THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL 28 | APRIL 2024 Indian Law Statements or opinions expressed in the Oklahoma Bar Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oklahoma Bar Association, its officers, Board of Governors, Board of Editors or staff. “Fractionation” is the undivided ownership of small interests by multiple co-owners in a single tract of land. Without adequate estate planning, the number of ownership interests increases exponentially with each successive generation as more co-owners inherit increasingly smaller interests in the land. Fractionation impairs efficient land use and resultingly decreases the value of the property. Consolidating and aggregating small fractional interests of multiple owners into a single tribe centralizes decision- making regarding the property, thereby increasing its usability and enhancing its economic value. Over the course of a decade, the LBBP paid $1.69 billion to individual landowners and increased tribal ownership in more than 50,000 tracts of allotted land, including nearly 2,000 tracts in which the tribe now owns the entire interest.1 Tribes are now able to use these properties for a variety of purposes that promote tribal sovereignty and economic development. The LBBP represents the federal government’s most successful land consolidation initiative after the U.S. Supreme Court greatly limited the effectiveness of previous efforts. Without a sustained commitment to reducing fractionation in Indian Country, however, it is estimated that the number of fractionated interests will return to pre-LBBP levels by 2038.2 This article explains the genesis of the fractionation problem in Indian Country, the negative effects of fractionation, early efforts to address the issue and the creation and design of the LBBP. It concludes with some practical pointers for attorneys when advising clients about mitigating the effects of fractionation. ALLOTMENT The history of federal Indian policy is often described as occurring in distinct phases or eras.3 Perhaps the most significant of these – in terms of the impact it had on Indian tribes as well as its enduring effects in the present – was the “allotment era.”4 After the Civil War, westward expansion accelerated, creating greater demand for expansive swaths of Indian land that only half a century before had been promised to Indian tribes in perpetuity in exchange for removal from the eastern United States.5 “Starting in the 1880s, Congress sought to pressure many tribes to abandon their communal lifestyles and parcel their lands into smaller lots owned Fractionation or Consolidation? The Land Buy-Back Program for Tribal Nations (2012-2022) By Conor P. Cleary ON NOV. 22, 2022, THE LAND BUY-BACK PROGRAM FOR TRIBAL NATIONS (LBBP) came to an end. Authorized by Congress as part of the settlement of the Cobell v. Salazar litigation, the LBBP included a $1.9 billion fund that was used to purchase small fractional interests in trust or restricted allotments owned by individual tribal members and consolidate those purchased interests into tribal ownership.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTk3MQ==