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on July 19, 1866 (14 Stat. 799), has maintained a 
continuous government-to-government relationship 
with the United States since the earliest years of the 
Union. 
(4) The Choctaw Nation, a federally recognized 
Indian tribe with its present tribal headquarters in 
Durant, Oklahoma, having adopted its most recent 
constitution on July 9, 1983, and having entered 
into various treaties with the United States of Amer-
ica, including but not limited to the Treaty at Hope-
well, executed on January 3, 1786 (7 Stat. 21), and 
the Treaty at Washington, D.C., executed on April 
28, 1866 (7 Stat. 21), has maintained a continuous 
government-to-government relationship with the 
United States since the earliest years of the Union. 
(5) The Chickasaw Nation, a federally recog-
nized Indian tribe with its present tribal head-
quarters in Ada, Oklahoma, having adopted its most 
recent constitution on August 27, 1983, and having 
entered into various treaties with the United States 
of America, including but not limited to the Treaty 
at Hopewell, executed on January 10, 1786 (7 Stat. 
24), and the Treaty at Washington, D.C., executed 
on April 28, 1866 (7 Stat. 21), has maintained a 
continuous government-to-government relationship
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with the United States since the earliest years of the 
Union. 
(6) In the first half of the 19th century, the 
Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw Nations were 
forcibly removed from their homelands in the south-
eastern United States to lands west of the Mis-
sissippi in the Indian Territory that were ceded to 
them by the United States. From the ‘‘Three Forks’’ 
area near present day Muskogee, Oklahoma, down-
stream to the point of confluence with the Canadian 
River, the Arkansas River flowed entirely within the 
territory of the Cherokee Nation. From that point of 
confluence downstream to the Arkansas territorial 
line, the Arkansas River formed the boundary be-
tween the Cherokee Nation on the left side of the 
thread of the river and the Choctaw and Chickasaw 
Nations on the right. 
(7) Pursuant to the Act of April 30, 1906 (34 
Stat. 137), tribal property not allotted to individuals 
or otherwise disposed of, including the bed and 
banks of the Arkansas River, passed to the United 
States in trust for the use and benefit of the respec-
tive Indian Nations in accordance with their respec-
tive interests therein.
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(8) For more than 60 years after Oklahoma 
statehood, the Bureau of Indian Affairs believed 
that Oklahoma owned the Riverbed from the Arkan-
sas State line to Three Forks, and therefore took no 
action to protect the Indian Nations’ Riverbed re-
sources such as oil, gas, and Drybed Lands suitable 
for grazing and agriculture. 
(9) Third parties with property near the Arkan-
sas River began to occupy the 3 Indian Nations’ 
Drybed Lands—lands that were under water at the 
time of statehood but that are now dry due to 
changes in the course of the river. 
(10) In 1966, the 3 Indian Nations sued the 
State of Oklahoma to recover their lands. In 1970, 
the Supreme Court of the United States decided in 
the case of Choctaw Nation vs. Oklahoma (396 U.S. 
620), that the Indian Nations retained title to their 
respective portions of the Riverbed along the navi-
gable reach of the river. 
(11) In 1987, the Supreme Court of the United 
States in the case of United States vs. Cherokee Na-
tion (480 U.S. 700) decided that the riverbed lands 
did not gain an exemption from the Federal Govern-
ment’s navigational servitude and that the Cherokee 
Nation had no right to compensation for damage to
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its interest by exercise of the Government’s ser-
vitude. 
(12) In 1989, the Indian Nations filed lawsuits 
against the United States in the United States 
Court of Federal Claims (Case Nos. 218–89L and 
630–89L), seeking damages for the United States’ 
use and mismanagement of tribal trust resources 
along the Arkansas River. Those actions are still 
pending. 
(13) In 1997, the United States filed quiet title 
litigation against individuals occupying some of the 
Indian Nations’ Drybed Lands. That action, filed in 
the United States District Court for the Eastern 
District of Oklahoma, was dismissed without preju-
dice on technical grounds. 
