25 U.S.C. § 396
Section 396 · Leases of allotted lands for mining purposes
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 58 court decisions — leading case Stevens v. Commissioner (1971)
Most recently applied in Kodiak Oil & Gas (USA) Inc. v. Mary Seaworth (August 2019)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
All lands allotted to Indians in severalty, except allotments made to members of the Five Civilized Tribes and Osage Indians in Oklahoma, may by said allottee be leased for mining purposes for any term of years as may be deemed advisable by the Secretary of the Interior; and the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to perform any and all acts and make such rules and regulations as may be necessary for the purpose of carrying the provisions of this section into full force and effect: Provided, That if the said allottee is deceased and the heirs to or devisees of any interest in the allotment have not been determined, or, if determined, some or all of them cannot be located, the Secretary of the Interior may offer for sale leases for mining purposes to the highest responsible qualified bidder, at public auction, or on sealed bids, after notice and advertisement, upon such terms and conditions as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe. The Secretary of the Interior shall have the right to reject all bids whenever in his judgment the interests of the Indians will be served by so doing, and to readvertise such lease for sale.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1955—Act Aug. 9, 1955, authorized Secretary of the Interior to lease allotted lands for mining purposes where the allottee is deceased and the heirs to or devisees of any interest in the allotment either have not been determined or cannot be located.
Cross References
Lands held in trust may be leased by allottee for period not to exceed five years under rules and regulations of the Secretary of the Interior, see section 403 of this title.