US Code

Public Law 119-73 (01/23/2026)

18 U.S.C. § 1154

Intoxicants dispensed in Indian country

(a)
Whoever sells, gives away, disposes of, exchanges, or barters any malt, spirituous, or vinous liquor, including beer, ale, and wine, or any ardent or other intoxicating liquor of any kind whatsoever, except for scientific, sacramental, medicinal or mechanical purposes, or any essence, extract, bitters, preparation, compound, composition, or any article whatsoever, under any name, label, or brand, which produces intoxication, to any Indian to whom an allotment of land has been made while the title to the same shall be held in trust by the Government, or to any Indian who is a ward of the Government under charge of any Indian superintendent, or to any Indian, including mixed bloods, over whom the Government, through its departments, exercises guardianship, and whoever introduces or attempts to introduce any malt, spirituous, or vinous liquor, including beer, ale, and wine, or any ardent or intoxicating liquor of any kind whatsoever into the Indian country, shall, for the first offense, be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and, for each subsequent offense, be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
(b)
It shall be a sufficient defense to any charge of introducing or attempting to introduce ardent spirits, ale, beer, wine, or intoxicating liquors into the Indian country that the acts charged were done under authority, in writing, from the Department of the Army or any officer duly authorized thereunto by the Department of the Army, but this subsection shall not bar the prosecution of any officer, soldier, sutler or storekeeper, attaché, or employee of the Army of the United States who barters, donates, or furnishes in any manner whatsoever liquors, beer, or any intoxicating beverage whatsoever to any Indian.
(c)
The term “Indian country” as used in this section does not include fee-patented lands in non-Indian communities or rights-of-way through Indian reservations, and this section does not apply to such lands or rights-of-way in the absence of a treaty or statute extending the Indian liquor laws thereto.

June 25, 1948, ch. 64562 Stat. 758May 24, 1949, ch. 139, § 2763 Stat. 94Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(G)108 Stat. 2147(, ; , ; , (I), , .)

Historical and Revision Notes

Act1948

Feb. 27, 1877, ch. 69, § 119 Stat. 244July 4, 1884, ch. 180, § 123 Stat. 94July 23, 1892, ch. 23427 Stat. 260Mar. 2, 1917, ch. 146, § 1739 Stat. 983June 13, 1932, ch. 24547 Stat. 302Mar. 5, 1934, ch. 4348 Stat. 396June 27, 1934, ch. 84648 Stat. 1245June 15, 1938, ch. 435, § 152 Stat. 696Based on sections 241, 242, 244a, 249, 254 of title 25, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Indians (R.S. § 2139; , ; , ; , ; , ; , ; , ; , ; , ).

section 1151 of this titlesection 1156 of this titleSection consolidates sections 241, 242, 244a, and 249 of title 25, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Indians. The portion of section 241 of said title which defined the substantive offense became subsection (a); the portion relating to the scope of the term “Indian country” was omitted as unnecessary in view of definition of “Indian country” in ; the portion of section 241 of said title excepting liquors introduced by the War Department became subsection (c), as limited by section 249 of said title; the portion respecting making complaint in county of offense, and with reference to arraignment, was omitted as covered by rule 5 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure; and the remainder of section 241 of said title was incorporated in .

Section 254 of title 25section 1156 of this titlesection 241 of title 25section 254 of title 25section 254 of title 25section 244 of title 25section 1151 of this titlesection 254 of title 25, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Indians, was omitted as covered by this section and . That section was enacted in 1934 and excluded from the Indian liquor laws lands outside reservations where the land was no longer held by Indians under a trust patent or a deed or patent containing restrictions against alienation. Such enactment was prior to the , amendment of , U.S.C., 1940 ed., Indians, in which the term “Indian country” was defined as including allotments where the title was held in trust by the Government or where it was inalienable without the consent of the United States. This provision, by implication, excluded cases where there was no trust or restriction on alienation and thereby achieved the same result as , U.S.C., 1940 ed., Indians. That amendment also repealed the act of , referred to in , U.S.C., 1940 ed., Indians. Insofar as the reference in section 254 of said title to “special Indian liquor laws” included , U.S.C., 1940 ed., Indians, the definition of Indian country in covers , U.S.C., 1940 ed., Indians.

section 64 of title 25Words “or agent” were deleted as there have been no Indian agents since 1908. See , U.S.C., 1940 ed., Indians, and note thereunder.

Mandatory punishment provisions were rephrased in the alternative and provision for commitment for nonpayment of fine was deleted. This change was also recommended by United States District Judge T. Blake Kennedy on the ground that, otherwise, section would be practically meaningless since, in most cases, offenders cannot pay a fine.

section 1262 of this titleThe exception of intoxicating liquor for scientific, sacramental, medicinal or mechanical purposes was inserted for the same reason that makes this exception appropriate to .

Minor changes were made in phraseology.

Act1949

section 1154 of title 1861 Stat. 501Subsection (a) of this section [section 27(a)] substitutes “Department of the Army” for “War Department”, in subsection (b) of , U.S.C., to conform to such redesignation by act (ch. 343, title 11, § 205(a), (5 U.S.C., 1946 ed., § 181–1)). Subsection (b) of this section [section 27(b)] adds subsection (c) to such section 1154 in order to conform it and section 1156 more closely to the laws relating to intoxicating liquor in the Indian country as they have heretofore been construed.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

Pub. L. 103–3221994—Subsec. (a). substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $500” after “first offense, be” and for “fined not more than $2,000” after “subsequent offense, be”.

1949—Subsec. (b). Act , § 27(a), substituted “Department of the Army” for “War Department”.

Subsec. (c). Act , § 27(b), added subsec. (c).

Executive Documents

Transfer of Functions

64 Stat. 1262Functions of all other officers of Department of the Interior and functions of all agencies and employees of such Department, with two exceptions, transferred to Secretary of the Interior, with power vested in him to authorize their performance or performance of any of his functions by any of such officers, agencies, and employees, by Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1950, §§ 1, 2, eff. , 15 F.R. 3174, , set out in the Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.