25 U.S.C. § 2201: Definitions

“Indian tribe” or “tribe” means any Indian tribe, band, group, pueblo, or community for which, or for the members of which, the United States holds lands in trust; any person who is a member of any Indian tribe, is eligible to become a member of any Indian tribe, or is an owner (as of October 27, 2004 ) of a trust or restricted interest in land; any person meeting the definition of Indian under the Indian Reorganization Act ( 25 U.S.C. 479 ) 1 and the regulations promulgated thereunder; and 1 See References in Text note below. with respect to the inheritance and ownership of trust or restricted land in the State of California pursuant to section 2206 of this title , any person described in subparagraph (A) or (B) or any person who owns a trust or restricted interest in a parcel of such land in that State. 2 2 So in original. The period probably should be a semicolon. “Secretary” means the Secretary of the Interior; “trust or restricted lands” means lands, title to which is held by the United States in trust for an Indian tribe or individual, or which is held by an Indian tribe or individual subject to a restriction by the United States against alienation; and (ii) “trust or restricted interest in land” or “trust or restricted interest in a parcel of land” means an interest in land, the title to which interest is held in trust by the United States for an Indian tribe or individual, or which is held by an Indian tribe or individual subject to a restriction by the United States against alienation. 2 “heirs of the first or second degree” means parents, children, grandchildren, grandparents, brothers and sisters of a decedent. 2 50 or more but less than 100 co-owners of undivided trust or restricted interests, and no 1 of such co-owners holds a total undivided trust or restricted interest in the parcel that is greater than 10 percent of the entire undivided ownership of the parcel; or 100 or more co-owners of undivided trust or restricted interests; the term “land” means any real property; “person” or “individual” means a natural person; Indian; or lineal descendents within 2 degrees of consanguinity of an Indian; or owners of a trust or restricted interest in a parcel of land for purposes of inheriting by descent, renunciation, or consolidation agreement under section 2206 of this title , another trust or restricted interest in such parcel from the decedent; and “without regard to waste” means, with respect to a life estate interest in land, that the holder of such estate is entitled to the receipt of all income, including bonuses and royalties, from such land to the exclusion of the remaindermen. Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act [ Oct. 27, 2004 ], the Secretary shall notify Indian tribes and owners of trust or restricted lands of the amendments made by this Act [see Short Title of 2004 Amendment note below]. the effect of this Act and the amendments made by this Act, with emphasis on the effect of the provisions of this Act and the amendments made by this Act, on the testate disposition and intestate descent of their interests in trust or restricted land; estate planning options available to the owners, including any opportunities for receiving estate planning assistance or advice; the use of negotiated sales, gift deeds, land exchanges, and other transactions for consolidating the ownership of land; and a toll-free telephone number to be used for obtaining information regarding the provisions of this Act and any trust assets of such owners. by direct mail for those Indians with interests in trust and restricted lands for which the Secretary has an address for the interest holder; through the Federal Register; through local newspapers in areas with significant Indian populations, reservation newspapers, and newspapers that are directed at an Indian audience; and through any other means determined appropriate by the Secretary. certify that the requirements of this subsection have been met; and publish notice of that certification in the Federal Register. Except as provided in paragraph (2), the amendments made by this Act [see Short Title of 2004 Amendment note below] apply on and after the date that is 1 year after the date on which the Secretary makes the certification required under subsection (a)(4) [such certification made June 20, 2005 , see 70 F.R. 37107]. Subsections (e) and (f) of section 207 of the Indian Land Consolidation Act ( 25 U.S.C. 2206 ) (as amended by this Act). Subsection (g) of section 207 of the Indian Land Consolidation Act ( 25 U.S.C. 2206 ) (as in effect on March 1, 2006 ). The amendments made by section 4, section 5, paragraphs (1), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), and (11) of section 6(a), section 6(b)(3), and section 7 of this Act [see Tables for classification].” the Act of February 8, 1887 (commonly known as the ‘Indian General Allotment Act’) ( 25 U.S.C. 331 et seq.), which authorized the allotment of Indian reservations, did not permit Indian allotment owners to