(14) Much of the Indian Nations’ Drybed 
Lands have been occupied by a large number of ad-
jacent landowners in Oklahoma. Without Federal 
legislation, further litigation against thousands of 
such landowners would be likely and any final reso-
lution of disputes would take many years and entail 
great expense to the United States, the Indian Na-
tions, and the individuals and entities occupying the 
Drybed Lands and would seriously impair long-term 
economic planning and development for all parties.
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(15) The Councils of the Cherokee and Choctaw 
Nations and the Legislature of the Chickasaw Na-
tion have each enacted tribal resolutions which 
would, contingent upon the passage of this Act and 
the satisfaction of its terms and in exchange for the 
moneys appropriated hereunder—
(A) settle and forever release their respec-
tive claims against the United States asserted 
by them in United States Court of Federal 
Claims Case Nos. 218–89L and 630–89L; and 
(B) forever disclaim any and all right, 
title, and interest in and to the Disclaimed 
Drybed Lands, as set forth in those enactments 
of the respective councils of the Indian Nations. 
(16) The resolutions adopted by the respective 
Councils of the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw 
Nations each provide that, contingent upon the pas-
sage of the settlement legislation and satisfaction of 
its terms, each Indian Nation agrees to dismiss, re-
lease, and forever discharge its claims asserted 
against the United States in the United State Court 
of Federal Claims, Case Nos. 218–89L and 630–
89L, and to forever disclaim any right, title, or in-
terest of the Indian Nation in the Disclaimed 
Drybed Lands, in exchange for the funds appro-
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priated and allocated to the Indian Nation under the 
provisions of the settlement legislation, which funds 
the Indian Nation agrees to accept in full satisfac-
tion and settlement of all claims against the United 
States for the damages sought in the aforementioned 
claims asserted in the United States Court of Fed-
eral Claims, and as full and fair compensation for 
disclaiming its right, title, and interest in the Dis-
claimed Drybed Lands. 
(17) In those resolutions, each Indian Nation 
expressly reserved all of its beneficial interest and 
title to all other Riverbed lands, including minerals, 
as determined by the Supreme Court in Choctaw 
Nation v. Oklahoma, 397 U.S. 620 (1970), and fur-
ther reserved any and all right, title, or interest that 
each Nation may have in an to the water flowing in 
the Arkansas River and its tributaries. 
SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this Act are to resolve all claims that 
have been or could have been brought by the Cherokee, 
Choctaw, and Chickasaw Nations against the United 
States, and to confirm that the 3 Indian Nations are for-
ever disclaiming any right, title, or interest in the Dis-
claimed Drybed Lands, which are contiguous to the chan-
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Choctaw Nation, or Chickasaw Nation, and the term 
‘‘Indian Nations’’ means all 3 tribes collectively. 
(4) RIVERBED.—The term ‘‘Riverbed’’ means 
the Drybed Lands and the Wetbed Lands and in-
cludes all minerals therein. 
(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of the Interior. 
(6) WETBED
LANDS.—The term ‘‘Wetbed 
Lands’’ means those Riverbed lands which lie below 
the mean high water mark of the Arkansas River in 
the State of Oklahoma as of the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, exclusive of the Drybed Lands. 
The term Wetbed Land is intended to have the same 
meaning as the term ‘‘Present Channel Claim 
Areas’’ as utilized by the Bureau of Land Manage-
ment Cadastral Survey Geographic Team in its pre-
liminary survey of the Arkansas River. 
SEC. 5. SETTLEMENT AND CLAIMS; APPROPRIATIONS; AL-
LOCATION OF FUNDS. 
