ACTS
THE
INDIAN REORGANIZATION ACT
(PUBLIC__NO.383__73D
CONGRESS S. 3645)
AN ACT
PUBLIC--NO.
147--74TH CONGRESS (HR. 7782_
AN ACT (amendment to Indian Reorganization Act )
THE ALASKA REORGANIZATION ACT (PUBLIC NO. 538--74TH
CONGRESS) H.R 9866
AN ACT
THE OKLAHOMA INDIAN WELFARE ACT (PUBLIC--NO. 816--74TH CONGRESS S. 2047)
AN ACT
THE INDIAN REORGANIZATION ACT
(PUBLIC--NO.383--73D CONGRESS
S. 3645)
AN ACT
To conserve and develop Indian lands and resources; to extend to Indians the right to form business and other organizations; to establish a credit system for Indians; to grant certain rights of home rule to Indians; and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That hereafter no land of any Indian reservation, created or set apart by treaty of agreement with the Indians, Act of Congress, Executive order, purchase or otherwise shall be allotted in severalty to any Indian.
SECTION 2. The existing periods of trust placed upon any Indian lands and any restriction on alienation thereof are hereby extended and continued until otherwise directed by Congress.
SECTION 3. The Secretary of the Interior, if he shall find it to be in the public interest, is hereby authorized to restore to tribal ownership the remaining surplus lands of any Indian reservation heretofore opened, or authorized to be open to sale, or any other form of disposal by Presidential proclamation, or by any of the public-land laws of the United States: Provided however, That valid rights or claims of any person to any lands so withdrawn existing on the date of the withdrawal shall not be affected by this Act: Provided further, That this section shall not apply to lands within any reclamation project heretofore authorized in any Indian reservation: Provided further, that the order of the Department of the Interior signed, dated and approved Honorable Ray Lyman Wilbur, as Secretary of the Interior on October 28, 1932, temporarily withdrawing land of the Papago Indian reservation in Arizona from all from all forms of mineral entry or claim under the public land mining laws, is hereby revoked and rescinded, and the lands of said Papago Indian Reservation are hereby restored to exploration and location under the existing mining laws of the United States, in accordance with the express terms and provisions declared and set forth in the Executive orders establishing said Papago Indian Reservation: Provided further, That damages shall be paid to the Papago Tribe for loss of any improvements on any land located for mining in such a sum as may be determined by the Secretary of the Interior but not to exceed the cost of said improvements: Provided further, That a yearly rental not to exceed five cents per acre shall be paid to the Papago Tribe for loss of the use or occupancy of any land withdrawn by the requirements of mining operations, and payments derived from damages or rentals shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the Papago tribe: Provided further, That in the event any person or persons, partnership, corporation, or association desires a mineral patent, according to the mining laws of the United States. he or they shall first deposit in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the Papago Tribe the sum of $1.00 per acre in lieu of annual rental, as hereinbefore provided, to compensate for the loss or occupancy of the lands withdrawn by the requirements of mining operations: Provided further: That patentee shall also pay into the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the Papago Tribe damages for the loss of improvements not heretofore paid in such a sum as may be determined by the Secretary of the Interior, but not to exceed the cost thereof; the payment of $1.00 per, acre for surface use to be refunded to patentee in the event that patent is not acquired.
Nothing herein contained shall restrict the granting or use of permits
for easements or rights-of-way; or ingress or egress over the lands for
all proper and lawful purposes; and, nothing contained
herein, except as expressly provided, shall be construed as authority for
the Secretary of the Interior, or any other person, to issue or promulgate
a rule or regulation in conflict with the Executive order of February 1,
1917, creating the Papago Indian Reservation in Arizona or the Act of February
21, 1931 (46 Stat. 1202).
