Title 25 — IndiansRelease 119-90

§4 Untitled Section

Title 25 › Chapter 9— ALLOTMENT OF INDIAN LANDS › § 4

Last updated May 14, 2026|Official source

Summary

Applies to certain Indian land allotments and shares that were sold, mortgaged, or lost to taxes during the trust period. It covers allotments that were never sold but were tax-forfeited; sales or mortgages made without the Secretary’s approval by underage allottees, by full-blood allottees, or by state-court administrators after an allotee’s death when heirs never resold; inherited allotments or interests held by full-bloods, mixed-bloods, or Indians enrolled in other tribes that were tax-forfeited or were sold or mortgaged without the Secretary’s approval; cases where guardians or administrators sold or mortgaged during the trust period; and heirs who kept their shares even though other heirs sold theirs or a probate court later gave the land to others. Does not apply if a federal court already decided the sale or mortgage on the merits and did not void it; if tax forfeiture happened after a federal court found the tax exemption had ended; if the sale, mortgage, or tax forfeiture happened after the trust period; or if an adult mixed-blood Indian sold or mortgaged the land at any time.

Full Legal Text

Title 25, §4

Indians — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The provisions of this Act shall apply to the following allotments:

“(1)allotments which were never sold or mortgaged by the allottees or by their heirs and which were tax forfeited during the trust period;

“(2)allotments which were sold or mortgaged during the trust period, without the approval of the Secretary, by the allottees prior to having attained majority, and were never again sold or mortgaged either by the allottees upon their having attained majority or by heirs of the allottees;

“(3)allotments which were sold or mortgaged during the trust period by full blood allottees without the approval of the Secretary, and were never again the subject of a sale or mortgage by heirs of the allottees; and

“(4)allotments which were never sold or mortgaged by the allottees, but which subsequent to the deaths of the allottees, purportedly were sold or mortgaged, during the trust period, by administrators, executors, or representatives, operating under authority from State courts, and were never again the subject of a sale or mortgage by heirs of the allottees.

“(b)The provisions of this Act shall also apply to the following allotments or interests in allotments:

“(1)allotments or interests which were inherited by full or mixed bloods who never sold or mortgaged their allotments or interests or by Indians enrolled in other federally recognized Indian tribes, bands, or communities who never sold or mortgaged their allotments or interests, where the allotments or interests were tax forfeited during the trust period;

“(2)allotments or interests which were inherited by mixed bloods under the age of majority and which were sold or mortgaged during the trust period without the approval of the Secretary prior to such mixed bloods having attained majority, but which were never again sold or mortgaged by them upon having attained majority or by their heirs;

“(3)allotments or interests which were inherited by full bloods or by Indians enrolled in other federally recognized Indian tribes, bands, or communities, who sold or mortgaged such allotments or interests during the trust period without the approval of the Secretary;

“(4)allotments or interests which were inherited by full or mixed bloods who never sold or mortgaged their allotments or interests, but which, subsequent to the deaths of such heirs, were sold or mortgaged during the trust period by administrators, operating under authority from State courts;

“(5)allotments or interests which were owned by allottees or which were inherited by full or mixed bloods for whom guardians were appointed by State courts, which guardians sold or mortgaged the allotments or interests during the trust period without the approval of the Secretary;

“(6)interests which were inherited by full or mixed bloods who never sold or mortgaged their interests during the trust period, even though other interests in the same allotment were sold by other heirs where the land comprising the allotment has been claimed in full by other parties adversely to the full or mixed bloods who never sold or mortgaged their interests; and

“(7)allotments or interests which were inherited by full or mixed bloods or by Indians enrolled in other federally recognized Indian tribes, bands, or communities which were never sold or mortgaged during the trust period but which were purportedly distributed by State court probate proceedings to other individuals.

“(c)This Act shall not apply to—

“(1)any allotment or interest the sale or mortgage of which was the subject of litigation which proceeded to a judgment on the merits in Federal courts and where the outcome of such litigation was other than vacating and voiding such sale or mortgage;

“(2)any allotment or interest which was tax forfeited subsequent to the date on which the tax exemption was declared by a Federal court to have expired;

“(3)any allotment or interest which was sold, mortgaged, or tax forfeited after the expiration of the trust period; or

“(4)any allotment or interest which was sold or mortgaged at any time by an adult mixed blood Indian.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

25 U.S.C. § 4

Title 25 — Indians

Last Updated

May 14, 2026

Release point: 119-90