28 U.S.C. § 1353
Section 1353 · Indian allotments
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 47 court decisions — leading case Lynch v. Household Finance Corp. (1972)
Most recently applied in Crow Allottees Ass'n v. United States Bureau of Indian Affairs (June 2017)
Applied most in the Ninth Circuit Circuit (25 decisions)
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.
The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action involving the right of any person, in whole or in part of Indian blood or descent, to any allotment of land under any Act of Congress or treaty.
The judgment in favor of any claimant to an allotment of land shall have the same effect, when properly certified to the Secretary of the Interior, as if such allotment had been allowed and approved by him; but this provision shall not apply to any lands held on or before December 21, 1911, by either of the Five Civilized Tribes, the Osage Nation of Indians, nor to any of the lands within the Quapaw Indian Agency.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §41(24) (Mar. 3, 1911, ch. 231, §24, par. 24, 36 Stat. 1094; Dec. 21, 1911, ch. 5, 37 Stat. 46).
Words “any civil action” were substituted for “all actions, suits, or proceedings,” in view of Rule 2 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
The sentence “The right of appeal shall be allowed to either party as in other cases” was omitted as covered by section 1291 of this title, relating to appeals to the court of appeals.
Changes in phraseology were made.
Cross References
Amount in controversy immaterial in action under this section, see Historical and Revision Notes under section 1331 of this title.
Jurisdiction of action for allotment, see section 345 of Title 25, Indians.