Legal Definitions - Indian Claims Commission

The Indian Claims Commission was a U.S. federal agency that operated from 1946 until its dissolution in 1978. Its primary function was to hear and decide legal claims brought by Native American tribes or other identifiable groups of American Indians against the United States government. These claims often stemmed from historical grievances, such as breaches of treaties, the unlawful taking of tribal lands, or the mismanagement of tribal assets by the federal government. The Commission provided a dedicated legal forum for Native American communities to seek compensation for past injustices. After its dissolution, similar claims are now heard by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

Here are some examples of the types of claims the Indian Claims Commission would have adjudicated:

• Imagine the "Prairie Wind Tribe" in the 1950s. They believed a large tract of their ancestral hunting grounds was illegally seized by the U.S. government in the late 19th century for a national park, without fair compensation or proper legal process.

  This scenario directly illustrates the Indian Claims Commission's role, as the Prairie Wind Tribe could have filed a claim with the Commission seeking financial compensation for the unlawful taking of their land by the United States government.

• Consider the "Riverbend Nation" in the 1960s. A treaty signed generations ago promised them specific agricultural assistance and educational funding from the federal government in exchange for land cessions. The Riverbend Nation argued that the government had consistently failed to provide the agreed-upon level of support for decades.

  Here, the Riverbend Nation's grievance against the United States government for failing to uphold its treaty obligations would have been precisely the type of claim the Indian Claims Commission was established to adjudicate.

• Suppose the "Mountain Ridge Confederacy" discovered in the 1970s that the federal agency responsible for managing their timber resources, held in trust by the U.S. government, had allowed logging companies to harvest trees at significantly undervalued rates for many years, leading to substantial financial losses for the Confederacy.

  This situation demonstrates a claim of mismanagement of tribal assets by the U.S. government. The Mountain Ridge Confederacy could have brought this claim before the Indian Claims Commission to seek redress for the financial damages incurred due to the government's alleged negligence or misconduct.