provide for the testamentary disposition of the land that was allotted to them; that Act provided that allotments would descend according to State law of intestate succession based on the location of the allotment; the increasingly fractionated ownership of trust and restricted land as that land is inherited by successive generations of owners as tenants in common; makes probate planning unnecessarily difficult; and impedes efforts to provide probate planning assistance or advice; the absence of a uniform general probate code for trust and restricted land, which makes it difficult for Indian tribes to work cooperatively to develop tribal probate codes; and is unfair to the owners of trust and restricted land (and heirs and devisees of owners); and makes probate planning more difficult; reduce the number of fractionated interests in trust or restricted land; facilitate efforts to provide probate planning assistance and advice and create incentives for owners of trust and restricted land to engage in estate planning; facilitate intertribal efforts to produce tribal probate codes in accordance with section 206 of the Indian Land Consolidation Act ( 25 U.S.C. 2205 ); and provide essential elements of general probate law that are not applicable on the date of enactment of this Act [ Oct. 27, 2004 ] to interests in trust or restricted land; and the provisions of a uniform Federal probate code and other forth [sic] in this Act [see Short Title of 2004 Amendment note above] should operate to further the policy of the United States as stated in the Indian Land Consolidated Act Amendments of 2000, Public Law 106–462 , [§]102, November 7, 2000 , 114 Stat. 1992 [set out as a note below].” in the 1800’s and early 1900’s, the United States sought to assimilate Indian people into the surrounding non-Indian culture by allotting tribal lands to individual members of Indian tribes; as a result of the allotment Acts and related Federal policies, over 90,000,000 acres of land have passed from tribal ownership; many trust allotments were taken out of trust status, often without their owner’s consent; without restrictions on alienation, allotment owners were subject to exploitation and their allotments were often sold or disposed of without any tangible or enduring benefit to their owners; the trust periods for trust allotments have been extended indefinitely; because of the inheritance provisions in the original treaties or allotment Acts, the ownership of many of the trust allotments that have remained in trust status has become fractionated into hundreds or thousands of undivided interests, many of which represent 2 percent or less of the total interests; Congress has authorized the acquisition of lands in trust for individual Indians, and many of those lands have also become fractionated by subsequent inheritance; the acquisitions referred to in paragraph (7) continue to be made; the fractional interests described in this section often provide little or no return to the beneficial owners of those interests and the administrative costs borne by the United States for those interests are inordinately high; in Babbitt v. Youpee (117 S[.] Ct. 727 (1997)), the United States Supreme Court found the application of section 207 of the Indian Land Consolidation Act ( 25 U.S.C. 2206 ) to the facts presented in that case to be unconstitutional, forcing the Department of the Interior to address the status of thousands of undivided interests in trust and restricted lands; on February 19, 1999 , the Secretary of the Interior issued a Secretarial Order which officially reopened the probate of all estates where an interest in land was ordered to escheat to an Indian tribe pursuant to section 207 of the Indian Land Consolidation Act ( 25 U.S.C. 2206 ); and the Secretarial Order also directed appropriate officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to distribute such interests ‘to the rightful heirs and beneficiaries without regard to 25 U.S.C. 2206 ’; in the absence of comprehensive remedial legislation, the number of the fractional interests will continue to grow exponentially; the problem of the fractionation of Indian lands described in this section is the result of a policy of the Federal Government, cannot be solved by Indian tribes, and requires a solution under Federal law.[;] any devise or inheritance of an interest in trust or restricted Indian lands is a matter of Federal law; and consistent with the Federal policy of tribal self-determination, the Federal Government should encourage the recognized tribal government that exercises jurisdiction over a reservation to establish a tribal probate code for that reservation.” to prevent the further fractionation of trust allotments made to Indians; to consolidate fractional interests and ownership of those interests into usable parcels; to consolidate fractional interests in a manner that enhances tribal sovereignty; to promote tribal self-sufficiency and self-determination; and to reverse the effects of the allotment policy on Indian tribes.”