian Affa irs th at, should the tr act be added to the 

re se rv at io n, i t would sup port tr an sf er of water ri ghts by the members 

of the Tribes to the 2,6i*0-acre ad di tio n.

In the Ninety-Third Congress a measure simila r to S. 785 was 

introdu ced by Senator Alan Bib le and Senator Howard Cannon. The 

measure was re fe rred to the Committee on In te ri or and Insu lar A ff ai rs .

A hea ring was held before the Subcommittee on Indian A ffai rs on 

January 25, 197h. No ac tio n was taken.

In the Ninety-Fourth Congress, a simila r measure was introduced 

by Sen ator Cannon and Senator Paul Laxalt. The measure was refe rred to 

the Committee on In te ri or and In su lar Affairs. A companion b ill was 

introdu ced by U.S. Repre sen tative Sa ntini and re fe rred to the Conmittee 

on In te ri or and Insu lar A ffai rs. No ac tion was tak en during the 

Nin ety-Fourth Congress
34

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I f enacte d, S. 785 would en ab le th e T ribes to farm a t le a s t 1,80 0 

acre s of a d d it io n a l la n d , with a re s u lt in g in cre ase in gr os s cr op va lu e 

of a t le a s t $360 ,00 0 per y ear. This in tu rn w il l y ie ld to th e T ribes 

a t le a s t $1 26 ,00 0 pe r yea r in p ro f its and wages from far m emp loym ent.

To th e ex te n t to which S. 785 in cre ase s th e T ri b e s' incom e, 

i t sh ou ld have th e co rr es po nd in g e ff e c t of dec re asi ng dependency on

th e Federa l Government.

F in a lly , S. 785 w ill en ab le th e T ri bes to make b e tte r economic use 

of th e ir e x is ti n g la nd ba se by enab ling them to so lv e th e ir h e ir sh ip 

problem .

FROPOSED AMENDMENTS REGARDING THE FALLON COLONY

The F all o n Pai ute and Shoshone Tribe s re q u est th a t S . 785 be 

amended to tr a n s fe r to th e T ribes in tr u s t two co nt ig uo us tr a c ts of 

fe d e ra l land re se rv ed fo r In dia n pu rpos es in 1917 and 1958. The 

tr a c ts are desc ri bed as th e so ut hw es t q u art er no rthw es t q u art er 

(hO acre s) and th e so ut h h a lf nor th w es t q u a rt e r no rthw es t q u a rt e r 

(20 a c re s) of S ecti on 29 , tow nship 19 n o rt h , rang e 29 e a s t,

Mt. D iablo m er id ia n, Nevada.

Ap prox im ate ly fo u r acre s in the pro po sed con vey anc e are needed fo r 

Tr uc ke e-Ca rson Irrig a tio n D is t r ic t 's can al th a t b is e c ts 

th e hO -ac re t r a c t . The tr a n s fe r would be made su b je c t to th e rig h t of

th e United S ta te s to us e th is land w ithout co mpe ns ation to th e Tribes 

fo r so long as th e S ecre ta ry of th e In te r io r de te rm in es i t would be

nec ess ary fo r ir r ig a tio n can al pu rpos es
35

- lb -

Background and Need

S h o rt ly a f te r the re d u cti o n of th e o rig in a l F all o n In dia n 

R ese rv ati on to 10 -a cr e all o tm en ts i t became appare nt th a t many of 

th ese all otm ents co uld not be farm ed , and many fa m il ie s moved o ff th e 

re se rv a ti o n and in to shac ks or camped on a bO -ac re tr a c t of d e se rt 

land lo cate d ju s t o uts id e th e c ity of F all o n . The fa m il ie s found 

employment in and aro und the c ity . In 1917 th e bO -ac re tr a c t was

eli m in ate d from a re cla m ati on with dr aw al and re se rv ed fo r In dia n

pur po se s.

In c ons tr uc ting th e ir hous es , some of th e fa m il ie s lo cate d them by 

m ista ke outs id e th e nort hern bo un dary of th e bO -ac re t r a c t . By th e 

e a rly 19 50 's te n ho uses and a sm al l ch ur ch were lo cate d on a 20-a cr e 

tr a c t on fe d e ra l land co nt ig uo us to th e nort h bo un dary of th e bO -ac re 

t r a c t. The 20 -a cr e tr a c t was withd rawn from fu rth e r e n tr y on 

March lb , 195 8, in aid of le g is la tio n . I t was co ntem plated th en th a t 

th is la nd wou ld be added to th e F all on In di an R ese rv ati o n . At th is 

d a te , n e it h e r tr a c t is a p a rt of th e re se rv a ti o n .

