§ 640d–8 TITLE 25—INDIANS Page 248

is each hereby authorized to commence or defend in the District Court an action against the

other tribe and any other tribe of Indians claiming any interest in or to the area described in

the Act of June 14, 1934, except the reservation

established by the Executive Order of December

16, 1882, for the purpose of determining the

rights and interests of the tribes in and to such

lands and quieting title thereto in the tribes.

(b) Allocation of land to respective reservations

upon determination of interests

Lands, if any, in which the Navajo Tribe or

Navajo individuals are determined by the District Court to have the exclusive interest shall

continue to be a part of the Navajo Reservation.

Lands, if any, in which the Hopi Tribe, including

any Hopi village or clan thereof, or Hopi individuals are determined by the District Court to

have the exclusive interest shall thereafter be a

reservation for the Hopi Tribe. Any lands in

which the Navajo and Hopi Tribes or Navajo or

Hopi individuals are determined to have a joint

or undivided interest shall be partitioned by the

District Court on the basis of fairness and equity and the area so partitioned shall be retained in the Navajo Reservation or added to the

Hopi Reservation, respectively.

(c) Actions for accounting, fair value of grazing,

and claims for damages to land; determination of recovery; defenses

(1) Either as a part of or in a proceeding supplementary to the action authorized in subsection (a) of this section, either tribe, through

the chairman of its tribal council for and on behalf of the tribe, including all villages, clans,

and individual members thereof, may prosecute

or defend an action for the types of relief, including interest, specified in section 640d–17 of

this title, including all subsections thereof,

against the other tribe, through its tribal chairman in a like representative capacity, and

against the United States as to the types of recovery specified in subsection (a)(3) of section

640d–17 of this title and subject to the same provisions as contained in said subsection, such action to apply to the lands in issue in the reservation established by the Act of June 14, 1934 (48

Stat. 960).

(2) In the event the Hopi Tribe or Navajo Tribe

is determined to have any interest in the lands

in issue, the right of either tribe to recover

hereunder shall be based upon that percentage

of the total sums collected, use made, waste

committed, and other amounts of recovery,

which is equal to the percentage of lands in

issue in which either tribe is determined to have

such interest.

(3) Neither laches nor the statute of limitations shall constitute a defense to such proceedings if they are either prosecuted as a part of

the action authorized by this section or in a proceeding supplemental thereto, if instituted not

later than twenty-four months following a final

order of partition and exhaustion of appeals in

an action filed pursuant to this section.

(d) Denial of Congressional interest in merits of

conflicting claims; liability of United States

Nothing in this section shall be deemed to be

a Congressional determination of the merits of

the conflicting claims to the lands that are subject to adjudication pursuant to this section, or

to affect the liability of the United States, if

any, under litigation now pending before the Indian Claims Commission.

(e) Payment of legal fees, court costs and other

expenses

The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to

pay any or all appropriate legal fees, court

costs, and other related expenses arising out of,

or in connection with, the commencing of, or defending against, any action brought by the Navajo, San Juan Southern Paiute or Hopi Tribe

under this section.

(f) Provision of attorney fees for San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe

(1) Any funds made available for the San Juan

Southern Paiute Tribe to pay for attorney’s fees

shall be paid directly to the tribe’s attorneys of

record until such tribe is acknowledged as an Indian tribe by the United States: Provided, That

the tribe’s eligibility for such payments shall

cease once a decision by the Secretary of the Interior declining to acknowledge such tribe becomes final and no longer appealable.

(2) Nothing in this subsection shall be interpreted as a congressional acknowledgement of

the San Juan Southern Paiute as an Indian tribe

or as affecting in any way the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe’s Petition for Recognition currently pending with the Secretary of the Interior.

(3) There is hereby authorized to be appropriated not to exceed $250,000 to pay for the legal

expenses incurred by the Southern Paiute Tribe

on legal action arising under this section prior

to November 16, 1988.

(Pub. L. 93–531, §8, Dec. 22, 1974, 88 Stat. 1715;

Pub. L. 96–305, §2, July 8, 1980, 94 Stat. 929; Pub.

L. 100–666, §9, Nov. 16, 1988, 102 Stat. 3933.)

REFERENCES IN TEXT

Act of June 14, 1934, referred to in subsecs. (a) and

(c)(1), is act June 14, 1934, ch. 521, 48 Stat. 960, which

was not classified to the Code.

The Indian Claims Commission, referred to in subsec.

(d), terminated Sept. 30, 1978. See Codification note set

out under former section 70 et seq. of this title.

AMENDMENTS

1988—Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 100–666, §9(a), inserted

‘‘, San Juan Southern Paiute’’ after ‘‘Navajo’’.

Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 100–666, §9(b), added subsec. (f).

1980—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 96–305 substituted provision

authorizing, as part of the determination of tribal

rights and interests in land, actions for accounting, fair

value of grazing, and claims for damages, specifying

the formula for determining recovery, and limiting defenses for provision authorizing exchange of reservation lands.

SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS

This section is referred to in sections 640d–9, 640d–13,

640d–14, 640d–15, 640d–18, 640d–27 of this title.

