Title 25, IndiansRelease 119-102
§347 Limitations of Actions for Lands Patented in Severalty Under Treaties
Title 25 › CHAPTER 9 — ALLOTMENT OF INDIAN LANDS › § 347
Summary
When a person who got a land patent—or their heirs or grantees—sues in state or federal court to recover land, rents, or profits from land that was granted individually to members of a Native American tribe, and the Secretary of the Interior approved a deed for that land, the state’s time limits to bring such lawsuits apply. If the suit was not started within the state’s statute of limitations, that time bar is a full defense, just like for land patented to non‑Native people.
Full Legal Text
Title 25, §347
Indians, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
In all actions brought in any State court or United States court by any patentee, his heirs, grantees, or any person claiming under such patentee, for the possession or rents or profits of lands patented in severalty to the members of any tribe of Indians under any treaty between it and the United States of America, where a deed has been approved by the Secretary of the Interior to the land sought to be recovered, the statutes of limitations of the States in which said land is situate shall be held to apply, and it shall be a complete defense to such action that the same has not been brought within the time prescribed by the statutes of said State the same as if such action had been brought for the recovery of land patented to others than members of any tribe of Indians.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
25 U.S.C. § 347
Title 25, Indians
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102