25 U.S.C. § 461
Section 461 · Allotment of land on Indian reservations
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 262 court decisions — leading case Morton v. Mancari (1974)
Most recently applied in 368 F. Supp. 3d 1276 - City of Council Bluffs v. U.S. Dep't of the Interior (March 2019)
Applied most in the Eighth Circuit Circuit (41 decisions)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 25 U.S.C. § 476 · 25 U.S.C. § 331 · 25 U.S.C. § 465
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.
On and after June 18, 1934, no land of any Indian reservation, created or set apart by treaty or agreement with the Indians, Act of Congress, Executive order, purchase, or otherwise, shall be allotted in severalty to any Indian.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Short Title
Act June 18, 1934, which enacted this section and sections 462, 463, 464, 465, 466 to 470, 471, 472, 473, 474, 475, 476 to 478, and 479 of this title, is popularly known as the “Indian Reorganization Act”.
Cross References
Allotments on reservations, see section 331 of this title.
Reservations wherein a majority of the adult Indians vote against application of act of which this section is a part, see section 478 of this title.
Right-of-way grant, consent of tribal officials, see section 324 of this title.
Territories, colonies, or insular possessions of United States and certain Indian tribes, application to, see sections 473 and 473a of this title.