I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2461 

To ratify a Treaty between the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe and the 

Navajo Nation, to provide for the creation of a reservation for the 

San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 3, 2023 

Mr. CRANE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To ratify a Treaty between the San Juan Southern Paiute 

Tribe and the Navajo Nation, to provide for the creation 

of a reservation for the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘San Juan Southern 

5 Paiute Tribal Homelands Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe is a 

2 federally recognized Indian Tribe that has occupied 

3 its ancestral homelands in northern Arizona and 

4 southern Utah since time immemorial. 

5 (2) The San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe was 

6 federally recognized on December 11, 1989, though 

7 the United States did not create a reservation for its 

8 exclusive benefit at that time. 

9 (3) The Navajo Indian Reservation was origi10 nally established by the 1868 Navajo Treaty (15 

11 Stat. 667) and expanded in Arizona and Utah by 

12 various Executive orders and Acts of Congress, in13 cluding, but not limited to, Executive order of May 

14 17, 1884; Executive order of January 8, 1900; Pub15 lic Law 72–403, 47 Stat. 1418 (1933); and Public 

16 Law 73–352, 48 Stat. 960 (1934). 

17 (4) The Navajo Indian Reservation presently 

18 encompasses lands of the San Juan Southern Paiute 

19 Tribe as described in the Treaty between the Navajo 

20 Nation and the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe. 

21 (5) While the Dine ́ people of the Navajo Nation 

22 and the Paiute people of the San Juan Southern 

23 Paiute Tribe have a long history as neighboring 

24 communities, the San Juan Southern Paiute people 


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1 are a separate and culturally distinct Tribe residing 

2 within their ancestral lands. 

3 (6) The existence of the San Juan Southern 

4 Paiute Tribe within the exterior boundaries of the 

5 Navajo Indian Reservation and the lack of an exclu6 sive reservation land base causes particular hardship 

7 for the people of the San Juan Southern Paiute 

8 Tribe, preventing the Tribe from providing adequate 

9 housing, infrastructure, healthcare, community serv10 ices, and public safety for its people. 

11 (7) The San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe and 

12 the Navajo Nation entered into a Treaty on March 

13 18, 2000, to resolve and clarify the sovereign au14 thority of both Tribal nations, to provide a perma15 nent homeland for the San Juan Southern Paiute 

16 Tribe, and to resolve other matters of mutual con17 cern. 

18 (8) Ratification and approval of the Treaty by 

19 Congress and the execution of the Treaty by the 

20 Secretary is necessary for the Treaty to become ef21 fective under its terms. 

22 (9) The establishment and proclamation of the 

23 San Juan Southern Paiute Reservation as author24 ized in this Act only includes lands within the exist25 ing boundaries of the Navajo Indian Reservation. 


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1 (10) Once effective, the Treaty will— 

2 (A) resolve and cause the dismissal of 

3 long-running litigation concerning certain land 

4 rights of the Navajo Nation and San Juan 

5 Southern Paiute Tribe currently pending before 

6 the United States Court of Appeals for the 

7 Ninth Circuit (Masayesva v. Zah et al., No. 93– 

8 15216 (9th Cir.); and 

9 (B) promote cooperation and harmony be10 tween the Dine ́ and Paiute people, serving as 

11 an example of friendship and partnership be12 tween two sovereign Tribal nations. 

13 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

14 For the purpose of this Act, the following definitions 

15 apply: 

16 (1) SAN JUAN PAIUTE NORTHERN AREA.—The 

17 term ‘‘San Juan Paiute Northern Area’’ means the 

18 area of land located within the San Juan Southern 

19 Paiute Reservation as depicted on Map B of the 

20 Treaty. 

21 (2) SAN JUAN PAIUTE SOUTHERN AREA.—The 

22 term ‘‘San Juan Paiute Southern Area’’ means the 

23 area of land within the San Juan Southern Paiute 

24 Reservation depicted on Map A of the Treaty. 


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1 (3) SAN JUAN SOUTHERN PAIUTE RESERVA2 TION.—The term ‘‘San Juan Southern Paiute Res3 ervation’’ means the approximately 5,400 acres of 

4 lands described in the Treaty as the ‘‘San Juan Pai5 ute Northern Area’’ and the ‘‘San Juan Paiute 

6 Southern Area’’ located wholly within the exterior 

7 boundaries of the Navajo Indian Reservation. 

