{{Use American English|date=June 2025}} The '''Indian Claims Limitations Act of 1982''' (ICLA) is a [[United States]] federal [[statute of limitations]] that governs some types of claims by [[Native American tribes]] and claims by the federal government on behalf of tribes.
==Previous statutes== Previous statutes of limitations had only applied to suits by non-Indian landowners against the federal government.<ref name="covelo">''Covelo Indian Community v. Watt'', 551 F. Supp. 366, 369 (D.D.C. 1982).</ref>
Congress enacted the first statute of limitations applicable to Native American land claims in 1966.<ref name="a1966">Act of July 18, 1966, Pub. L. No. 89-505, 80 Stat. 304 (codified at 28 U.S.C. § 2415); see also S. Rep. No. 1328, 89th Cong., 2d Sess. (1966).</ref> The limitation was six years for contract and trespass claims, and three years for tort claims.<ref name="a1966"/> There was no limitation for land title claims.<ref name="a1966"/> Pre-1966 claims were deemed to have [[accrue]]d on July 18, 1966, the date of passage.<ref name="a1966"/>
Under the 1966 act, pre-1966 trespass claims would have become barred on July 18, 1972. That day, Congress extended the limitations period for pre-1966 claims an additional five years, to July 18, 1977.<ref name="a1972">Act of July 18, 1972, Pub. L. No. 92-353, 86 Stat. 499 (codified at 28 U.S.C. § 2415); see also Act of October 16, 1972, Pub. L. No. 92-385, 86 Stat. 803 (codified at 28 U.S.C. § 2415).</ref> The 1972 acts also broadened the scope of the applicability of the limitation, to all civil actions brought by Indian tribes or individuals based upon contract, tort, or trespass theories.<ref name="a1972"/>
Under the 1972 acts, pre-1966 trespass claims would have become barred in 1977. That year, Congress extended the limitations period again, until April 1, 1980.<ref>Act of August 15, 1977, Pub. L. No. 95-103, 91 Stat. 842 (codified at 28 U.S.C. § 2415).</ref>
Under the 1977 act, pre-1966 trespass claims would have become barred on April 1, 1980. Four days before that deadline, Congress again extended the limitations period, until December 31, 1982.<ref name="a1980">Act of March 27, 1980, Pub. L. No. 96-217, 94 Stat. 126 (codified at 28 U.S.C. § 2415); see also S. Rep. No. 96-569, 96th Cong., 2d Sess. (1980).</ref> That act required the Interior Secretary to determine which claims should not be litigated, and submit proposals to resolve those claims legislatively by June 30, 1981.<ref name="a1980"/> The Secretary submitted zero proposals by this deadline, but did identify 17,000 pre-1962 claims by 1982.<ref>LeFave, 1984, at 73.</ref>
==Legislative history==
In 1982, for the first time, the Interior and Justice Departments failed to endorse an extension.<ref>LeFave, 1984, at 73–74.</ref> The [[Native American Rights Fund]] (NARF) initiated a [[class action]] suit on behalf of all Indians and tribes with pre-1966 claims.<ref name="covello">''Covelo Indian Community v. Watt'', 551 F. Supp. 366 (D.D.C. 1982).</ref> On November 17, 1982, NARF obtained an order requiring the government to either submit a legislative proposal within 30 days or to initiate the 17,000 lawsuits itself before the statute expired.<ref name="covello"/> The [[United States District Court for the District of Columbia]]'s decision loomed large in the Congressional debates.<ref>128 Cong. Rec. H9595-99 (1982) (remarks of Reps. Udall, Bereuter, and Daschle); H.R. Rep. No. 97-954, 97th Cong., 2d Sess. 4–6 (1982).</ref>
One day before the pre-1966 claims would have become barred, Congress extended the limitations period a final time.<ref name="a1982">Act of December 30, 1982, Pub. L. No. 97-394, 96 Stat. 1966 (codified at 28 U.S.C. § 2415) ["Indian Claims Limitation Act of 1982"].</ref> This eliminated the statute of limitations entirely for some types of claims.<ref>LeFave, 1984, at 75.</ref>
==Provisions and interpretation==
