Title 16, ConservationRelease 119-110

§228i Havasupai Indian Reservation

Title 16 › CHAPTER 1 — NATIONAL PARKS, MILITARY PARKS, MONUMENTS, AND SEASHORES › SUBCHAPTER XXIV — GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK › § 228i

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The United States will hold about 185,000 acres called the Havasupai Reservation Addition in trust for the Havasupai Tribe. The area is shown on a map kept in the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C., with a boundary about one-fourth mile from the Grand Canyon rim and following Havasu Creek from Yumtheska Point past Beaver Falls to Ukwalla Point. These lands become part of the Havasupai Reservation and are run like other trust Indian lands, but with special rules. The tribe may use the land for traditional and religious activities, gathering food and medicines, farming and grazing if the land can sustain it, and keeping burial grounds. The Secretary must work with the Tribal Council to make a land-use plan for homes, schools, and community needs that does not harm park values; the plan must be open for public review and hearings and sent 90 days before it starts to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee. No commercial logging, mining, or big industrial development is allowed, though small tribal businesses that fit the plan may be permitted. Nonmembers may cross the land at places the Secretary and the tribe agree on to visit park areas, and with permission they may use parts for recreation or buy hunting licenses under rules set by the Secretary. The land must stay wild except for the allowed uses and must keep its scenic and natural character. The Secretary must protect these lands from fire, disease, insects, trespass, erosion, overgrazing, and pollution and may get help from the Agriculture Department. Federal programs available to other tribes may be used here if they fit the purposes of these rules. The Secretary may enter the lands to manage park resources. Members of the tribe keep access to sacred sites and native resources on public lands not covered by these rules. Current grazing permits on the Raintank Allotment can continue but cannot be renewed beyond the period ending ten years from January 3, 1975 (i.e., after January 3, 1985), when those rights transfer to the tribe under the same reservation terms. About 95,300 acres marked on the park map as “Havasupai Use Lands” may be used by the tribe for grazing and other traditional purposes under reasonable regulations. Congress also says any tribal rights in lands not put in trust or covered here are ended.