SECTION 4. Except as herein provided, no sale, devise, gift, exchange or
other transfer of restricted Indian lands or of shares in the assets of
any Indian tribe or corporation organized hereunder, shall be made or approved:
Provided,
however, That such lands or interests may, with the approval of the
Secretary of the Interior, be sold, devised, or otherwise transferred to
the Indian tribe in which the lands or shares are located or from which
the shares were derived or to a successor corporation; and in all instances
such lands or interests shall descend or be devised, in accordance with
the then existing laws of the Stare, or Federal laws where applicable;
in which said lands are located or in which the subject matter of the corporation
is located, to any , member of such tribe or of such corporation or any
heirs of such member: Provided further, That
the Secretary of the Interior may authorize voluntary exchanges of lands
of equal value and the voluntary exchange of shares of equal value whenever
such exchange, in his judgment, is expedient and beneficial for or compatible
with the proper consolidation of Indian lands
and for the benefit of cooperative
organizations,
SECTION 5. The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized, in his discretion, to acquire through purchase, relinquishment, gift, exchange, or assignment, any interest in lands, water rights or surface rights to lands, within or without existing reservations, including trust or otherwise restricted allotments whether the allottee be living or deceased, for the purpose of providing land for Indians.
For the acquisition of such lands, interests in land, water rights, and surface rights, and for expenses incident to such acquisition, there is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any funds in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, a sum not to exceed $2,000,000 in any one fiscal year: Provided, That no part of such funds shall be used to acquire additional land, out side of the exterior boundaries of Navajo Indian Reservation for the Navajo Indians in Arizona and New Mexico, in the event that the proposed Navajo boundary extension measures now pending in Congress and embodied in the bills (S.2499 and H.R. 8927) to define the exterior boundaries of the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona, and for other purposes, and the bills (S. 2531 and H.R. 8982) to define the exterior boundaries of the Navajo Indian Reservation in New Mexico and for other purposes, or similar legislation, become law.
The unexpended balances of any appropriations mode pursuant to this section shall remain available until expended.
Title to any lands or rights acquired pursuant to this Act shall be taken in the name of the United States in trust for the Indian tribe or individual Indian for which the land is acquired, and such lands or rights shall be exempt from State and local taxation.
SECTION 6. The Secretary of the Interior is directed to make rules and regulations for the operation and management of Indian forestry units on the principle of sustained-yield management, to restrict the number of livestock grazed on Indian range units to the estimated carrying capacity of such ranges, and to promulgate such other rules and regulations as may be necessary to protect the range from deterioration, to prevent soil erosion, to assure full utilization of the range, and like purposes.
SECTION 7. The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to proclaim new Indian reservations on lands acquired pursuant to any authority conferred by this Act, or to add such lands to existing reservations: Provided, That lands added to existing reservations shall be designated for the exclusive use of Indians entitled by enrollment or by tribal membership to residence at such reservations.
SECTION 8. Nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to relate to Indian holdings of allotments or homesteads upon the public domain outside of, the geographic boundaries of any Indian reservation now existing or established hereafter.
SECTION 9. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any funds in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such sums as may be necessary, but not to exceed $250,000 in any fiscal year, to be expended at the order of the Secretary of the Interior, in defraying the expenses of organizing Indian chartered corporations or other organizations created under this Act.
SECTION 10. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any funds in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $l0,000,000 to be established as a revolving fund from which the Secretary of the Interior, under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe, may make loans to Indian chartered corporations for the purpose of promoting the economic development of such tribes and of their members, and may defray the expenses of administering such loans. Repayment of amounts loaned under this authorization shall be credited to the revolving fund and shall be available for the purposes for which the fund is established. A report shall be made annually to Congress of transactions under this authorization.
SECTION 11. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any funds in the United States Treasury not otherwise appropriated, a sum not to exceed $250,000 annually, together with any unexpended balances of previous appropriations made pursuant to this section, for loans to Indians for the payment of tuition and other expenses in recognized vocational and trade schools: Provided, That not more than $50,000 of such sum shall be available for loans to Indian students in high schools and colleges. Such loans shall be reimbursable under rules established by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.