There are now 16 ho uses lo cate d on ap pr ox im at el y 25 acre s of the 

bO -ac re t r a c t . El ev en acre s are un de r ir r ig a tio n w ith water d e li v e rie s 

from th e Newlands Rec lam atio n P ro je c t. Th is p a rc e l is un de r le ase to a 

tr ib a l member. App roximately fo ur acre s are used fo r th e TCID ir r ig a tio n 

c a n a l. Th ere are now 11 homes on th e 20- ac re p a rc e l. Most of th e 28 

b u il d in g s on th e two tr a c ts have bee n const ru cte d and m ai nt ai ne d by th e 

In dia ns a t th e ir own ex pe ns e.
36

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In ord er fo r th e P ai ute and Shoshone fa m il ie s of th e F all on Colony 

to ta ke ad va ntag e of fe d e ra l comm unity de velop ment prog rams, in clu din g 

ho us ing and s a n it a ti o n prog rams, th ey mus t hav e a ves te d pro pert y r ig h t 

in th e la n d . T ra n sf err in g the la nd in tr u s t to th e T ri b es w ill ac co m pl ish 

t h i s .

L e g is la ti v e H is to ry

In 196 7, th e T ri bes pa ss ed a re s o lu ti o n re q u esti n g th a t the U.S. 

tr a n s fe r the Fall on Colony to the m.

L eg is la ti o n was in tr oduced in th e N in e ty -F ir st Co ng res s by 

Sen at or Alan Bib le to tr a n s fe r th e la nd in tr u s t and to make i t a

p a rt of th e F all o n In di an R ese rv ati o n . The b i l l was re fe rre d to th e 

Committee on In te rio r and In su la r A ffa ir s, b u t no a c ti o n was ta k en .

An id e n tic a l b i l l was in tr oduced in th e Ninety -S ec on d Co ng res s 

by Sen at or B ib le . Fo llo wi ng h e a ri n g s, th e Com mittee on In te rio r 

and In s u la r A ff air s re p o rt ed th e b i l l on December 2, 1971 (S . Rep. 92 -5U 1). 

The b i l l pa ss ed th e Se na te on December 6 , 1971 . No a c ti o n was ta ken in 

th e Hou se.

Pro posed Amendments

The F all o n P ai ute and Sho shone Tribes re s p e c tf u lly re q u e st th a t 

S . 78$ be amended as fo ll ow s:

S tr ik e ou t a l l a fte r th e enacti ng cla u se and in s e rt 

in li e u th e re o f th e fo llow in g:

"T ha t (a ) su b je c t to v a li d e x is ti n g r ig h ts , a l l 

r ig h t, t i t l e , and in te r e s t of the U ni ted S ta te s
37

- 16 -

in two th ou sa nd seve n hu nd red a c re s, more or le s s , 

desc ri bed below ar e he re by decla re d to be hel d in 

tr u s t fo r th e Pai ut e and Sho shone T ri bes of th e 

F all on In dia n R ese rv ati on and Co lony , Nevada:

MOUNT DIABLO MERIDIAN

Township 19 n o rt h , ran ge 29 e a s t, S ecti on 29 , 

so ut h h a lf , nor th w es t q u a rt e r nor th w es t q u a rt e r 

and th e so ut hw es t q u a rt e r nor th w es t q u a rte r."

Th is amendment add s th e 60-a cr e F all o n Co lon y to th e sco pe of 

th e su b je c t b i l l and d ir e c ts th e United S ta te s to ho ld th e F all on 

Colony in tr u s t fo r th e Pai ute and Shoshone T ri b e s.

A ll oth er land d e sc rip ti o n s co nta in ed in S ecti on 1 of S . 785 

sh ou ld rem ain u n alt ere d as p a rt of S ecti o n 1.

I t fu rth e r recommends th a t a su b secti o n (b ) be added to S ecti o n 1 

as fo llow s:

"(b ) N ot w ith st an di ng any o th er p ro v is io n of th is A ct , th e 

United S ta te s s h a ll be e n title d to u se, w ithout 

co mpe ns ation, fo r so lo ng as necess ary , as de term in ed 

by th e S ec re ta ry of th e I n t e r io r , fo ur a c re s , more or 

le s s , of such la nd s re fe rre d to in su b secti o n (a ) fo r 

ir r ig a tio n can al purp ose s. "

Th is amendment p ro te c ts th e rig h t of th e U ni ted S ta te s to co ntinue
38

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to us e the ir rig a tio n ca nal th a t b is e c ts th e bO -acre t r a c t in th e 

F all on Co lon y.

