Interior announces details of $1.9 billion Indian lands buy-back program
By Evan Bell
Cronkite News
Valuing ‘fractionated’ lands
The tribes that stand to receive the most under the Interior Department’s buy-back program, which will buy fractionated lands from tribes and tribe members:
1. Pine Ridge – $126.1 million
2. Standing Rock – $110.2 million
3. Blackfeet – $103.7 million
4. Crow – $103.2 million
5. Navajo – $102.9 million
6. Fort Peck – $80.1 million
7. Cheyenne River – $69.7 million
8. Gila River – $60.6 million
9. Rosebud – $60.5 million
10. Fort Berthold – $56.6 million
11. Fort Belknap – $54.4 million
12. Wind River – $46.7 million
13. Fort Hall – $36.5 million
14. Yakama – $30.2 million
15. Colville – $25.8 million
16. Sisseton–Wahpeton – $21.3 million
17. Minnesota Chippewa – $21.0 million
18. Quinault – $19.3 million
19. Spirit Lake – $18.5 million
20. Chickasaw Nation – $18.5 million
21. Winnebago – $18.5 million
22. Cheyenne Arapaho – $18.0 million
23. Salt River – $17.4 million
24. Crow Creek – $17.4 million
25. Ute – $17.4 million
26. Yankton – $13.4 million
27. Northern Cheyenne – $12.8 million
28. Lower Brule – $12.4 million
29. Umatilla – $12.3 million
30. Turtle Mountain – $9.5 million
31. Seminole – $8.6 million
32. Bad River – $8.6 million
33. Nez Perce – $7.8 million
34. Ponca – $7.8 million
35. Washoe – $7.6 million
36. Muscogee (Creek) – $7.6 million
37. Osage – $7.5 million
38. Salish & Kootenai – $7.5 million
39. Omaha – $7.2 million
40. Fort Yuma-Quechan – $6.5 million
WASHINGTON – The Interior Department announced details Tuesday of the 10-year, $1.9 billion buy-back of “fractionated” lands from Native American tribes and tribal members that could be worth tens of millions in Arizona.
The program aims to give tribes a chance to make productive use of fractionated lands, property that has dwindled in value after being divided repeatedly over generations.
The buy-back is one part of the $3.4 billion settlement by the federal government of the Cobell lawsuit, which accused the government of mismanaging tribal trust accounts for decades.
This fund “addresses very serious historical problems” with land fractionalization and federal mismanagement of lands, said Interior Deputy Secretary David Hayes on a conference call Tuesday.
He said the department hopes to spend at least two-thirds of the $1.9 billion fund by the end of President Barack Obama’s term in 2016.
Among Arizona tribes, the department said the Navajo Nation could ultimately get about $102.9 million in buy-back funds. The Gila River Indian Community could get $60.6 million, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community about $17.4 million and the Fort Yuma-Quechan could get $6.5 million.
The four Arizona tribes are included in a top-40 list of tribes with the most fractionalized land interests who would stand to get the greatest share of buy-back funds.
The Navajo have more than 255,000 fractional interests on lands, Gila River has about 172,000, Salt River more than 48,000 and Fort Yuma has 13,000, the department estimates.
A spokeswoman for the Salt River Pima-Maricopa tribe declined comment Tuesday. Calls seeking comment from the other Arizona tribes were not immediately returned.
Nationally, about 220,000 landowners on nearly 10 million acres of trust land will get an opportunity to sell their land back to their tribes.
Hayes said the department has been working with tribes since December, when then-Secretary Ken Salazar announced the plan, to develop cooperative agreements with tribes on the terms and structure of the settlement program.
“We have heard Indian Country,” Hayes said.
In addition to the caps set by the government, there will also be a minimum of $75 paid per parcel of land evaluated, officials said.
“Tribal leadership is key here,” said Kevin Washburn, the assistant secretary for Indian affairs. “We’re engaging tribes at a deep level.”
In addition to the cash payments to individuals and tribes who transfer their interests, portions of the payments will be transferred to a higher education fund set up as part of the Cobell settlement. That account, capped at $60 million, will be used for scholarships to help tribal members go to college or vocational schools.
By the end of the year, the department hopes to have worked with 10 to 12 tribes on cooperative agreements that will help spread the word about the program and begin the process of determining the fair-market value of fractional land.
“Cooperative agreements provide guiding lights on how we administer this program,” Hayes said.
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