§ 640d–8. Allotments in severalty to Paiute Indians now located on lands; issue of patents

declaring United States as trustee

Notwithstanding any other provision of this

subchapter, the Secretary is authorized to allot

in severalty to individual Paiute Indians, not
Page 249 TITLE 25—INDIANS § 640d–9

1So in original. No par. (2) has been enacted.

now members of the Navajo Tribe, who are located within the area described in the Act of

June 14, 1934 (48 Stat. 960), and who were located

within such area, or are direct descendants of

Paiute Indians who were located within such

area, on the date of such Act, land in quantities

as specified in section 331 of this title, and patents shall be issued to them for such lands having the legal effect and declaring that the

United States holds such land in trust for the

sole use and benefit of each allottee and, following his death, of his heirs according to the laws

of the State of Arizona.

(Pub. L. 93–531, §9, Dec. 22, 1974, 88 Stat. 1716.)

REFERENCES IN TEXT

Act of June 14, 1934, referred to in text, is act June

14, 1934, ch. 521, 48 Stat. 960, which was not classified to

the Code.

SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS

This section is referred to in section 640d–9 of this

title.

§ 640d–9. Partitioned or other designated lands

(a) Lands to be held in trust for Navajo Tribe; exception

Subject to the provisions of sections 640d–8

and 640d–16(a) of this title, any lands partitioned

to the Navajo Tribe pursuant to sections 640d–2

and 640d–3 of this title and the lands described in

the Act of June 14, 1934 (48 Stat. 960), except the

lands as described in section 640d–7 of this title,

shall be held in trust by the United States exclusively for the Navajo Tribe and as a part of the

Navajo Reservation.

(b) Lands to be held in trust for Hopi Tribe

Subject to the provisions of sections 640d–8

and 640d–16(a) of this title, any lands partitioned

to the Hopi Tribe pursuant to sections 640d–2

and 640d–3 of this title and the lands as described

in section 640d–7 of this title shall be held in

trust by the United States exclusively for the

Hopi Tribe and as a part of the Hopi Reservation.

(c) Protection of rights and property of individuals subject to relocation

The Secretary shall take such action as may

be necessary in order to assure the protection,

until relocation, of the rights and property of

individuals subject to relocation pursuant to

this subchapter, or any judgment of partition

pursuant thereto, including any individual authorized to reside on land covered by a life estate conferred pursuant to section 640d–28 of this

title.

(d) Protection of benefits and services of individuals subject to relocation

With respect to any individual subject to relocation, the Secretary shall take such action as

may be necessary to assure that such individuals are not deprived of benefits or services by

reason of their status as an individual subject to

relocation.

(e) Tribal jurisdiction over partitioned lands

(1) 1 Lands partitioned pursuant to this subchapter, whether or not the partition order is

subject to appeal, shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the tribe to whom partitioned and the

laws of such tribe shall apply to such partitioned lands under the following schedule:

(A) Effective ninety days after July 8, 1980,

all conservation practices, including grazing

control and range restoration activities, shall

be coordinated and executed with the concurrence of the tribe to whom the particular

lands in question have been partitioned, and

all such grazing and range restoration matters

on the Navajo Reservation lands shall be administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs

Navajo Area Office and on the Hopi Reservation lands by the Bureau of Indian Affairs

Phoenix Area Office, under applicable laws and

regulations.

(B) Notwithstanding any provision of law to

the contrary, each tribe shall have such jurisdiction and authority over any lands partitioned to it and all persons located thereon,

not in conflict with the laws and regulations

referred to in paragraph (A) above, to the

same extent as is applicable to those other

portions of its reservation. Such jurisdiction

and authority over partitioned lands shall become effective April 18, 1981.

The provisions of this subsection shall be subject to the responsibility of the Secretary to

protect the rights and property of life tenants

and persons awaiting relocation as provided in

subsections (c) and (d) of this section.

(f) Development of lands in litigation; exception

(1) Any development of lands in litigation pursuant to section 640d–7 of this title and further

defined as ‘‘that portion of the Navajo Reservation lying west of the Executive Order Reservation of 1882 and bounded on the north and south

by westerly extensions, to the reservation line,

of the northern and southern boundaries of said

Executive Order Reservation,’’ shall be carried

out only upon the written consent of each tribe

except for the limited areas around the village

of Moenkopi and around Tuba City. Each such

area has been heretofore designated by the Secretary. ‘‘Development’’ as used herein shall

mean any new construction or improvement to

the property and further includes public work

projects, power and water lines, public agency

improvements, and associated rights-of-way.

(2) Each Indian tribe which receives a written

request for the consent of the Indian tribe to a

particular improvement, construction, or other

development on the lands to which paragraph (1)

applies shall respond in writing to such request

by no later than the date that is 30 days after

the date on which the Indian tribe receives the

request. If the Indian tribe refuse to consent to

the improvement, construction, or other development, the response shall include the reasons

why consent is being refused.

(3)(A) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any improvement, construction, or other development

if—

(i) such improvement, construction, or development does not involve new housing construction, and

(ii) after the Navajo Tribe or Hopi Tribe has

refused to consent to such improvement, construction, or development (or after the close of