Indian Reorganization Act (Wheeler-Howard Act)

What happened

For almost fifty years before 1934, federal law had broken up reservations into individual allotments. The Indian Reorganization Act of June 18, 1934 reversed course in its first section. It said that no land of any Indian reservation "shall be allotted in severalty to any Indian." Section 2 extended existing trust periods, so protected Indian lands stayed protected until Congress said otherwise.

Section 5 gave the Secretary of the Interior a tool that is still used today. The Secretary may, in his discretion, acquire land "within or without existing reservations" for the purpose of providing land for Indians. Title to land acquired this way is taken in the name of the United States in trust for the tribe or individual, and the land is exempt from state and local taxation. Section 16 let any tribe organize for its common welfare and adopt a constitution and bylaws.

The Act did not settle who counts as a tribe. Section 19 defined "Indian" to include members of any "recognized Indian tribe now under Federal jurisdiction." In Carcieri v. Salazar (2009), the Supreme Court held that "now" means 1934. It ruled that the Secretary could not take a 31-acre parcel into trust for the Narragansett Tribe, because the Tribe was not under federal jurisdiction in 1934.

Section 5, now codified at 25 U.S.C. 5108, remains the main authority for fee-to-trust acquisitions. Carcieri sets the limit on who may use it.

Summarized with AI assistance from 5 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error