25 U.S.C. § 397
Section 397 · Leases of lands for grazing or mining
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 17 court decisions — leading case Merrion v. Jicarilla Apache Tribe (1982)
Most recently applied in Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma v. United States (September 2016)
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.
Where lands are occupied by Indians who have bought and paid for the same, and which lands are not needed for farming or agricultural purposes, and are not desired for individual allotments, the same may be leased by authority of the council speaking for such Indians, for a period not to exceed five years for grazing, or ten years for mining purposes in such quantities and upon such terms and conditions as the agent in charge of such reservation may recommend, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Transfer of Functions
For transfer of functions of other officers, employees, and agencies of Department of the Interior, with certain exceptions, to Secretary of the Interior, with power to delegate, see Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1950, §§1, 2, eff. May 24, 1950, 15 F.R. 3174, 64 Stat. 1262, set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
Cross References
Cherokee Outlet, provisions inapplicable to, see section 371 of this title.
Lands held in trust may be leased by allottee for period not to exceed five years under rules and regulations of Secretary of Interior, see section 403 of this title.
Unallotted lands authorized to be leased for oil and gas mining purposes, see section 398 of this title.