OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Osage Nation has become the 20th tribe to sign a U.S. Interior Department plan to consolidate small parcels of land divided up over generations.
The Oklahoman newspaper reports the agreement is part of the Land Buy-Back program aimed at returning to tribes lands that have become difficult for the federal government to oversee.
The parcels are owned by individual Indians and are typically too small to generate much income from grazing, oil and gas production or other activity.
Still, the federal government must account for the income, even if it is just a few dollars a year.
There are about 245,000 owners nationwide eligible to participate in the program, and most get little economic benefit from owning the land.