CONCLUSION

Enactm ent of S. 785 w il l en ab le th e Un ite d S ta te s to honor i t s 

agree me nt w ith th e F all on P aiu te and Shoshone T ri bes, made 70 ye ar s 

ag o. In so do ing, i t w il l make i t poss ib le fo r th e T ri bes to ac hiev e 

economic ind epende nce and to co n tr ib u te more fu lly to the economy of 

th e s ta te of Nevada and the N atio n. On b eh alf of th e T ri b e s, I 

re s p e c tf u ll y urge th a t the Com mittee a c t fa vora bly on S. 785, to geth er 

w ith the proposed amendments.
39

Chairman Abourezk. What we generally do in the committee, since 

it has been organized this year, is to ask the witnesses just to say in 

their own words what they want to state about the legislation and the 

issues. It leaves more time for questions. If you don’t read your sta tement, then the committee doesn’t go to sleep. We find that we get 

more legislation passed tha t way. [Laughter.]

Mr. Hicks. I will try to make it as brief as I can.

Mr. Chairman, I wish to express to you and the members of the 

Select Committee on Indian Affairs the appreciation of the Fallon 

Paiute and Shoshone Tribes for this opportunity to testify in support 

of S. 785.

For 70 years we have been appealing to the United States for an 

equitable settlement of our land and water rights. We have not given 

up hope, and this hearing confirms our belief that justice to correct this 

situation will be done.

I also want to express our appreciation to Senators Cannon and 

Laxalt for their efforts on our behalf.

S. 785 proposes tha t the United States do the following:

First. Convey to the Fallon Paiute and Shoshone Tribes approximately 2,640 acres of Federal land contiguous to the north boundary 

of the Fallon India n Reservation to be held in trust by the United 

Sta tes;

Second. Authorize the tribes to acquire water rights appurtenant to 

any allotted Indian lands within the reservatio n;

Third. Transfer water rights now appurtenant to Indian lands within 

the Fallon Indian Reservation that cannot be farmed to lands to be 

conveyed to the tribes under the proposed legislation;

Fourth. Authorize the tribes to consolidate landholdings and 

eliminate fractionated heirship interests in Indian tru st lan ds; and

Fifth. Improve and extend the existing system for the delivery and 

distribution of irrigation water to lands within the reservation and 

lands to be added to the reservation under the proposed legislation.

Our reservation was once more than 31,000 acres of land. At the 

request of the United States, the tribes agreed to reduce the size of the 

reservation to 4,640 acres of arable and practically irrigable land on 

condition t ha t the United States furnish it with a paid-up water right 

and with an irrigation delivery system to serve 4,640 acres. Congress 

later increased this entitlement to 4,877 acres and a delivery system for 

that amount of land.

Unfortunately the United States failed in its obligation to the tribes. 

As a result, today we have only 3,277 acres of arable and practically 

irrigable land, and our delivery system does not even serve all of this 

land. We have 1,600 acres of land th at is considered “beyond reclamation.”

S. 785 would convey a 2,640-acre tract containing approximately 

1,600 acres of arable and practically irrigable land. It would also authorize appropriations for the construction of a delivery system and 

grants for subjugation so that we may utilize our water rights and 

put the land to beneficial use.

The legislation will not affect any existing rights in the tra ct of 

land to be added to the reservation, including any geothermal leases,
40

oil and gas leases, or grazing perm its. Fu rth ermor e, no thing in S. 785 

will affect an y pen din g wa ter rig hts litigation ad judica tin g rig hts in 

the wa ters of the Truckee and Ca rso n Riv ers.

We wou ld like to sug gest th at the bill be am ended to convey in 

tr ust to th e tribe s two trac ts of lan d com prising the Fa llo n Colony. 

These trac ts to tal 60 acres an d are presently res erv ed for the ben efit 

of the Fallon Pa iute and Shosh one Tribe s. Th is will ena ble the tribes 

to become eligible for various Fe deral co mm un ity develop me nt progra ms th at they are no t now eligible for bec ause th e tri be s do no t 

have a veste d pr op erty r ight i n the lan d.

In closing, I wan t to stress th e i mp ortan ce of m aintaining pr ovisions 

in the bill th at wou ld provide the fun ds to enabl e us to im plem ent S. 

