Allotted land consolidation proposal
Amy Witzel (alwitzel@amherst.edu)
Wed, 8 Feb 1995 18:26:43 -0500
My grandfather received a notice from the BIA (Lower Brule agency) asking for
comments on a proposal to consolidate allotted land. We haven't received the
"consultation package" which further decribes the proposal. From what we can
tell, the proposal is for the Dept. of the Interior to buy back land from a
landowner's estate after he or she dies. Ultimately, the land will be returned
to the tribe, but the Dept. holds it until the tribe can afford to buy it back.
The whole purpose is to reconsolidate land which has gotten split up into much
smaller lots through heirship, sale, etc. Does anyone know if this proposal
has been presented as a bill in Congress? How much effect will comments have,
and is the Feb. 15 deadline really a deadline? The letter is stamped Nov. 29th
but we didn't get it until a couple of weeks ago. [It's a 3 page letter with
a questionnaire, signed by Ada Deer] Any information about this would be
great, posted either to the list, or you can reply directly to me.
Thanks! - Amy Witzel alwitzel@amherst.edu
- Oh yeah - another big question - what is the status of the land while its
held by the Dept. of the Interior?