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Land return

Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations

Not yet reviewed by this nation. What follows comes from public records and research. It does not speak for the nation.

Interior's Land Buy-Back Program bought fractional land interests from willing owners and placed nearly 3 million acres in tribal trust.

Nation
50+ Tribes
Where
15 states
Acres
3,000,000
Began
2012
Status
Program ended

What happened

The Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations was not a return of land taken by treaty cession. It consolidated land that was split into tiny shares among heirs, a result of allotment. The Department of the Interior explains that after the General Allotment Act of 1887 divided reservations into allotments, each owner's heirs shared title, so the number of owners grew exponentially over generations.

Interior created the program in 2012 to carry out the land consolidation part of the Cobell v. Salazar settlement. The Congressional Research Service says Congress settled the Cobell case, a 1996 class action by account holders over trust mismanagement, in 2010. The program used voluntary sales with individual landowners and put the purchased interests into trust for tribes.

On December 4, 2023, Interior announced the program's conclusion. It said nearly 3 million acres in 15 states were consolidated and restored to tribal trust ownership, and $1.69 billion was paid to more than 123,000 interested individuals. Appropriated funding ended in November 2022. The program worked with more than 50 tribes.

Interior reports that at locations where offers were sent, fractionated tracts with 50 percent or greater tribal ownership increased by more than 100 percent. Assistant Secretary Bryan Newland said reducing fractionation allows more efficient trust management and upholds tribal sovereignty. These are Interior's own figures and statements.

Good to know. This program did not return land lost through treaties. It bought small inherited shares of already-allotted reservation land from willing owners and placed them in tribal trust.

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

Well supported by the sources below.

  1. nearly 3 million acres in 15 states were consolidated and restored to Tribal trust ownershipThree Million Acres of Land Returned to Tribes Through Interior Department's Land Buy-Back Program (DOI, Dec. 4, 2023)
  2. The Interior Department created the Land Buy-Back Program in 2012 to carry out the land consolidation aspects of the Cobell v. Salazar Settlement AgreementThree Million Acres of Land Returned to Tribes Through Interior Department's Land Buy-Back Program (DOI, Dec. 4, 2023)
  3. Appropriated funding for the Buy-Back Program ended in November 2022Three Million Acres of Land Returned to Tribes Through Interior Department's Land Buy-Back Program (DOI, Dec. 4, 2023)
  4. In 2010, Congress settled this case, Cobell v. SalazarFederal Management of Tribal Trust Funds (CRS IF13173)

Research notes. "Nearly 3 million acres" is Interior's own figure; the atlas value of 3,000,000 is a rounding of that. The program consolidated fractional interests in allotted land; it did not recover ceded land. The $1.69 billion figure is what Interior says was paid to owners.

Who is doing the work

Native legal and land defense, nationally

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Connections

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Policy era 1

Responds to 1

Supported by 1

Sources

  1. doi.gov/node/55056self-description
Kind
Land return
Confidence
High
Nation review
Not yet reviewed by this nation

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