Committee Holds Hearing on the American Indian Probate Reform Act

Press Release

he Committee on Indian Affairs held an oversight hearing Thursday on the American Indian Probate Reform Act (AIPRA, P.L. 08-374). Tribal officials and leaders of inter-tribal organizations offered testimony regarding their experiences with AIPRA and whether it is being implemented by the Department of the Interior as it was intended by Congress.

AIPRA was enacted in 2004 to create a uniform federal Indian probate code to help address one of the problems created by the General Allotment Act of 1887 - land fractionation. Under the General Allotment Act, communally-owned tribal lands had been divided into parcels and allotted to individual Indians. As the original allottees died, the Act required the lands to descend in accordance with state inheritance laws, which often provided an equal share of ownership to each of the heirs. When they passed, their interest in the allotment was further divided among the next generation, and so on. Today, an individual plot of allotted land might have up to one thousand owners, and can therefore be put to no beneficial use.

"Land fractionation is a serious problem in Indian Country," said Chairman Akaka. "According to the Department of the Interior, 70 percent of the 10 million acres of land held in trust for individual Indians are fractionated." Akaka added that AIPRA was enacted to "protect the integrity of tribal homelands and restore their potential for economic development." Witnesses assessed current progress toward that goal.

The Committee heard testimony from Chairman John Berrey of the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma; Mr. David Gipp, Vice President, Great Plains Region, National Congress of American Indians; Professor Douglas Nash, Adjunct Professor and Director of the Institute for Indian Estate Planning and Probate at the Seattle University School of Law; Ms. Majel Russell, General Counsel for the Coalition of Large Tribes; and Ms. Sharon Redthunder, Acting Director of the Indian Land Working Group. The witnesses proposed legislative as well as administrative measures that would enhance implementation and further empower Indian land owners.

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