
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 25USC640d-7]

 
                            TITLE 25--INDIANS
 
                        CHAPTER 14--MISCELLANEOUS
 
   SUBCHAPTER XXII--NAVAJO AND HOPI TRIBES: SETTLEMENT OF RIGHTS AND 
                                INTERESTS
 
Sec. 640d-7. Determination of tribal rights and interests in 
        land
        

(a) Authorization to commence and defend actions in District Court

    Either tribe, acting through the chairman of its tribal council for 
and on behalf of the tribe, is each hereby authorized to commence or 
defend in the District Court an action against the other tribe and any 
other tribe of Indians claiming any interest in or to the area described 
in the Act of June 14, 1934, except the reservation established by the 
Executive Order of December 16, 1882, for the purpose of determining the 
rights and interests of the tribes in and to such lands and quieting 
title thereto in the tribes.

(b) Allocation of land to respective reservations upon determination of 
        interests

    Lands, if any, in which the Navajo Tribe or Navajo individuals are 
determined by the District Court to have the exclusive interest shall 
continue to be a part of the Navajo Reservation. Lands, if any, in which 
the Hopi Tribe, including any Hopi village or clan thereof, or Hopi 
individuals are determined by the District Court to have the exclusive 
interest shall thereafter be a reservation for the Hopi Tribe. Any lands 
in which the Navajo and Hopi Tribes or Navajo or Hopi individuals are 
determined to have a joint or undivided interest shall be partitioned by 
the District Court on the basis of fairness and equity and the area so 
partitioned shall be retained in the Navajo Reservation or added to the 
Hopi Reservation, respectively.

(c) Actions for accounting, fair value of grazing, and claims for 
        damages to land; determination of recovery; defenses

    (1) Either as a part of or in a proceeding supplementary to the 
action authorized in subsection (a) of this section, either tribe, 
through the chairman of its tribal council for and on behalf of the 
tribe, including all villages, clans, and individual members thereof, 
may prosecute or defend an action for the types of relief, including 
interest, specified in section 640d-17 of this title, including all 
subsections thereof, against the other tribe, through its tribal 
chairman in a like representative capacity, and against the United 
States as to the types of recovery specified in subsection (a)(3) of 
section 640d-17 of this title and subject to the same provisions as 
contained in said subsection, such action to apply to the lands in issue 
in the reservation established by the Act of June 14, 1934 (48 Stat. 
960).
    (2) In the event the Hopi Tribe or Navajo Tribe is determined to 
have any interest in the lands in issue, the right of either tribe to 
recover hereunder shall be based upon that percentage of the total sums 
collected, use made, waste committed, and other amounts of recovery, 
which is equal to the percentage of lands in issue in which either tribe 
is determined to have such interest.
    (3) Neither laches nor the statute of limitations shall constitute a 
defense to such proceedings if they are either prosecuted as a part of 
the action authorized by this section or in a proceeding supplemental 
thereto, if instituted not later than twenty-four months following a 
final order of partition and exhaustion of appeals in an action filed 
pursuant to this section.

(d) Denial of Congressional interest in merits of conflicting claims; 
        liability of United States

    Nothing in this section shall be deemed to be a Congressional 
determination of the merits of the conflicting claims to the lands that 
are subject to adjudication pursuant to this section, or to affect the 
liability of the United States, if any, under litigation now pending 
before the Indian Claims Commission.

(e) Payment of legal fees, court costs and other expenses

    The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to pay any or all 
appropriate legal fees, court costs, and other related expenses arising 
out of, or in connection with, the commencing of, or defending against, 
any action brought by the Navajo, San Juan Southern Paiute or Hopi Tribe 
under this section.

(f) Provision of attorney fees for San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe

    (1) Any funds made available for the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe 
to pay for attorney's fees shall be paid directly to the tribe's 
attorneys of record until such tribe is acknowledged as an Indian tribe 
by the United States: Provided, That the tribe's eligibility for such 
payments shall cease once a decision by the Secretary of the Interior 
declining to acknowledge such tribe becomes final and no longer 
appealable.
    (2) Nothing in this subsection shall be interpreted as a 
congressional acknowledgement of the San Juan Southern Paiute as an 
Indian tribe or as affecting in any way the San Juan Southern Paiute 
Tribe's Petition for Recognition currently pending with the Secretary of 
the Interior.
    (3) There is hereby authorized to be appropriated not to exceed 
$250,000 to pay for the legal expenses incurred by the Southern Paiute 
Tribe on legal action arising under this section prior to November 16, 
1988.

(Pub. L. 93-531, Sec. 8, Dec. 22, 1974, 88 Stat. 1715; Pub. L. 96-305, 
Sec. 2, July 8, 1980, 94 Stat. 929; Pub. L. 100-666, Sec. 9, Nov. 16, 
1988, 102 Stat. 3933.)

                       References in Text

    Act of June 14, 1934, referred to in subsecs. (a) and (c)(1), is act 
June 14, 1934, ch. 521, 48 Stat. 960, which was not classified to the 
Code.
    The Indian Claims Commission, referred to in subsec. (d), terminated 
Sept. 30, 1978. See Codification note set out under former section 70 et 
seq. of this title.


                               Amendments

    1988--Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 100-666, Sec. 9(a), inserted ``, San Juan 
Southern Paiute'' after ``Navajo''.
    Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 100-666, Sec. 9(b), added subsec. (f).
    1980--Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 96-305 substituted provision authorizing, 
as part of the determination of tribal rights and interests in land, 
actions for accounting, fair value of grazing, and claims for damages, 
specifying the formula for determining recovery, and limiting defenses 
for provision authorizing exchange of reservation lands.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 640d-9, 640d-13, 640d-14, 
640d-15, 640d-18, 640d-27 of this title.
