What exactly is "Off-Reservation Trust Land"?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Something I recently noticed on Google Maps, the only Reservation in the Twin Cities metro which has the casino is the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community in Prior Lake, however the Reservation land is quite small and consists of just four small discontinuous pockets of land, one of which includes the casino. However other land in the area is labeled as "Shakopee Mdewakanton Off-Reservation Trust Land" which includes the main hotel near the casino and some mostly white suburban development.

So what exactly is this land and how does it differ from the tribal Reservation territory?

[MaxQue]

Something I recently noticed on Google Maps, the only Reservation in the Twin Cities metro which has the casino is the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community in Prior Lake, however the Reservation land is quite small and consists of just four small discontinuous pockets of land, one of which includes the casino. However other land in the area is labeled as "Shakopee Mdewakanton Off-Reservation Trust Land" which includes the main hotel near the casino and some mostly white suburban development.

So what exactly is this land and how does it differ from the tribal Reservation territory?

Wikipedia tells me it's land bought by a Tribe and managed in trust by the Interior Department. Often used for casinos.

[Donerail]

Something I recently noticed on Google Maps, the only Reservation in the Twin Cities metro which has the casino is the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community in Prior Lake, however the Reservation land is quite small and consists of just four small discontinuous pockets of land, one of which includes the casino. However other land in the area is labeled as "Shakopee Mdewakanton Off-Reservation Trust Land" which includes the main hotel near the casino and some mostly white suburban development.

So what exactly is this land and how does it differ from the tribal Reservation territory?

An Indian reservation is just a jurisdictional boundary; the relevant treaty or statute will set out a certain area and say "this land is the Shakopee Mdewakanton reservation." All land within the boundary of the reservation, regardless of who owns it, is under tribal jurisdiction.

It's difficult to modify the boundaries of reservations — you need a statute or maybe an executive order — so what tribes can do instead is purchase land outside the reservation boundaries and petition the BIA to hold it in trust for the tribe. There is a complex procedure for doing this in 25 CFR 151, where the Secretary of the Interior considers whether the tribe needs it (usually for economic development or housing) and weighs the tax impact on state/local government, any jurisdictional or land-use conflicts, and so on. The end result is that, once it's taken into trust, it's treated as Indian Country for jurisdictional purposes and tribal law applies, even though it's outside the reservation.

The trick, as you've noticed, is that the IGRA states that post-1988 non-reservation trust land acquisitions (with certain exceptions, often litigated) cannot be used for gaming. So it sounds like the Shakopee Mdewakanton built their casino on their reservation land (no IGRA issues there) and then some other projects on their non-reservation trust land, which can be used for pretty much anything except gaming. Smart land use strategy.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Something I recently noticed on Google Maps, the only Reservation in the Twin Cities metro which has the casino is the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community in Prior Lake, however the Reservation land is quite small and consists of just four small discontinuous pockets of land, one of which includes the casino. However other land in the area is labeled as "Shakopee Mdewakanton Off-Reservation Trust Land" which includes the main hotel near the casino and some mostly white suburban development.

So what exactly is this land and how does it differ from the tribal Reservation territory?

An Indian reservation is just a jurisdictional boundary; the relevant treaty or statute will set out a certain area and say "this land is the Shakopee Mdewakanton reservation." All land within the boundary of the reservation, regardless of who owns it, is under tribal jurisdiction.

It's difficult to modify the boundaries of reservations — you need a statute or maybe an executive order — so what tribes can do instead is purchase land outside the reservation boundaries and petition the BIA to hold it in trust for the tribe. There is a complex procedure for doing this in 25 CFR 151, where the Secretary of the Interior considers whether the tribe needs it (usually for economic development or housing) and weighs the tax impact on state/local government, any jurisdictional or land-use conflicts, and so on. The end result is that, once it's taken into trust, it's treated as Indian Country for jurisdictional purposes and tribal law applies, even though it's outside the reservation.

The trick, as you've noticed, is that the IGRA states that post-1988 non-reservation trust land acquisitions (with certain exceptions, often litigated) cannot be used for gaming. So it sounds like the Shakopee Mdewakanton built their casino on their reservation land (no IGRA issues there) and then some other projects on their non-reservation trust land, which can be used for pretty much anything except gaming. Smart land use strategy.

Do they get a state tax exemption for the non-reservation land? Because I think the gas station in that area that's popular with Prior Lake locals because it's always significantly cheaper than all other ones because there's no state gas taxes isn't on the reservation proper.