785. I t is my u nd ersta nd ing t h at the cu rre nt backlog for th e construc e 

tio n and reha bilitation of pr esen tly autho riz ed Indian irriga tio - 

projects totals $500 million. At the present ra te of ap prop ria tio n we 

believe it will tak e 50 to 100 years to eliminate this backlog. We believn 

we ha ve wa ited long enough.

We are pleased by the su pp or t of the Bu reau of In dian Affairs to 

direct the Secre tar y to assign top pr iorit y for funding of the del ive ry 

syste m for the costs of subju gatio n. We feel th at this mo ney m us t be 

ma de availabl e to us as soon as possible, and we feel th at we can acce pt th e Bu reau ’s p osition only if we do rece ive th at top priorit y.

When the tribe s ente red into th eir agre em ent with th e Un ited States, 

the agree me nt included pro vision s for the constru ction of delive ry 

sys tem s. Th is ele me nt of the agree me nt was the only rea son the tribe s 

agreed to relinq uish 26,000 acres of lan d. We kno w of no othe r situ atio n in which an In dian lan d cession was based on a co mm itm ent by 

the Un ite d St ates to co ns tru ct an irriga tio n delivery system .

M r. Ch airma n, we are no t ask ing for a gr atui ty. We are ask ing the 

Un ite d States to honor its agreem ent .

Tha nk y ou, Mr. Ch air man, for heari ng our appeal for justice.

At this tim e I would like to introduce ou r atto rn ey , Bert Hirsc h, 

to su bm it fu rthe r comm ents for the reco rd.

Mr. H irs ch. T ha nk you.

I have a ve ry brie f comm ent on costs. Sec tion 7(a) autho rizes and 

direc ts the Se creta ry to impro ve and exten d the existin g wa ter deliv ery s ystem to serv e a to ta l of 1,800 acres, inc lud ing the lan ds to be 

con vey ed to the tribes un de r S. 785, as well as certa in othe r lan ds on 

the existin g res erv ation no t now s erved.

Sec tion 7(b) gr an ts to th e tribes fun ds for the subjug ation of up to 

1,800 acres.

Sec tion 7(c) ma kes pla nn ing and tra ining gr an ts to the trib es.

In preparing the legi slation, it was conte mp lat ed th at the cost to 

im ple me nt sections 7 (a) and 7 (c) would to ta l $1.25 million. Accordin gly 

we recomm end th at section 8 be amend ed as follows:

There are hereby authorized to be appropriated to implement sections 7(a), 

7(b), and 7(c) of this act the sum of $2,150,000 during fiscal year 1978 and such 

sums as may be necessary during each subsequent fiscal year.

Fu rth ermo re, sec tion 7(b ), as draft ed, would pro vid e loan s, ra th er 

th an grants, for subju gatio n. We recom mend th at th at be am ended 

accordingly, as Mr. Bu tle r has testified.

W ith res pect to section 8, we have heard Mr. But le r’s testimon y 

and his recom mendatio ns. Eithe r the option th at I h ave j ust pr ese nte d
41

to the committee or Mr. Butler’s option would be perfectly agreeable 

to us.

Chairman Abourezk. You are satisfied with either one?

Mr. Hirsch. Yes.

Chairman Abourezk. It is better to have a specific figure in there. 

I wonder if Senator Hatfield might have a comment on tha t. I am 

talking about not having an open-ended authorization. I think we 

have to have a figure.

Senator Hatfield. Yes.

Chairman Abourezk. So, we probably ought to put in $2.5 million?

Mr. Hirsch. $2,150,000.

Chairman Abourezk. I will instruct the staff to prepare that 

language as an amendm ent for the markup.

You are satisfied with the other amendments which the administration has recommended?

Mr. Hirsch. Unfortunately, we have not seen them. I understand 

th at there are two of them. One is on the Federal Land Policy Management Act. I am familiar with that. I don’t thin k we have any problems 

with that at all.

Chairman Abourezk. He asks that they be authorized and directed 

under section 8(a), which I think you agree with; don’t you?

Mr. Hirsch. Yes.

Chairman Abourezk. Do you have any other problems with this 

legislation?

Mr. H irsch. I do no t think so. Was there another amendment?

Chairman Abourezk. That was all, except changing “loans” to 

“grants.”

Mr. Hirsch. I would ju st point out to the committee t ha t there is 

a phrase that says “factionated heirship” instead of “fractionated.” 

Th at ought to be corrected.

Chairman Abourezk. What page is t ha t on?

Well, we will have that changed. Th at is a typographical error.

I have no other questions.

Senator Hatfield?

Senator Hatfield. Could you describe a little bit the character of 

the land, that is, the land which was nonarable and that which would 

be consolidated and would be irrigable land?

