25 U.S.C. § 500
Section 500 · Purpose
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 7 court decisions — leading case Williams v. Babbitt (1997)
Most recently applied in Williams v. Babbitt (May 1997)
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.
A necessity for providing means of subsistence for the Eskimos and other natives of Alaska is hereby declared to exist. It is also declared to be the policy of Congress, and the purpose of this subchapter, to establish and maintain for the said natives of Alaska a self-sustaining economy by acquiring and organizing for and on behalf of said natives a reindeer industry or business, by encouraging and developing native activity and responsibility in all branches of the said industry or business, and by preserving the native character of the said industry or business thus established.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Codification
Section was formerly classified to section 250 of Title 48, Territories and Insular Possessions.
Short Title
Act Sept. 1, 1937, ch. 897, 500 Stat. 900, as amended, which enacted this subchapter, is popularly known as the “Reindeer Industry Act of 1937”.
Repeals
Section 17 of act Sept. 1, 1937, provided: “All Acts of Congress or parts thereof which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed.”
Authorization of Appropriations
Section 16 of act Sept. 1, 1937, authorized the appropriation of $2,000,000 for the use of the Secretary of the Interior in carrying out this subchapter.