(a) EXTINGUISHMENT
OF CLAIMS.—Pursuant to 
their respective tribal resolutions, and in exchange for the 
benefits conferred under this Act, the Indian Nations 
shall, on the date of enactment of this Act, enter into a 
consent decree with the United States that waives, re-
leases, and dismisses all the claims they have asserted or
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could have asserted in their cases numbered 218–89L and 
630–89L pending in the United States Court of Federal 
Claims against the United States, including but not lim-
ited to claims arising out of any and all of the Indian Na-
tions’ interests in the Disclaimed Drybed Lands and aris-
ing out of construction, maintenance and operation of the 
McClellan-Kerr Navigation Way. The Indian Nations and 
the United States shall lodge the consent decree with the 
Court of Federal Claims within 30 days of the enactment 
of this Act, and shall move for entry of the consent decree 
at such time as all appropriations by Congress pursuant 
to the authority of this Act have been made and deposited 
into the appropriate tribal trust fund account of the In-
dian Nations as described in section 6. Upon entry of the 
consent decree, all the Indian Nations’ claims and all their 
past, present, and future right, title, and interest to the 
Disclaimed Drybed Lands, shall be deemed extinguished. 
No claims may be asserted in the future against the 
United States pursuant to sections 1491, 1346(a)(2), or 
1505 of title 28, United States Code, for actions taken 
or failed to have been taken by the United States for 
events occurring prior to the date of the extinguishment 
of claims with respect to the Riverbed. 
(b) RELEASE
OF TRIBAL CLAIMS
TO CERTAIN 
DRYBED LANDS.—
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(1) IN
GENERAL.—Upon the deposit of all 
funds authorized for appropriation under subsection 
(c) for an Indian Nation into the appropriate trust 
fund account described in section 6—
(A) all claims now existing or which may 
arise in the future with respect to the Dis-
claimed Drybed lands and all right, title, and 
interest that the Indian Nations and the United 
States as trustee on behalf of the Indian Nation 
may have to the Disclaimed Drybed Lands, 
shall be deemed extinguished; 
(B) any interest of the Indian Nations or 
the United States as trustee on their behalf in 
the Disclaimed Drybed Lands shall further be 
extinguished pursuant to the Trade and Inter-
course Act of 1790, Act of July 22, 1790 (ch. 
33, 1 Stat. 137), and all subsequent amend-
ments thereto (as codified at 25 U.S.C. 177); 
(C) to the extent parties other than the In-
dian Nations have transferred interests in the 
Disclaimed Drybed Lands in violation of the 
Trade and Intercourse Act, Congress does here-
by approve and ratify such transfers of inter-
ests in the Disclaimed Drybed Lands to the ex-
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tent that such transfers otherwise are valid 
under law; and 
(D) the Secretary is authorized to execute 
an appropriate document citing this Act, suit-
able for filing with the county clerks, or such 
other county official as appropriate, of those 
counties wherein the foregoing described lands 
are located, disclaiming any tribal or Federal 
interest on behalf of the Indian Nations in such 
Disclaimed Drybed Lands. The Secretary is au-
thorized to file with the counties a plat or map 
of the disclaimed lands should the Secretary de-
termine that such filing will clarify the extent 
of lands disclaimed. Such a plat or map may be 
filed regardless of whether the map or plat has 
been previously approved for filing, whether or 
not the map or plat has been filed, and regard-
less of whether the map or plat constitutes a 
final determination by the Secretary of the ex-
tent of the Indian Nations’ original claim to the 
Disclaimed Drybed Lands. The disclaimer filed 
by the United States shall constitute a dis-
claimer of the Disclaimed Drybed Lands for 
purposes of the Trade and Intercourse Act (25 
U.S.C. 177).
HR 3534 PCS 
(2) 
SPECIAL
PROVISIONS.—Notwithstanding 
any provision of this Act—
(A) the Indian Nations do not relinquish 
any right, title, or interest in any lands which 
constitute the Wetbed Lands subject to the 
navigational servitude exercised by the United 
States on the Wetbed Lands. By virtue of the 
exercise of the navigational servitude, the 
United States shall not be liable to the Indian 
Nations for any loss they may have related to 
the minerals in the Wetbed Lands; 
(B) no provision of this Act shall be con-
strued to extinguish or convey any water rights 
of the Indian Nations in the Arkansas River or 
any other stream or the beneficial interests or 
title of any of the Indian Nations in and to 
lands held in trust by the United States on the 
date of enactment of this Act which lie above or 
below the mean high water mark of the Arkan-
sas River, except for the Disclaimed Drybed 
Lands; and 
(C) the Indian Nations do not relinquish 
any right, title, or interest in any lands or min-
erals of certain unallotted tracts which are iden-
tified in the official records of the Eastern
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Oklahoma Regional Office, Bureau of Indian 
Affairs. The disclaimer to be filed by the Sec-
retary of the Interior under section 5(b)(1) of 
this Act shall reflect the legal description of the 
unallotted tracts retained by the Nations. 