SECTION 12. The Secretary of the Interior is directed to establish standards of health, age, character, experience, knowledge, and ability for Indians who may be appointed, without regard to civil-service laws, to the various positions maintained, now or hereafter, by the Indian Office, in the administration of functions or services affecting any Indian tribe. Such qualified lindens shall hereafter have the preference to appointment to vacancies in any such positions.
SECTION 13.. The provisions of this Act shall not apply to any of the Territories,
colonies, or insular possessions of the United States, except that sections
9, 10, 11, 12, and 16, shall apply to the Territory of Alaska: Provided,
That Sections 2, 4, 7, 16, 17, and 18 of this Act shall not apply to the
following-named Indian tribes, the members of such Indian tribes, together
with members of other, tribes affiliated with such named tribes located
in the State of Oklahoma, as follows: Cheyenne, Arapaho, Apache, Comanche,
Kiowa, Caddo, Delaware, Wichita, Osage, Kaw, Otoe, Tonkawa, Pawnee, Ponca,
Shawnee, Ottawa, Quapaw, Seneca, Wyandotte, Iowa, Sac and Fox, Kickapoo,
Pottawatomi, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole. Section
4 of this Act shall not apply to the Indians of the Klamath Reservation.
in Oregon.
.
SECTION 14. The Secretary of the Interior is hereby directed to continue
the allowance of the articles enumerated in section 17 of the Act of March
2, 1889 (23 Stat. L. 894), or their commuted cash value under the Act of
June 10, 1896 (29 Stat. L. 334), to all Sioux Indians who would be eligible,
but for the provisions of this Act, to receive allotments of lands in severalty
under section 19 of the Act of May 29, 1908 (25 Stat. L, 451), or
under any prior
Act, and who hove the prescribed status of the head of a family or single
person over the age of eighteen years, and his approval shall be final
and conclusive, claims therefor to be paid as formerly from the permanent
appropriation made by said section 17 and carried on the books of the Treasury
for this purpose. No person shall receive in his own right more than one
allowance of the benefits, and application must be made and approved during
the lifetime of the allottee or the right shall lapse. Such benefits shall
continue to be paid upon such reservation until such time as the lands
available therein for allotment at the time of the passage of this Act
would have been exhausted by the award to each person receiving such. benefits
of an allotment of eighty acres of such land.
SECTION 15. Nothing in this Act shall be construed' to impair or prejudice any claim or suit of any Indian tribe against the United States. It is hereby declared to be the intent of Congress that no expenditures for the benefit of Indians made out of appropriations authorized by this Act shall be considered as offsets in any suit brought to recover upon any claim of such Indians against the United States.
SECTION 16. Any Indian tribe or tribes, residing on the same reservation, shall have the right to organize for its common welfare, and may adopt an appropriate constitution and bylaws, which shall become effective when ratified by a majority vote of the adult members of the tribe, or of the adult Indians residing on such reservation; as the case may be, at a special election authorized and called by the Secretary of the Interior under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe. Such constitution and bylaws when ratified as aforesaid and approved by the Secretary of the Interior shall be revocable by an election open to the same voters and conducted in the same manner as hereinabove provided. Amendments to the constitution and bylaws may be ratified and approved by the Secretary in the same manner as the original constitution and bylaws.
In addition to all powers vested in any Indian tribe or tribal council by existing law, the constitution adopted by said tribe shall also vest in such tribe or its tribal council the following rights and powers: To employ legal counsel, the choice of counsel and fixing of fees to be subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior; to prevent the sale, disposition, lease, or encumbrance of tribal lands, interests in lands, or other tribal assets without the consent of the tribe; and to negotiate with the Federal, State, and local Governments. The Secretary of the Interior shall advise such tribe or its tribal council of all appropriation estimates or Federal projects for the benefit of the tribe prior to the submission of such estimates to the Bureau of the Budget and the Congress.
