---
kind: "section"
citation: "25 U.S.C. § 404"
title: "25"
title_heading: "Indians"
number: "404"
heading: "Sale on petition of allottee or heirs"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/25/404"
units:
  - "Chapter 12 — Lease, Sale, or Surrender of Allotted or Unallotted Lands"
---

# §404. Sale on petition of allottee or heirs


The lands, or any part thereof, allotted to any Indian, or any inherited interest therein, which can be sold under existing law by authority of the [Secretary](/usc/25/5130.md?p=1) of the Interior, except the lands in Oklahoma and the States of Minnesota and South Dakota, may be sold on the petition of the allottee, or his heirs, on such terms and conditions and under such regulations as the [Secretary](/usc/25/5130.md?p=1) of the Interior may prescribe; and the lands of a minor, or of a person deemed incompetent by the [Secretary](/usc/25/5130.md?p=1) of the Interior to petition for himself, may be sold in the same manner, on the petition of the natural guardian in the case of infants, and in the case of Indians deemed incompetent as aforesaid, and of orphans without a natural guardian, on petition of a person designated for the purpose by the [Secretary](/usc/25/5130.md?p=1) of the Interior. When any Indian who has received an allotment of land dies before the expiration of the trust period, the [Secretary](/usc/25/5130.md?p=1) of the Interior shall ascertain the legal heirs of such Indian, and if satisfied of their ability to manage their own affairs shall cause to be issued in their names a patent in fee simple for said lands; but if he finds them incapable of managing their own affairs, the land may be sold as hereinbefore provided: Provided, That the proceeds derived from all sales hereunder shall be used, during the trust period, for the benefit of the allottee, or heir, so disposing of his interest, under the supervision of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs: And provided further, That upon the approval of any sale hereunder by the [Secretary](/usc/25/5130.md?p=1) of the Interior, he shall cause a patent in fee to issue in the name of the purchaser for the lands so sold: And provided further, That nothing in this section shall apply to the States of Minnesota and South Dakota.


## Source credit

(May 29, 1908, ch. 216, § 1, 35 Stat. 444.)

## Notes

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Yakima Indian Reservation, Washington

Special provisions for sale of interests of Indian minors in lands of the Yakima Indian reservation, in the State of Washington, whether by direct allotment or by inheritance, were made by act Mar. 27, 1908, ch. 107, 35 Stat. 49.

### Executive Documents

### Transfer of Functions

For transfer of functions of other officers, employees, and agencies of Department of the Interior, with certain exceptions, to Secretary of the Interior, with power to delegate, see Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1950, §§ 1, 2, eff. May 24, 1950, 15 F.R. 3174, 64 Stat. 1262, set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.