(3) SETOFF.—In the event the Court of Fed-
eral Claims does not enter the consent decree as set 
forth in subsection (a), the United States shall be 
entitled to setoff against any claims of the Indian 
Nations as set forth in subsection (a), any funds 
transferred to the Indian Nations pursuant to sec-
tion 6, and any interest accrued thereon up to the 
date of setoff. 
(4) QUIET
TITLE
ACTIONS.—Notwithstanding 
any other provision of law, neither the United States 
nor any department of the United States nor the In-
dian Nations shall be made parties to any quiet title 
lawsuit or other lawsuit to determine ownership of 
or an interest in the Disclaimed Drybed Lands initi-
ated by any private person or private entity after 
execution of the disclaimer set out in section 5(b)(1). 
The United States will have no obligation to under-
take any future quiet title actions or actions for the 
recovery of lands or funds relating to any Drybed 
Lands retained by the Indian Nation or Indian Na-
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tions under this Act, including any lands which are 
Wetbed Lands on the date of enactment of this Act, 
but which subsequently lie above the mean high 
water mark of the Arkansas River and the failure or 
declination to initiate any quiet title action or to 
manage any such Drybed Lands shall not constitute 
a breach of trust by the United States or be com-
pensable to the Indian Nation or Indian Nations in 
any manner. 
(5) LAND TO BE CONVEYED IN FEE.—To the 
extent that the United States determines that it is 
able to effectively maintain the McClellan-Kerr Navi-
gation Way without retaining title to lands above the 
high water mark of the Arkansas River as of the 
date of enactment of this Act, said lands, after being 
declared surplus, shall be conveyed in fee to the In-
dian Nation within whose boundary the land is lo-
cated. The United States shall not be obligated to 
accept such property in trust. 
(c) AUTHORIZATION FOR SETTLEMENT APPROPRIA-
TIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated an aggre-
gate sum of $40,000,000 as follows: 
(1) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2004. 
(2) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2005. 
(3) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2006.
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(4) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2007. 
(d) ALLOCATION AND DEPOSIT OF FUNDS.—After 
payment pursuant to section 7, the remaining funds au-
thorized for appropriation under subsection (c) shall be 
allocated among the Indian Nations as follows: 
(1) 50 percent to be deposited into the trust 
fund account established under section 6 for the 
Cherokee Nation. 
(2) 37.5 percent to be deposited into the trust 
fund account established under section 6 for the 
Choctaw Nation. 
(3) 12.5 percent to be deposited into the trust 
fund account established under section 6 for the 
Chickasaw Nation. 
SEC. 6. TRIBAL TRUST FUNDS. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT, PURPOSE, AND MANAGEMENT 
OF TRUST FUNDS.—
(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There are hereby estab-
lished in the United States Treasury 3 separate trib-
al trust fund accounts for the benefit of each of the 
Indian Nations, respectively, for the purpose of re-
ceiving all appropriations made pursuant to section 
5(c), and allocated pursuant to section 5(d). 
(2) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS IN TRUST FUND 
ACCOUNTS.—Amounts in the tribal trust fund ac-
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counts established by this section shall be available 
to the Secretary for management and investment on 
behalf of the Indian Nations and distribution to the 
Indian Nations in accordance with this Act. Funds 
made available from the tribal trust funds under this 
section shall be available without fiscal year limita-
tion. 
