Indian Claims Limitations Act
The Indian Claims Limitations Act of 1982 (ICLA) is a
Previous statutes
Previous statutes of limitations had only applied to suits by non-Indian landowners against the federal government.[1]
Congress enacted the first statute of limitations applicable to Native American land claims in 1966.
Under the 1966 act, pre-1966 trespass claims would have become barred on July 18, 1972. That day, Congress extended the limitations period for pre-1966 claims an additional five years, to July 18, 1977.[3] The 1972 acts also broadened the scope of the applicability of the limitation, to all civil actions brought by Indian tribes or individuals based upon contract, tort, or trespass theories.[3]
Under the 1972 acts, pre-1966 trespass claims would have become barred in 1977. That year, Congress extended the limitations period again, until April 1, 1980.[4]
Under the 1977 act, pre-1966 trespass claims would have become barred on April 1, 1980. Four days before that deadline, Congress again extended the limitations period, until December 31, 1982.[5] That act required the Interior Secretary to determine which claims should not be litigated, and submit proposals to resolve those claims legislatively by June 30, 1981.[5] The Secretary submitted zero proposals by this deadline, but did identify 17,000 pre-1962 claims by 1982.[6]
Legislative history
In 1982, for the first time, the Interior and Justice Departments failed to endorse an extension.[7] The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) initiated a class action suit on behalf of all Indians and tribes with pre-1966 claims.[8] On November 17, 1982, NARF obtained an order requiring the government to either submit a legislative proposal within 30 days or to initiate the 17,000 lawsuits itself before the statute expired.[8] The United States District Court for the District of Columbia's decision loomed large in the Congressional debates.[9]
One day before the pre-1966 claims would have become barred, Congress extended the limitations period a final time.[10] This eliminated the statute of limitations entirely for some types of claims.[11]
Provisions and interpretation
The Indian Claims Limitation Act of 1982 required the Interior Secretary to publish in the Federal Register, within 90 days, identify all pre-1966 claims, identify which pre-1966 claims were potentially meritorious, and identify which claims were suitable for litigation or legislation; further, Indian tribes and individuals were given 180 days thereafter to comment on the Secretary's findings.[10] The Secretary did so,[12] and modified the list in response to comments.[13] The limitations status of pre-1966 claims depends in part upon those lists:
- Claims excluded from both lists expired on January 6, 1984;[14]
- Claims on either list but not deemed suitable for litigation or legislation expired on November 7, 1984;[14]
- Claims on either list and identified as suitable for legislation expired three years after the submission of legislation or a legislative report;[15]
- Claims on either list and deemed suitable for litigation are exempt from any statute of limitations, unless de-listed by the Secretary, in which case they are barred one year from the publication of the removal;[15][16]
The status of other claims does not depend upon these lists:
- Quiet title claims are unaffected by the Act.[17] The Supreme Court has held that the separate, 12-year statute of limitations contained in the Quiet Title Act applies to actions by allottees under that Act.[18]
- Claims against the federal government are unaffected by the Act.[15]
- Post-1966 claims are unaffected by the Act.[19]
According to
In
The Interior Department's list
The Interior Department's initial list was 222 pages long.[12]
The initial list contained more than 17,000 claims by allottees relating to the White Earth Indian Reservation in Minnesota, totaling more than 100,000 acres.[21] Congress responded with the White Earth Reservation Land Settlement Act (1986).[22]
Notes
- ^ Covelo Indian Community v. Watt, 551 F. Supp. 366, 369 (D.D.C. 1982).
- ^ a b c d Act of July 18, 1966, Pub. L. No. 89-505, 80 Stat. 304 (codified at 28 U.S.C. § 2415); see also S. Rep. No. 1328, 89th Cong., 2d Sess. (1966).
- ^ a b Act of July 18, 1972, Pub. L. No. 92-353, 86 Stat. 499 (codified at 28 U.S.C. § 2415); see also Act of October 16, 1972, Pub. L. No. 92-385, 86 Stat. 803 (codified at 28 U.S.C. § 2415).
- ^ Act of August 15, 1977, Pub. L. No. 95-103, 91 Stat. 842 (codified at 28 U.S.C. § 2415).
- ^ a b Act of March 27, 1980, Pub. L. No. 96-217, 94 Stat. 126 (codified at 28 U.S.C. § 2415); see also S. Rep. No. 96-569, 96th Cong., 2d Sess. (1980).
- ^ LeFave, 1984, at 73.
- ^ LeFave, 1984, at 73–74.
- ^ a b Covelo Indian Community v. Watt, 551 F. Supp. 366 (D.D.C. 1982).
- ^ 128 Cong. Rec. H9595-99 (1982) (remarks of Reps. Udall, Bereuter, and Daschle); H.R. Rep. No. 97-954, 97th Cong., 2d Sess. 4–6 (1982).
- ^ a b Act of December 30, 1982, Pub. L. No. 97-394, 96 Stat. 1966 (codified at 28 U.S.C. § 2415) ["Indian Claims Limitation Act of 1982"].
- ^ LeFave, 1984, at 75.
- ^ a b 44 Fed. Reg. 13,698–13,919 (March 31, 1983).
- ^ 44 Fed. Reg. 51,204 (Nov. 7, 1983).
- ^ a b LeFave, 1984, at 76.
- ^ a b c LeFave, 1984, at 77.
- ^ Oneida County v. Oneida Indian Nation of N.Y. State, 470 U.S. 226, 242–44 & n.15 (1985).
- ^ 28 U.S.C. § 2415(c) ("Nothing herein shall be deemed to limit the time for bringing an action to establish the title to, or right of possession of, real or personal property.").
- ^ United States v. Mottaz, 476 U.S. 834, 848 n.10 (1986); see also Nichols v. Rysavy, 809 F.2d 1317 (8th Cir. 1987).
- ^ Washoe Tribe of Nevada v. Southwest Gas Corp., 2000 WL 665605 (D. Nev. 2000).
- Cayuga Indian Nation of N.Y. v. Pataki, 413 F.3d 266, 280–81 (2d Cir. 2005) (Hall, District Judge, dissenting).
- ^ Manypenny v. United States, 948 F.2d 1057 (8th Cir. 1991).
- ^ White Earth Reservation Land Settlement Act, Pub. L. No. 99-264, 100 Stat. 61 (1986).
References
- Diane Kiesel, Indians, Congress Spar over Land Claims Bill, 68 A.B.A.J. 529 (1982).
- LeAnn Larson LeFave, South Dakota's Forced Fee Indian Land Claims: Will Landowners Be Liable for Government's Wrongdoing?, 30 S.D. L. Rev. 59, 70–77 (1984).