Last minute Senate approval of Arkansas River Bed Settlement legislation will send the bill to President Bush for his signature and enactment into law.
The legislation, passed by the House in October, will award $40 million in compensation to the Chickasaw, Choctaw and Cherokee nations for land and resources taken from the nations when Oklahoma became a state in 1907.
Compensation is scheduled to be paid in four annual installments and deposited into separate tribal trust fund accounts with the Cherokee Nation receiving 50 percent, the Choctaws 37.5 percent and the Chickasaws 12.5 percent.
The settlement ends a 95-year dispute between the three nations and the federal government over drybed lands of the Arkansas River.
Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby said the settlement benefits all concerned. "This agreement is the result of diligent, consistent efforts by Congressman Carson, Congressman Watkins and Senator Inhofe," said Gov. Anoatubby. "It is gratifying to resolve this issue in a manner that provides a solution."
U.S. Rep. Brad Carson (D-OK), a sponsor of the bill, said he was "immensely pleased" the legislation was passed by both houses of Congress. "The Arkansas River Bed Settlement legislation will help resolve a terrible wrong that was inflicted on the Cherokee, Choctaw and Chickasaw Nation with respect to land claims along the Arkansas River," said Carson. Choctaw Chief Gregory E. Pyle said "This is a great stride for the Choctaw Nation. The money from the settlement will be put where it will give the most benefits to the Choctaw citizens."
Priorities voiced by Chief Pyle for use of the funds included education and health, yet he also said that basic needs of Choctaws would be reviewed so that current requirements can be met. As part of the settlement agreement, the Chickasaw, Choctaw and Cherokee nations agree to dismiss and release all claims to dry river- bed lands asserted against the United States in the Court of Federal Claims.
Claims of the three Indian nations to wetbed lands, water rights in the Arkansas River or mineral rights in certain other unallotted tracts will not be affected by the settlement.
While the bed and banks of the Arkansas River passed to the United States in trust for use and benefit of the Chickasaw, Choctaw and Cherokee nations under a 1906 law, the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs believed for more than 60 years that the land belonged to Oklahoma.
Therefore, the agency took no action to protect riverbed resources such as oil, gas and drybed lands for grazing and agriculture. As a result, thousands of adjacent landowners came to occupy land that rightfully belonged to the three nations.
In 1970, the Supreme Court ruled in Choctaw Nation v. Oklahoma that the Indian nations did in fact retain title to their respective portions of the riverbed. Since that time, additional legal action and negotiations have been ongoing to try to settle the dispute between the federal government and the three Indian nations.
Time line of Arkansas River Bed dispute and actions
1906 - Act provided that all tribal property not allotted to individuals or otherwise disposed of, including the bed and banks of the Arkansas River passed to the United States in trust for use of the Chickasaw, Choctaw and Cherokee nations.
1906-1966 - Because of the mistaken belief of the BIA that the state of Oklahoma owned these lands, third parties began to occupy the dry bed lands of the three Indian nations.
1966 - Chickasaw, Choctaw and Cherokee nations file suit (Choctaw Nation v. Oklahoma 396 U.S. 620) against the state of Oklahoma to recover their lands.
1970 - Supreme Court finds that three Indian nations retained title to their respective portions of the riverbed.
1987 - Supreme Court finds in United States v. Cherokee Nation (480 U.S. 700) that riverbed lands did not gain an exemption from federal government's navigational servitude and Cherokee Nation had no right to compensation for damage to interest by government projects to protect and/or improve public navigation.
1989 - Indian nations filed lawsuits against the United States in the US Court of Federal Claims seeking damages for use and mismanagement of tribal trust resources along the Arkansas River. Those actions are still pending.
1997 - The United States filed quiet title litigation against individuals occupying some of the Indian nations' drybed lands. That action was dismissed without prejudice (can be refiled) on technical grounds.