Full Legal Text

Title 16, §228i

Conservation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Lands of Havasupai Reservation Addition held in trust by United States; boundaries
For the purpose of enabling the tribe of Indians known as the Havasupai Indians of Arizona (hereinafter referred to as the “tribe”) to improve the social, cultural, and economic life of its members, the lands generally depicted as the “Havasupai Reservation Addition” on the map described in section 228b of this title, and consisting of approximately one hundred and eighty-five thousand acres of land and any improvements thereon, are hereby declared to be held by the United States in trust for the Havasupai Tribe. Such map, which shall delineate a boundary line generally one-fourth of a mile from the rim of the outer gorge of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River and shall traverse Havasu Creek from a point on the rim at Yumtheska Point to Beaver Falls to a point on the rim at Ukwalla Point, shall be on file and available for public inspection in the Offices of the Secretary, Department of the Interior, Washington, District of Columbia.
(b)Lands held in trust by United States included within Reservation; administration pursuant to laws and regulations applicable to other trust Indian lands; specific administrative criteria and restrictions
The lands held in trust pursuant to this section shall be included in the Havasupai Reservation, and shall be administered under the laws and regulations applicable to other trust Indian lands: Provided, That—
(1)the lands may be used for traditional purposes, including religious purposes and the gathering of, or hunting for, wild or native foods, materials for paints and medicines;
(2)the lands shall be available for use by the Havasupai Tribe for agricultural and grazing purposes, subject to the ability of such lands to sustain such use as determined by the Secretary;
(3)any areas historically used as burial grounds may continue to be so used;
(4)a study shall be made by the Secretary, in consultation with the Havasupai Tribal Council, to develop a plan for the use of this land by the tribe which shall include the selection of areas which may be used for residential, educational, and other community purposes for members of the tribe and which shall not be inconsistent with, or detract from, park uses and values; Provided further, That before being implemented by the Secretary, such plan shall be made available through his offices for public review and comment, shall be subject to public hearings, and shall be transmitted, together with a complete transcript of the hearings, at least 90 days prior to implementation, to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives; and Provided further, That any subsequent revisions of this plan shall be subject to the same procedures as set forth in this paragraph;
(5)no commercial timber production, no commercial mining or mineral production, and no commercial or industrial development shall be permitted on such lands: Provided further, That the Secretary may authorize the establishment of such tribal small business enterprises as he deems advisable to meet the needs of the tribe which are in accordance with the plan provided in paragraph (4) of this subsection;
(6)nonmembers of the tribe shall be permitted to have access across such lands at locations established by the Secretary in consultation with the Tribal Council in order to visit adjacent parklands, and with the consent of the tribe, may be permitted (i) to enter and temporarily utilize lands within the reservation in accordance with the approved land use plan described in paragraph (4) of this subsection for recreation purposes or (ii) to purchase licenses from the tribe to hunt on reservation lands subject to limitations and regulations imposed by the Secretary of the Interior; and
(7)except for the uses permitted in paragraphs 1 through 6 of this subsection, the lands hereby transferred to the tribe shall remain forever wild and no uses shall be permitted under the plan which detract from the existing scenic and natural values of such lands.
(c)Establishment, maintenance, and implementation of conservation measures; availability of Federal programs relating to Indians; right of access to lands for implementation of Federal projects, resource management and preservation, and tribal religious, etc., functions
The Secretary shall be responsible for the establishment and maintenance of conservation measures for these lands, including, without limitation, protection from fire, disease, insects, or trespass and reasonable prevention or elimination of erosion, damaging land use, overgrazing, or pollution. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to contract with the Secretary of Agriculture for any services or materials deemed necessary to institute or carry out any such measures. Any authorized Federal programs available to any other Indian tribes to enhance their social, cultural, and economic well-being shall be deemed available to the tribe on these lands so long as such programs or projects are consistent with the purposes of sections 228a to 228j of this title. For these purposes, and for the purpose of managing and preserving the resources of the Grand Canyon National Park, the Secretary shall have the right of access to any lands hereby included in the Havasupai Reservation. Nothing in sections 228a to 228j of this title shall be construed to prohibit access by any members of the tribe to any sacred or religious places or burial grounds, native foods, paints, materials, and medicines located on public lands not otherwise covered in sections 228a to 228j of this title.
(d)Grazing rights on the Raintank Allotment; continuation and renewal
The Secretary shall permit any person presently exercising grazing privileges pursuant to Federal permit or lease in that part of the Kaibab National Forest designated as the “Raintank Allotment”, and which is included in the Havasupai Reservation by this section, to continue in the exercise thereof, but no permit or renewal shall be extended beyond the period ending ten years from January 3, 1975, at which time all rights of use and occupancy of the lands will be transferred to the tribe subject to the same terms and conditions as the other lands included in the reservation in paragraph (b) of this section.
(e)Havasupai Use Lands; use for grazing and other traditional purposes subject to regulations
The Secretary, subject to such reasonable regulations as he may prescribe to protect the scenic, natural, and wildlife values thereof, shall permit the tribe to use lands within the Grand Canyon National Park which are designated as “Havasupai Use Lands” on the Grand Canyon National Park boundary map described in section 228b of this title, and consisting of approximately ninety-five thousand three hundred acres of land, for grazing and other traditional purposes.
(f)Extinguishment of all tribal right, title, and interest in lands not otherwise declared as held in trust or covered by provisions enlarging park
By the enactment of sections 228a to 228j of this title, the Congress recognizes and declares that all right, title, and interest in any lands not otherwise declared to be held in trust for the Havasupai Tribe or otherwise covered by sections 228a to 228j of this title is extinguished.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Provision of subsec. (f) of this section, which repealed section 3 of act of Feb. 26, 1919 (40 Stat. 1177), set out as section 223 of this title, has been omitted from this section as executed. See note set out under section 223 of this title.

Amendments

1994—Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 103–437 substituted “Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives” for “Committees on Interior and Insular Affairs of the United States Congress”.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

16 U.S.C. § 228i

Title 16, Conservation

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110