[Donerail]

Something I recently noticed on Google Maps, the only Reservation in the Twin Cities metro which has the casino is the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community in Prior Lake, however the Reservation land is quite small and consists of just four small discontinuous pockets of land, one of which includes the casino. However other land in the area is labeled as "Shakopee Mdewakanton Off-Reservation Trust Land" which includes the main hotel near the casino and some mostly white suburban development.

So what exactly is this land and how does it differ from the tribal Reservation territory?

An Indian reservation is just a jurisdictional boundary; the relevant treaty or statute will set out a certain area and say "this land is the Shakopee Mdewakanton reservation." All land within the boundary of the reservation, regardless of who owns it, is under tribal jurisdiction.

It's difficult to modify the boundaries of reservations — you need a statute or maybe an executive order — so what tribes can do instead is purchase land outside the reservation boundaries and petition the BIA to hold it in trust for the tribe. There is a complex procedure for doing this in 25 CFR 151, where the Secretary of the Interior considers whether the tribe needs it (usually for economic development or housing) and weighs the tax impact on state/local government, any jurisdictional or land-use conflicts, and so on. The end result is that, once it's taken into trust, it's treated as Indian Country for jurisdictional purposes and tribal law applies, even though it's outside the reservation.

The trick, as you've noticed, is that the IGRA states that post-1988 non-reservation trust land acquisitions (with certain exceptions, often litigated) cannot be used for gaming. So it sounds like the Shakopee Mdewakanton built their casino on their reservation land (no IGRA issues there) and then some other projects on their non-reservation trust land, which can be used for pretty much anything except gaming. Smart land use strategy.

Do they get a state tax exemption for the non-reservation land? Because I think the gas station in that area that's popular with Prior Lake locals because it's always significantly cheaper than all other ones because there's no state gas taxes isn't on the reservation proper.

It's treated the same as land within the reservation for tax purposes, yeah.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Something I recently noticed on Google Maps, the only Reservation in the Twin Cities metro which has the casino is the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community in Prior Lake, however the Reservation land is quite small and consists of just four small discontinuous pockets of land, one of which includes the casino. However other land in the area is labeled as "Shakopee Mdewakanton Off-Reservation Trust Land" which includes the main hotel near the casino and some mostly white suburban development.

So what exactly is this land and how does it differ from the tribal Reservation territory?

An Indian reservation is just a jurisdictional boundary; the relevant treaty or statute will set out a certain area and say "this land is the Shakopee Mdewakanton reservation." All land within the boundary of the reservation, regardless of who owns it, is under tribal jurisdiction.

It's difficult to modify the boundaries of reservations — you need a statute or maybe an executive order — so what tribes can do instead is purchase land outside the reservation boundaries and petition the BIA to hold it in trust for the tribe. There is a complex procedure for doing this in 25 CFR 151, where the Secretary of the Interior considers whether the tribe needs it (usually for economic development or housing) and weighs the tax impact on state/local government, any jurisdictional or land-use conflicts, and so on. The end result is that, once it's taken into trust, it's treated as Indian Country for jurisdictional purposes and tribal law applies, even though it's outside the reservation.

The trick, as you've noticed, is that the IGRA states that post-1988 non-reservation trust land acquisitions (with certain exceptions, often litigated) cannot be used for gaming. So it sounds like the Shakopee Mdewakanton built their casino on their reservation land (no IGRA issues there) and then some other projects on their non-reservation trust land, which can be used for pretty much anything except gaming. Smart land use strategy.

Do they get a state tax exemption for the non-reservation land? Because I think the gas station in that area that's popular with Prior Lake locals because it's always significantly cheaper than all other ones because there's no state gas taxes isn't on the reservation proper.

It's treated the same as land within the reservation for tax purposes, yeah.

Huh smart land use indeed.

So what about the suburban housing on the trust land? Is it property tax exempt? And do the homeowners have to pay some tax to the tribe?

[Donerail]

Huh smart land use indeed.

So what about the suburban housing on the trust land? Is it property tax exempt? And do the homeowners have to pay some tax to the tribe?

Trust land (including off-reservation trust land) is usually exempt from state and local property taxes. This is why the land-into-trust process can sometimes be controversial, because of the financial impacts on counties and cities of taking that land off the tax rolls. When the BIA is considering whether to take land into trust, you'll often see them trying to lobby against it.

Tribal governments generally don't have the power to levy property taxes on trust land; they get most of their revenue from sales and excise taxes and income from tribal businesses. So a tribe couldn't develop a subdivision, sell it to homeowners, and then just make them pay property tax, but it could set up a tribal corporation to handle the development and make all the money that a subdivision developer usually makes.