§1151 — Title 18 Crimes and Criminal Procedure | U.S. Code

Summary

Except for rules in sections 1154 and 1156, "Indian country" means land inside any Indian reservation under U.S. control (even if a patent was issued), any dependent Indian community anywhere in the United States, and Indian allotments where Indian ownership has not been ended. It also includes roads or utility lines that run through those lands.

Title 18, §1151

Crimes and Criminal Procedure — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Except as otherwise provided in section 1154 and 1156 of this title, the term “Indian country”, as used in this chapter, means (a) all land within the limits of any Indian reservation under the jurisdiction of the United States Government, notwithstanding the issuance of any patent, and, including rights-of-way running through the reservation, (b) all dependent Indian communities within the borders of the United States whether within the original or subsequently acquired territory thereof, and whether within or without the limits of a state, and (c) all Indian allotments, the Indian titles to which have not been extinguished, including rights-of-way running through the same.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

1948 ActBased on section 548 and 549 of title 18, and section 212, 213, 215, 217, 218 of title 25, Indians, U.S. Code, 1940 ed. (R.S. §§ 2142, 2143, 2144, 2145, 2146; Feb. 18, 1875, ch. 80, § 1, 18 Stat. 318; Mar. 4, 1909, ch. 321, §§ 328, 329, 35 Stat. 1151; Mar. 3, 1911, ch. 231, § 291, 36 Stat. 1167;

June 28, 1932, ch. 284, 47 Stat. 337). This section consolidates numerous conflicting and inconsistent provisions of law into a concise statement of the applicable law. R.S. §§ 2145, 2146 (U.S.C., title 25, §§ 217, 218) extended to the Indian country with notable exceptions the criminal laws of the United States applicable to places within the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States. Crimes of Indians against Indians, and crimes punishable by tribal law were excluded. The confusion was not lessened by the cases of U.S. v. McBratney, 104 U.S. 622 and Draper v. U.S., 17 S.Ct. 107, holding that crimes in Indian country by persons not Indians are not cognizable by Federal courts in absence of reservation or cession of exclusive jurisdiction applicable to places within the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States. Because of numerous statutes applicable only to Indians and prescribing punishment for crimes committed by Indians against Indians, “Indian country” was defined but once. (See act

June 30, 1834, ch. 161, § 1, 4, Stat. 729, which was later repealed.) Definition is based on latest

Construction

of the term by the United States Supreme Court in U.S. v. McGowan, 58 S.Ct. 286, 302 U.S. 535, following U.S. v. Sandoval, 34 S.Ct. 1, 5, 231 U.S. 28, 46. (See also Donnelly v. U.S., 33 S.Ct. 449, 228 U.S. 243; and Kills Plenty v. U.S., 133 F.2d 292, certiorari denied, 1943, 63 S.Ct. 1172). (See reviser’s note under section 1153 of this title.) Indian allotments were included in the definition on authority of the case of U.S. v. Pelican, 1913, 34 S.Ct. 396, 232 U.S. 442, 58 L.Ed. 676. 1949 ActThis section [section 25], by adding to section 1151 of title 18, U.S.C., the phrase “except as otherwise provided in section 1154 and 1156 of this title”, incorporates in this section the limitations of the term “Indian country” which are added to section 1154 and 1156 by section 27 and 28 of this bill.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1949—Act May 24, 1949, incorporated the limitations of term “Indian country” which are contained in section 1154 and 1156 of this title.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Short Title

of 1976 Amendment Pub. L. 94–297, § 1, May 29, 1976, 90 Stat. 585, provided: “That this Act [amending section 113, 1153, and 3242 of this title] may be cited as the ‘Indian Crimes Act of 1976’.”

§1151 Indian country defined