8 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

9 the Secretary of the Interior. 

10 (5) TREATY.—The term ‘‘Treaty’’ means the 

11 articles of Treaty and Agreement entered into by the 

12 Navajo Nation and the San Juan Southern Paiute 

13 Tribe to settle land claims and other disputes, as ex14 ecuted on March 18, 2000, and modified by adden15 dum on May 7th, 2004, including all exhibits and 

16 maps incorporated therein by reference. 

17 SEC. 4. RATIFICATION AND APPROVAL OF THE TREATY. 

18 The Treaty is hereby approved, ratified and con19 firmed by the Congress of the United States. 

20 SEC. 5. APPROVAL OF THE SECRETARY. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized and 

22 directed— 

23 (1) to approve and execute the Treaty as set 

24 forth therein, except that the specific findings stated 


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1 under the heading ‘‘APPROVAL,’’ following the 

2 Treaty, shall not be binding on the Secretary; and 

3 (2) to take all steps necessary to implement and 

4 carry out the intent of the Treaty and this Act. 

5 (b) APPROVAL OF AMENDMENTS.—The Secretary is 

6 delegated the authority, without further Act of Congress, 

7 to approve and execute amendments to the Treaty agreed 

8 to by the Navajo Nation and the San Juan Southern Pai9 ute Tribe. 

10 SEC. 6. LANDS PROCLAIMED A RESERVATION FOR THE SAN 

11 JUAN SOUTHERN PAIUTE TRIBE. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—All right, title and interest, in13 cluding water rights, to the approximately 5,400 acres of 

14 land within the Navajo Indian Reservation that are de15 scribed in the Treaty as the San Juan Paiute Northern 

16 Area and the San Juan Paiute Southern Area, are hereby 

17 proclaimed as the San Juan Southern Paiute Reservation 

18 and such lands shall be held by the United States in trust 

19 as a reservation for the exclusive benefit of the San Juan 

20 Southern Paiute Tribe, subject to the rights of access 

21 under section 7 of this Act. 

22 (b) NO MAJOR FEDERAL ACTION; UNDERTAKING.— 

23 No action taken pursuant to this section shall be consid24 ered— 


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1 (1) a major Federal action under the National 

2 Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 

3 or 

4 (2) an undertaking under the National Historic 

5 Preservation Act (54 U.S.C. 300101 et seq.). 

6 (c) NO APPRAISAL OR VALUATION.—Notwith7 standing any other law, no appraisal or other valuation 

8 shall be required to carry out the provisions of this section. 

9 SEC. 7. RIGHTS OF ACCESS AND EASEMENTS. 

10 The Navajo Indian Reservation and the San Juan 

11 Southern Paiute Reservation shall be subject to the rights 

12 of access and easements as identified in the Treaty. 

13 SEC. 8. SURVEYING AND FENCING OF LAND. 

14 (a) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary is directed to— 

15 (1) complete a survey and legal description of 

16 the boundary lines to establish the boundaries of the 

17 San Juan Southern Paiute Reservation, not later 

18 than 18 months after the date of the enactment of 

19 this Act; 

20 (2) officially file the survey plat in the appro21 priate office of the Department of the Interior; 

22 (3) mark and fence the lands as described in 

23 article V of the Treaty, where feasible; and 


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1 (4) study the feasibility of an access road to the 

2 San Juan Paiute Southern Area from U.S. Route 

3 89, as described in article XI of the Treaty. 

4 (b) LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The legal descriptions pub6 lished in accordance with subsection (b) shall be con7 sidered the official legal description of the San Juan 

8 Southern Paiute Reservation and shall have the 

9 same force and effect as if included in this Act. 

10 (2) PUBLICATION.—Upon completion of the 

11 surveys under subsection (a), the Secretary shall 

12 publish in the Federal Register a legal description of 

13 the lands comprising the San Juan Southern Paiute 

14 Reservation. 

15 (3) CORRECTIONS.—The Secretary may make 

16 minor corrections to correct technical and clerical er17 rors in the legal descriptions. 

18 SEC. 9. REPEAL OF PAIUTE ALLOTMENT PROCEDURES. 

19 Section 9 of Public Law 93–531 (88 Stat. 1716, for20 merly codified at 25 U.S.C. 640d–8) is repealed. 

21 SEC. 10. WATER RIGHTS. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in the Treaty, 

23 nothing in this Act shall affect any water rights, in exist24 ence on the date of the enactment of this Act, appurtenant 


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1 to the lands of the San Juan Paiute Northern Area and 

2 the San Juan Paiute Southern Area. 

