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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘San Juan Southern 
Paiute Tribal Homelands Act of 2023’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
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(1) The San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe is a 
federally recognized Indian Tribe that has occupied 
its ancestral homelands in northern Arizona and 
southern Utah since time immemorial. 
(2) The San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe was 
federally recognized on December 11, 1989, though 
the United States did not create a reservation for its 
exclusive benefit at that time. 
(3) The Navajo Indian Reservation was origi-
nally established by the 1868 Navajo Treaty (15 
Stat. 667) and expanded in Arizona and Utah by 
various Executive orders and Acts of Congress, in-
cluding, but not limited to, Executive order of May 
17, 1884; Executive order of January 8, 1900; Pub-
lic Law 72–403, 47 Stat. 1418 (1933); and Public 
Law 73–352, 48 Stat. 960 (1934). 
(4) The Navajo Indian Reservation presently 
encompasses lands of the San Juan Southern Paiute 
Tribe as described in the Treaty between the Navajo 
Nation and the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe. 
(5) While the Dine´ people of the Navajo Nation 
and the Paiute people of the San Juan Southern 
Paiute Tribe have a long history as neighboring 
communities, the San Juan Southern Paiute people 
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are a separate and culturally distinct Tribe residing 
within their ancestral lands. 
(6) The existence of the San Juan Southern 
Paiute Tribe within the exterior boundaries of the 
Navajo Indian Reservation and the lack of an exclu-
sive reservation land base causes particular hardship 
for the people of the San Juan Southern Paiute 
Tribe, preventing the Tribe from providing adequate 
housing, infrastructure, healthcare, community serv-
ices, and public safety for its people. 
(7) The San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe and 
the Navajo Nation entered into a Treaty on March 
18, 2000, to resolve and clarify the sovereign au-
thority of both Tribal nations, to provide a perma-
nent homeland for the San Juan Southern Paiute 
Tribe, and to resolve other matters of mutual con-
cern. 
(8) Ratification and approval of the Treaty by 
Congress and the execution of the Treaty by the 
Secretary is necessary for the Treaty to become ef-
fective under its terms. 
(9) The establishment and proclamation of the 
San Juan Southern Paiute Reservation as author-
ized in this Act only includes lands within the exist-
ing boundaries of the Navajo Indian Reservation. 
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(10) Once effective, the Treaty will— 
(A) resolve and cause the dismissal of 
long-running litigation concerning certain land 
rights of the Navajo Nation and San Juan 
Southern Paiute Tribe currently pending before 
the United States Court of Appeals for the 
Ninth Circuit (Masayesva v. Zah et al., No. 93– 
15216 (9th Cir.); and 
(B) promote cooperation and harmony be-
tween the Dine´ and Paiute people, serving as 
an example of friendship and partnership be-
tween two sovereign Tribal nations. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
For the purpose of this Act, the following definitions 
apply: 
(1) SAN JUAN PAIUTE NORTHERN AREA.—The 
term ‘‘San Juan Paiute Northern Area’’ means the 
area of land located within the San Juan Southern 
Paiute Reservation as depicted on Map B of the 
Treaty. 
(2) SAN JUAN PAIUTE SOUTHERN AREA.—The 
term ‘‘San Juan Paiute Southern Area’’ means the 
area of land within the San Juan Southern Paiute 
Reservation depicted on Map A of the Treaty. 
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(3) SAN
JUAN
SOUTHERN
PAIUTE
RESERVA-
TION.—The term ‘‘San Juan Southern Paiute Res-
ervation’’ means the approximately 5,400 acres of 
lands described in the Treaty as the ‘‘San Juan Pai-
ute Northern Area’’ and the ‘‘San Juan Paiute 
Southern Area’’ located wholly within the exterior 
boundaries of the Navajo Indian Reservation. 
(4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of the Interior. 
(5) TREATY.—The term ‘‘Treaty’’ means the 
articles of Treaty and Agreement entered into by the 
Navajo Nation and the San Juan Southern Paiute 
Tribe to settle land claims and other disputes, as ex-
ecuted on March 18, 2000, and modified by adden-
dum on May 7th, 2004, including all exhibits and 
maps incorporated therein by reference. 
SEC. 4. RATIFICATION AND APPROVAL OF THE TREATY. 
The Treaty is hereby approved, ratified and con-
firmed by the Congress of the United States. 
SEC. 5. APPROVAL OF THE SECRETARY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized and 
directed— 
(1) to approve and execute the Treaty as set 
forth therein, except that the specific findings stated 
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under the heading ‘‘APPROVAL,’’ following the 
Treaty, shall not be binding on the Secretary; and 
(2) to take all steps necessary to implement and 
carry out the intent of the Treaty and this Act. 
(b) APPROVAL OF AMENDMENTS.—The Secretary is 
delegated the authority, without further Act of Congress, 
to approve and execute amendments to the Treaty agreed 
to by the Navajo Nation and the San Juan Southern Pai-
ute Tribe. 
SEC. 6. LANDS PROCLAIMED A RESERVATION FOR THE SAN 
JUAN SOUTHERN PAIUTE TRIBE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—All right, title and interest, in-
cluding water rights, to the approximately 5,400 acres of 
land within the Navajo Indian Reservation that are de-
scribed in the Treaty as the San Juan Paiute Northern 
Area and the San Juan Paiute Southern Area, are hereby 
proclaimed as the San Juan Southern Paiute Reservation 
and such lands shall be held by the United States in trust 
as a reservation for the exclusive benefit of the San Juan 
Southern Paiute Tribe, subject to the rights of access 
under section 7 of this Act. 