(b) MANAGEMENT OF FUNDS.—
(1) LAND ACQUISITION.—
(A) TRUST LAND STATUS PURSUANT TO 
REGULATIONS.—The funds appropriated and 
allocated to the Indian Nations pursuant to sec-
tions 5(c) and (d), and deposited into trust 
fund accounts pursuant to section 6(a), to-
gether with any interest earned thereon, may be 
used for the acquisition of land by the 3 Indian 
Nations. The Secretary may accept such lands 
into trust for the beneficiary Indian Nation 
pursuant to the authority provided in section 
465 of title 25, United States Code, and in ac-
cordance with the Secretary’s trust land acqui-
sition regulations at part 151 of title 25, Code 
of Federal Regulations, in effect at the time of 
the acquisition, except for those acquisitions 
covered by paragraph (1)(B).
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(B) REQUIRED
TRUST
LAND
STATUS.—
Any such trust land acquisitions on behalf of 
the Cherokee Nation shall be mandatory if the 
land proposed to be acquired is located within 
Township 12 North, Range 21 East, in 
Sequoyah County, Township 11 North, Range 
18 East, in McIntosh County, Townships 11 
and 12 North, Range 19 East, or Township 12 
North, Range 20 East, in Muskogee County, 
Oklahoma, and not within the limits of any in-
corporated municipality as of January 1, 2002, 
if—
(i) the land proposed to be acquired 
meets the Department of the Interior’s 
minimum environmental standards and re-
quirements for real estate acquisitions set 
forth in 602 DM 2.6, or any similar suc-
cessor standards or requirements for real 
estate acquisitions in effect on the date of 
acquisition; and 
(ii) the title to such land meets appli-
cable Federal title standards in effect on 
the date of the acquisition. 
(C) OTHER
EXPENDITURE
OF
FUNDS.—
The Indian Nations may elect to expend all or
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a portion of the funds deposited into its trust 
account for any other purposes authorized 
under paragraph (2). 
(2) INVESTMENT
OF
TRUST
FUNDS; NO
PER 
CAPITA PAYMENT.—
(A) NO
PER
CAPITA
PAYMENTS.—No 
money received by the Indian Nations here-
under may be used for any per capita payment. 
(B) INVESTMENT BY SECRETARY.—Except 
as provided in this section and section 7, the 
principal of such funds deposited into the ac-
counts established hereunder and any interest 
earned thereon shall be invested by the Sec-
retary in accordance with current laws and reg-
ulations for the investing of tribal trust funds. 
(C) USE OF PRINCIPAL FUNDS.—The prin-
cipal amounts of said funds and any amounts 
earned thereon shall be made available to the 
Indian Nation for which the account was estab-
lished for expenditure for purposes which may 
include construction or repair of health care fa-
cilities, law enforcement, cultural or other edu-
cational activities, economic development, social 
services, and land acquisition. Land acquisition
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using such funds shall be subject to the provi-
sions of subsections (b) and (d). 
(3) DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS.—The Secretary 
shall disburse the funds from a trust account estab-
lished under this section pursuant to a budget 
adopted by the Council or Legislature of the Indian 
Nation setting forth the amount and an intended 
use of such funds. 
(4) ADDITIONAL
RESTRICTION
ON
USE
OF 
FUNDS.—None of the funds made available under 
this Act may be allocated or otherwise assigned to 
authorized purposes of the Arkansas River Multipur-
pose Project as authorized by the River and Harbor 
Act of 1946, as amended by the Flood Control Act 
of 1948 and the Flood Control Act of 1950. 
SEC. 7. ATTORNEY FEES. 
(a) PAYMENT.—At the time the funds are paid to the 
Indian Nations, from funds authorized to be appropriated 
pursuant to section 5(c), the Secretary shall pay to the 
Indian Nations’ attorneys those fees provided for in the 
individual tribal attorney fee contracts as approved by the 
respective Indian Nations. 
(b) LIMITATIONS.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), 
the total fees payable to attorneys under such contracts 
with an Indian Nation shall not exceed 10 percent of that
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Indian Nation’s allocation of funds appropriated under 
section 5(c).
Passed the House of Representatives October 1, 
2002. 
Attest: 
JEFF TRANDAHL, 
Clerk.
Calendar No. 632
107TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3534
AN ACT 
To provide for the settlement of certain land claims 
of Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw Nations to 
the Arkansas Riverbed in Oklahoma. 
OCTOBER 3, 2002
Read the second time and placed on the calendar