Indian trust property

Knowing whether a place has Indian land status can determine many things, including which laws will apply to you and which courts or governments can help with your issue. It can impact many legal issues, including:

• Indian Child Welfare Act cases
• Estate Recovery exemptions for Native Americans and Alaska Natives
• Violence Against Women Act protections for Native Americans and Alaska Natives
• Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People in Washington (MMIWP)
• Other kinds of civil rights and jurisdictional issues in Indian country

What is real property?

This guide discusses real property issues in Indian country. Real property usually means land and structures attached to the land. It can also mean the minerals or resources that come from that land and income made from those resources, including resources like mining, cattle, timber, fish, and crops. There are other protections for different kinds of property like Native American religious items or arts and crafts.

Native Americans and Alaska Natives face unique real property issues because of how the legal status of their land has changed over time due to colonization. The nation-to-nation relationship between sovereign tribal nations and the U.S. government creates special legal situations for real property that many Native Americans must deal with. 

There can be restrictions on other property because of the land’s status. Restrictions can also impact income you get from the property, like the money in your Individual Indian Money Account (IIM). That’s because the money in your IIM account usually comes from profits related to using, leasing, or selling your Indian land. If you make income off any kind of resource that comes from or uses your trust land, that money could also be trust property.