(b) NO MAJOR FEDERAL ACTION; UNDERTAKING.— 
No action taken pursuant to this section shall be consid-
ered— 
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(1) a major Federal action under the National 
Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 
or 
(2) an undertaking under the National Historic 
Preservation Act (54 U.S.C. 300101 et seq.). 
(c) NO
APPRAISAL
OR
VALUATION.—Notwith-
standing any other law, no appraisal or other valuation 
shall be required to carry out the provisions of this section. 
SEC. 7. RIGHTS OF ACCESS AND EASEMENTS. 
The Navajo Indian Reservation and the San Juan 
Southern Paiute Reservation shall be subject to the rights 
of access and easements as identified in the Treaty. 
SEC. 8. SURVEYING AND FENCING OF LAND. 
(a) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary is directed to— 
(1) complete a survey and legal description of 
the boundary lines to establish the boundaries of the 
San Juan Southern Paiute Reservation, not later 
than 18 months after the date of the enactment of 
this Act; 
(2) officially file the survey plat in the appro-
priate office of the Department of the Interior; 
(3) mark and fence the lands as described in 
article V of the Treaty, where feasible; and 
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(4) study the feasibility of an access road to the 
San Juan Paiute Southern Area from U.S. Route 
89, as described in article XI of the Treaty. 
(b) LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The legal descriptions pub-
lished in accordance with subsection (b) shall be con-
sidered the official legal description of the San Juan 
Southern Paiute Reservation and shall have the 
same force and effect as if included in this Act. 
(2) PUBLICATION.—Upon completion of the 
surveys under subsection (a), the Secretary shall 
publish in the Federal Register a legal description of 
the lands comprising the San Juan Southern Paiute 
Reservation. 
(3) CORRECTIONS.—The Secretary may make 
minor corrections to correct technical and clerical er-
rors in the legal descriptions. 
SEC. 9. REPEAL OF PAIUTE ALLOTMENT PROCEDURES. 
Section 9 of Public Law 93–531 (88 Stat. 1716, for-
merly codified at 25 U.S.C. 640d–8) is repealed. 
SEC. 10. WATER RIGHTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in the Treaty, 
nothing in this Act shall affect any water rights, in exist-
ence on the date of the enactment of this Act, appurtenant 
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to the lands of the San Juan Paiute Northern Area and 
the San Juan Paiute Southern Area. 
(b) TRANSFER OF WATER RIGHTS.—As authorized 
by article XV of the Treaty, the establishment of the San 
Juan Southern Paiute Reservation from lands within the 
Navajo Indian Reservation shall include the transfer of 
any water rights appurtenant to those lands, including the 
priority dates associated with such rights. 
(c) RIGHTS HELD IN TRUST.—The water rights for 
the San Juan Southern Paiute Reservation shall be held 
by the United States in trust for the San Juan Southern 
Paiute Tribe. 
(d) CLAIMS BY THE UNITED STATES.—The United 
States, as trustee for the San Juan Southern Paiute 
Tribe, shall take all necessary steps to quantify the water 
rights appurtenant to the San Juan Southern Paiute Res-
ervation for the benefit of the San Juan Southern Paiute 
Tribe. 
(e) WATER RIGHTS FOR THE SAN JUAN PAIUTE 
NORTHERN AREA.— 
(1) RIGHT TO WATER SERVICE.—The San Juan 
Southern Paiute Tribe shall have the right to water 
service for the San Juan Paiute Northern Area for 
domestic uses on a pro rata and non-discriminatory 
basis as described in article XIV of the Treaty. 
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(2) NO OBJECTION BY THE NAVAJO NATION.— 
The Navajo Nation shall not object to the quan-
tification of water rights appurtenant to the San 
Juan Paiute Northern Area consistent with and lim-
ited to the following: 
(A) The San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe 
shall have the right to divert all surface waters 
arising on or flowing across the San Juan Pai-
ute Northern Area for any purpose consistent 
with this Act or the Treaty. 
(B) The San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe 
shall have the right to pump groundwater be-
neath the San Juan Paiute Northern Area for 
domestic or stock-watering uses. 
(f) LAWFUL USES.—The San Juan Southern Paiute 
Tribe and the Navajo Nation shall not object to uses of 
water consistent with the rights decreed to either Tribe. 
(g) ACCOUNTING.—The United States, on behalf of 
the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe, shall provide the 
Navajo Nation with an annual accounting of the deple-
tions associated with the use of water on the San Juan 
Paiute Northern Area, and the depletions associated with 
those uses shall be accounted for as a depletion by the 
Navajo Nation for purposes of depletion accounting. 
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(h) WATER RIGHTS FOR THE SAN JUAN PAIUTE 
SOUTHERN AREA.—Until the water rights to the San 
Juan Paiute Southern Area are adjudicated, the San Juan 
Southern Paiute Tribe shall limit its water use on the San 
Juan Paiute Southern Area to no more than 300 acre- 
feet annually from a combination of groundwater and 
water from springs and washes. 
SEC. 11. PUBLICATION; JURISDICTION. 
(a) PUBLICATION.—In accordance with article VI of 
the Treaty, the Secretary shall publish in the Federal Reg-
ister separate notices of completion of fencing or boundary 
marking upon completion of fencing or boundary marking 
of— 
(1) the San Juan Northern Area; and 
(2) the San Juan Southern Area. 
(b) JURISDICTION.—Upon publication in the Federal 
Register under either subsection (a)(1) or subsection 
(a)(2)— 
(1) the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe shall 
have full jurisdiction over all matters within that 
area of the San Juan Southern Paiute Reservation 
to the fullest extent permitted by Federal law; and 
(2) the Navajo Nation shall no longer have ju-
risdiction over matters occurring within that area of 
the San Juan Southern Paiute Reservation except as 
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