Doctrine
land restoration
Congress can return land to tribal ownership by statute; the 1970 Blue Lake Act restored 48,000 acres to Taos Pueblo, according to the Pueblo.
- Definition
- Statutory return of land to tribal ownership (Blue Lake).
What happened
Land restoration is a statutory return of land to a tribe. One early authority is section 3 of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, headed "Restoration of lands to tribal ownership," which lets the Secretary of the Interior, if he finds it in the public interest, restore to tribal ownership the remaining surplus lands of an Indian reservation.
The Blue Lake Act, Public Law 91-550, was signed on December 15, 1970. It amended section 4 of a 1933 act on the watershed in the Carson National Forest, in New Mexico. The new text declared that the described lands, "upon which said Indians depend and have depended since time immemorial for water supply, forage for their domestic livestock, wood and timber for their personal use, and as the scene of certain religious ceremonials," are to be held in trust for the Pueblo de Taos.
Taos Pueblo's own website describes the signing. It quotes President Nixon: "in 1906 an injustice was done in which land involved in this bill, 48,000 acres, was taken from the Indians involved, the Taos Pueblo Indians." The Pueblo says the signing "restored Taos Pueblo lands" and set a precedent for self-determination.
Good to know. The 48,000-acre figure comes from a statement by President Nixon quoted on Taos Pueblo's website.
Summarized with AI assistance from 4 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error
What the sources say, and how this was checked
Supported by the sources below; some details rest on one source.
is hereby authorized to restore to tribal ownership the remaining surplus lands of any Indian reservation
Indian Reorganization Act, 48 Stat. 984, section 3upon which said Indians depend and have depended since time immemorial for water supply
Public Law 91-550 (Blue Lake Act), 84 Stat. 1437 (Dec. 15, 1970), Statutes at Largein 1906 an injustice was done in which land involved in this bill, 48,000 acres, was taken from the Indians involved
The Return of Blue Lake, Taos Pueblo (tribal website)On December 15, 1970, former President Richard M. Nixon signed into affect Public Law 91-550
The Return of Blue Lake, Taos Pueblo (tribal website)
Research notes. The statute's next page, where the trust declaration is completed, could not be fetched, so the narrative relies on the first page's text and the Pueblo's page for the outcome. The acreage and 1906 date come only from a quotation attributed to President Nixon on the Pueblo's website. The IRA section 3 summary rests on its heading and the Act's first page; its full text was not quoted. Other land returns (for example by agency transfer or settlement) are not covered. No locations of sacred sites are given.
Who is doing the work
Native legal and land defense, nationally
- Native American Rights Fund (NARF) Native-led Litigation and legal advocacy for tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, land and resources Give on their site Website
- NDN Collective (LANDBACK Campaign) Native-led LANDBACK campaign (launched 2020; Mount Rushmore closure and return of Black Hills public lands), Indigenous… Give on their site Website
- Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) Native-led Land recovery and control by tribes and individual Indian landowners Website
- Decolonizing Wealth Project (Indigenous Earth Fund; California Tribal Land Return) Native-led Reparative philanthropy Give on their site Website
Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.
Connections
Applied in 1
Sources
No source is linked to this record yet. That is a gap we are working to close.
- Kind
- Doctrine
- Confidence
- Medium