Mr. Hicks. You mean the physical characteristics?

Senator Hatfield. Yes.

Mr. Hicks. Are you talking about all of the land in heirship and 

that which is in single ownership? I am no t sure exactly what you are 

referring to.

Senator Hatfield. As I understand the history of your tribes, from 

the original allotment of 31,000 acres you were reduced back to about 

4,600 acres. You thought at tha t time that all of the land could be 

irrigated. Then, you found tha t about 2,600 acres was not irrigable 

land.

Is tha t correct?

Mr. Hicks. Yes.

Mr. Steve. I can answer that, I think.

We are basing it on half the reservation of the original water right 

which is nonirrigable. The agreement, to begin with, is irrigable land 

with full water rights. Fifty percent of the reservation is alkali, and 

you cannot farm it.
42

Yet, it has a water right. There is no way you can farm it.

Senator Hatfield. Is it clay or sand?

Mr. Steve. Alkali.

You can farm it for 10 to 20 years, and you can’t get the alkali 

content out. Really, the water right is useless.

In 1965 the Soil Conservation Service did a soil test on the land 

north of the reservation. At that time, they claimed th at it was one of 

the b ette r soils in the valley. I t is adjacent.

Senator Hatfield. What do they raise?

Mr. Steve. Alfalfa.

The m arket is in California.

Senator Hatfield. I see.

Mr. Steve. It is very important, in our mind, t hat justice be done, 

or whatever you want to call it. Bu t we do have water rights, and it is 

not being used. Therefore, the good land north of the reservation, we 

want to put to good use. We are not asking for additional water rights. 

We want full use of the water rights we have.

Senator Hatfield. What would be the total acreage if this bill 

passes? I am talking about the reservation acreage.

Mr. Hirsch. It is 5,480 acres right now. This would add 2,640 

acres. If the amendment is accepted with respect to the Fallon Colony, 

then tha t is another 60 acres.

Senator Hatfield. So, it would be about 8,000 acres altogether 

under the new reservation boundaries?

Mr. Hirsch. Approximately, yes.

Senator Hatfield. You still have the same alkali pa rt of the reservation which will not produce; don’t you?

Mr. Steve. Yes.

Senator H atfield. What is the source of the water tha t you would 

be using for your irrigation?

Mr. Steve. What source?

Senator H atfield. Is it well water?

Mr. Steve. It comes off the Sierra Nevadas. We have the Great 

Basin.

Senator Hatfield. Your claim is on what you can take from the 

river?

Mr. Steve. Yes. We do have sufficient water coming down from 

the Sierra Nevadas, but in the last 2 years it has been dry. So, we 

have been cut 50 percent on the water use. But, still, this is very 

unusual. In a normal year we have sufficient water.

Senator Hatfield. The free flow of the river or impoundments?

Mr. Hicks. The water right we have is through the irrigation 

project, the Newlands irrigation project when they made the transfer. 

Th at is when our water right was granted to the reservation, tha t is, 

when the tribe relinquished the 31,000 acres for the 10-acre allotments. 

Tha t is when the water right was given to us through the Newlands 

irrigation project. We received our water from t hat. Our water right 

is dated from then.

Mr. Hirsch. The Newlands reclamation project stores the waters 

of the Truckee and Carson Rivers in the Mohatten Reservoir. The 

water tha t the Fallon Paiute and Shoshone Tribes receive comes 

from that.

Senator Hatfield. Do these rivers flow through the reservation or 

alongside the reservation?
43

Mr. Hirsch. The Carson River, which is the source of the water 

right for the Fallon Paiute anti Shoshone Tribes—only the Carson 

River—used to flpw down two sides of the reservation. It is no longer 

a flowing river. All of the water from that river is stored in the Mohatten Reservoir. I t does flow farth er north, but by the time it reaches 

their reservation it flows into the Mohatten Reservoir and there is 

no longer a river flowing down both sides of the reservation.

Senator Hatfield. So, your rights would then be fulfilled through 

both impoundment and through stream flow?

Mr. Hirsch. Yes.

Senator H atfield. Do you have any problems there with adjoining 

water users?

Mr. Hirsch. None whatsoever. These rights are guaranteed. All 

the adjoining water users have recognized them and have never 

questioned them for years.

Senator Hatfield. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Chairm an Abourezk. We have no more questions, so I want to 

than k you for your appearance and for your contribution to the 

legislative history of this bill.

The hearing is now adjourned.

[Whereupon, at 10:40 a.m., the committee adjourned.]

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