The Indian Claims Limitation Act of 1982 required the Interior Secretary to publish in the ''[[Federal Register]]'', within 90 days, identify all pre-1966 claims, identify which pre-1966 claims were potentially meritorious, and identify which claims were suitable for litigation or legislation; further, Indian tribes and individuals were given 180 days thereafter to comment on the Secretary's findings.<ref name="a1982"/> The Secretary did so,<ref name="list1">44 Fed. Reg. 13,698–13,919 (March 31, 1983).</ref> and modified the list in response to comments.<ref>44 Fed. Reg. 51,204 (Nov. 7, 1983).</ref> The limitations status of pre-1966 claims depends in part upon those lists: *Claims excluded from both lists expired on January 6, 1984;<ref name="l76">LeFave, 1984, at 76.</ref> *Claims on either list but not deemed suitable for litigation or legislation expired on November 7, 1984;<ref name="l76"/> *Claims on either list and identified as suitable for legislation expired three years after the submission of legislation or a legislative report;<ref name="l77">LeFave, 1984, at 77.</ref> *Claims on either list and deemed suitable for litigation are exempt from any statute of limitations, unless de-listed by the Secretary, in which case they are barred one year from the publication of the removal;<ref name="l77"/><ref name="oneidaII"/>
The status of other claims does not depend upon these lists: *[[Quiet title]] claims are unaffected by the Act.<ref>28 U.S.C. § 2415(c) ("Nothing herein shall be deemed to limit the time for bringing an action to establish the title to, or right of possession of, real or personal property.").</ref> The Supreme Court has held that the separate, 12-year statute of limitations contained in the [[Quiet Title Act]] applies to actions by [[Dawes Act|allottees]] under that Act.<ref>''United States v. Mottaz'', 476 U.S. 834, 848 n.10 (1986); see also ''Nichols v. Rysavy'', 809 F.2d 1317 (8th Cir. 1987).</ref> *Claims against the federal government are unaffected by the Act.<ref name="l77"/> *Post-1966 claims are unaffected by the Act.<ref>''Washoe Tribe of Nevada v. Southwest Gas Corp.'', 2000 WL 665605 (D. Nev. 2000).</ref>
According to ''[[Oneida County v. Oneida Indian Nation of N.Y. State]]'' (1985) ["''Oneida II''"], the 1982 Act "for the first time imposed a statute of limitations on certain tort and contract claims for damages brought by individual Indians and Indian tribes."<ref name="oneidaII">''[[Oneida County v. Oneida Indian Nation of N.Y. State]]'', 470 U.S. 226, 242–44 & n.15 (1985).</ref> ''Oneida II'', considering the Act, observed: "[T]he statutory framework adopted in 1982 presumes the existence of an Indian right of action not otherwise subject to any statute of limitations. It would be a violation of Congress' will were we to hold that a state statute of limitations period should be borrowed in these circumstances."<ref name="oneidaII"/> The claims involved in ''Oneida II'' was included on the first list, although it need not have been because the Oneida's suit was filed in 1970, before the law.<ref name="oneidaII"/>
In ''[[Cayuga Indian Nation of N.Y. v. Pataki]]'' (2005), where the Second Circuit held that [[laches (equity)|laches]] bars all aboriginal title claims sounding in ejectment or trespass, the Cayuga's claim was on the supplemental list.<ref>''[[Cayuga Indian Nation of N.Y. v. Pataki]]'', 413 F.3d 266, 280–81 (2d Cir. 2005) (Hall, District Judge, dissenting).</ref>
==The Interior Department's list== The Interior Department's initial list was 222 pages long.<ref name="list1"/>
The initial list contained more than 17,000 claims by allottees relating to the [[White Earth Indian Reservation]] in [[Minnesota]], totaling more than 100,000 acres.<ref>''Manypenny v. United States'', 948 F.2d 1057 (8th Cir. 1991).</ref> Congress responded with the White Earth Reservation Land Settlement Act (1986).<ref>White Earth Reservation Land Settlement Act, Pub. L. No. 99-264, 100 Stat. 61 (1986).</ref>
==Notes== {{reflist|2}}
==References== *Diane Kiesel, Indians, Congress Spar over Land Claims Bill, 68 A.B.A.J. 529 (1982). *LeAnn Larson LeFave, South Dakota's Forced Fee Indian Land Claims: Will Landowners Be Liable for Government's Wrongdoing?, 30 S.D. L. Rev. 59, 70–77 (1984).
{{Aboriginal title in the United States}} {{Native American rights}}
[[Category:Aboriginal title in the United States]] [[Category:Statutes of limitations]] [[Category:United States federal Native American legislation]]