Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/524bv.pdf
Page Number: 153

524US1

Unit: $U77

[09-06-00 18:33:45] PAGES PGT: OPIN

108

CASS COUNTY v. LEECH LAKE BAND OF
CHIPPEWA INDIANS
Opinion of the Court

For the Leech Lake Band and other Chippewa Tribes in
Minnesota, the allotment policy was implemented through
the Nelson Act of 1889.
25 Stat. 642. The Nelson Act pro-
vided for the “complete cession and relinquishment” of tribal
title to all reservation land in the State of Minnesota, except
for parts of two reservations, to the United States. After
such “complete cession and relinquishment,” which “oper-
ate[d] as a complete extinguishment of Indian title,” the
lands were to be disposed of in one of three ways: under
§ 3, the United States would allot parcels to individual tribe
members as provided in the GAA; under §§ 4 and 5, so-called
“pine lands” (surveyed 40-acre lots with standing or growing
pine timber) were to be sold by the United States at public
auction to the highest bidder; and under § 6, the remainder
of the reservation land (called “agricultural lands”) was to be
sold by the United States to non-Indian settlers under the
provisions of the Homestead Act of 1862, 12 Stat. 392.

In 1934, federal Indian policy shifted dramatically when
Congress enacted the Indian Reorganization Act, 48 Stat.
984, 25 U. S. C. § 461 et seq., which ended the practice of mak-
ing federal allotments to individual Indians. Although the
Reorganization Act did not repeal allotment statutes such as
the Nelson Act, it extended the trust period for lands already
allotted but not yet fee patented, provided that unallotted
surplus lands would be restored to tribal ownership, and al-
lowed additional lands “within or without existing reserva-
tions” to be acquired by the Federal Government for the
tribes. See §§ 461, 462, 463, 465.

In 1977, the Leech Lake Band and individual Band mem-
bers owned only about 27,000 acres—less than ﬁve percent—
of Leech Lake Reservation land. See State v. Forge, 262
N. W. 2d 341, 343, and n. 1 (Minn. 1977). Since then, the
Leech Lake Band has sought to reestablish its land base by
purchasing back parcels of reservation land that were allot-
ted to individual Indians or sold to non-Indians during the
allotment period.