3 (b) TRANSFER OF WATER RIGHTS.—As authorized 

4 by article XV of the Treaty, the establishment of the San 

5 Juan Southern Paiute Reservation from lands within the 

6 Navajo Indian Reservation shall include the transfer of 

7 any water rights appurtenant to those lands, including the 

8 priority dates associated with such rights. 

9 (c) RIGHTS HELD IN TRUST.—The water rights for 

10 the San Juan Southern Paiute Reservation shall be held 

11 by the United States in trust for the San Juan Southern 

12 Paiute Tribe. 

13 (d) CLAIMS BY THE UNITED STATES.—The United 

14 States, as trustee for the San Juan Southern Paiute 

15 Tribe, shall take all necessary steps to quantify the water 

16 rights appurtenant to the San Juan Southern Paiute Res17 ervation for the benefit of the San Juan Southern Paiute 

18 Tribe. 

19 (e) WATER RIGHTS FOR THE SAN JUAN PAIUTE

20 NORTHERN AREA.— 

21 (1) RIGHT TO WATER SERVICE.—The San Juan 

22 Southern Paiute Tribe shall have the right to water 

23 service for the San Juan Paiute Northern Area for 

24 domestic uses on a pro rata and non-discriminatory 

25 basis as described in article XIV of the Treaty. 


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1 (2) NO OBJECTION BY THE NAVAJO NATION.— 

2 The Navajo Nation shall not object to the quan3 tification of water rights appurtenant to the San 

4 Juan Paiute Northern Area consistent with and lim5 ited to the following: 

6 (A) The San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe 

7 shall have the right to divert all surface waters 

8 arising on or flowing across the San Juan Pai9 ute Northern Area for any purpose consistent 

10 with this Act or the Treaty. 

11 (B) The San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe 

12 shall have the right to pump groundwater be13 neath the San Juan Paiute Northern Area for 

14 domestic or stock-watering uses. 

15 (f) LAWFUL USES.—The San Juan Southern Paiute 

16 Tribe and the Navajo Nation shall not object to uses of 

17 water consistent with the rights decreed to either Tribe. 

18 (g) ACCOUNTING.—The United States, on behalf of 

19 the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, shall provide the 

20 Navajo Nation with an annual accounting of the deple21 tions associated with the use of water on the San Juan 

22 Paiute Northern Area, and the depletions associated with 

23 those uses shall be accounted for as a depletion by the 

24 Navajo Nation for purposes of depletion accounting. 


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1 (h) WATER RIGHTS FOR THE SAN JUAN PAIUTE

2 SOUTHERN AREA.—Until the water rights to the San 

3 Juan Paiute Southern Area are adjudicated, the San Juan 

4 Southern Paiute Tribe shall limit its water use on the San 

5 Juan Paiute Southern Area to no more than 300 acre6 feet annually from a combination of groundwater and 

7 water from springs and washes. 

8 SEC. 11. PUBLICATION; JURISDICTION. 

9 (a) PUBLICATION.—In accordance with article VI of 

10 the Treaty, the Secretary shall publish in the Federal Reg11 ister separate notices of completion of fencing or boundary 

12 marking upon completion of fencing or boundary marking 

13 of— 

14 (1) the San Juan Northern Area; and 

15 (2) the San Juan Southern Area. 

16 (b) JURISDICTION.—Upon publication in the Federal 

17 Register under either subsection (a)(1) or subsection 

18 (a)(2)— 

19 (1) the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe shall 

20 have full jurisdiction over all matters within that 

21 area of the San Juan Southern Paiute Reservation 

22 to the fullest extent permitted by Federal law; and 

23 (2) the Navajo Nation shall no longer have ju24 risdiction over matters occurring within that area of 

25 the San Juan Southern Paiute Reservation except as 


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1 agreed to by the Navajo Nation and the San Juan 

2 Southern Paiute Tribe. 

3 SEC. 12. CONSTRUCTION OF LAW. 

4 The San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe shall— 

5 (1) be recognized as a Tribe of Indians within 

6 the purview of the Act of June 18, 1934, as amend7 ed (25 U.S.C. 5101 et seq.); and 

8 (2) be subject to all of the provisions thereof. 

Æ 


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