SECTION 17. The Secretary of the Interior may, upon petition by at least one-third of the adult Indians, issue a charter of incorporation to such tribe: Provided, That such charter shall not become operative until ratified at a special election by a majority vote of: the adult Indians living on the reservation. Such charter may convey to the incorporated tribe the power to purchase, take by gift, or bequest, or otherwise, own, hold, manage, operate and dispose of property of every description, real and personal, including the power to purchase restricted Indian lands and to issue in exchange therefor interests in corporate property, and such further powers as may be incidental interests in corporate property, and such further powers as may be incidental , to the conduct of corporate business, not inconsistent with law, but no authority shall be granted to sell, mortgage, or lease for a period exceeding ten years any of the land included in the limits of the reservation. Any charter so issued shall not be revoked or surrendered except by Act of Congress.
SECTION 18. This Act shall not apply to any reservation wherein a majority of the adult Indians, voting at a special election duly called by the Secretary of the Interior, shall vote against its application. It shall be the duty of. the Secretary of the Interior, within one year after the passage and approval of this Act, to call such an election, which election shall be held by secret ballot upon thirty days' notice.
SECTION 19. The term "Indian" as used in this Act shall include all persons of Indian descent who are members of any recognized Indian tribe now under Federal jurisdiction, and all persons who are descendants of such members who were, on June 1, 1934, residing within the present boundaries of any Indian reservation, and shall further include all other persons of one-half or more Indian blood. For the purposes of this Act, Eskimos and other aboriginal peoples of Alaska shall be considered Indians. The term "tribe" wherever used in this Act shall be construed to refer to any Indian tribe, organized band, pueblo, or the Indians residing on one reservation. The word "adult Indians" wherever used in this Act shall be construed to refer to Indians who have attained the age of twenty one years.
Approved, June 18, 1934.
(Public--No.147--74th Congress)
(H.R. 7782)
An Act
To define
the election procedure under ,the Act of June 18, 1934, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America
in Congress assembled, That in any election heretofore or hereafter
held under the Act of June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984), on the question
of excluding
a reservation from the application of the said Act or on the question
of adopting a constitution and bylaws or amendments thereto or on the question
of ratifying a charter, the vote of a majority of those actually
voting shall be necessary and sufficient to effectuate such exclusion, adoption, or ratification,
as the case may be: Provided, however, That in each instance the total
vote cost shall not be less than 30 per centum of those entitled
to vote.
SECTION 2. The time for holding elections on the question of excluding a reservation from the application of said Act of June 18, 1934, is hereby extended to June 18, 1936.
SECTION 3. If the period of trust or of restriction on any Indian land has not, before the passage of this Act, been extended to a date subsequent to December 31, 1936, and if the reservation containing such lands has voted or shall vote to exclude itself from the application of the Act of June 18, 1934, the periods of trust or the, restrictions on alienation of such lands are hereby extended to December 31, 1936.;
SECTION 4. All laws, general and special, and all treaty provisions affecting any Indian reservation which has voted or may vote to exclude itself from the application of the Act of June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984), shall ,be deemed to have been continuously effective as to such reservation, notwithstanding the passage of said Act of June 18, 1934. Nothing, in the Act of June 18, 1934,shall be construed to abrogate or impair any rights guaranteed under any existing treaty with any Indian tribe, where such tribe voted not to exclude itself. from the application of said Act.
Approved, June 15, 1935
THE ALASKA REORGANIZATION ACT (PUBLIC NO. 538--74TH CONGRESS)
H.R. 9866 AN ACT
To extend certain provisions of the Act approved June 18, 1934, commonly known as the Wheeler-Howard Act (Public Law Numbered 383, Seventy-third Congress, 48 Stat. 984), to the Territory of Alaska, to provide for the designation of Indian reservations in Alaska, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate end House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That sections 1, 5,7, 8, 15, 17, and 19 of the Act entitled "An Act to conserve and develop Indian lands and resources; to extend to Indians the right to form business and other organizations; to establish a credit system for Indians; to grant certain rights of home rule to Indians; to provide for vocational education for Indians; and for other purposes," approved June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984), shall hereafter apply to the Territory of Alaska: Provided, That groups of Indians in Alaska not heretofore recognized as bands or tribes, but having a common bond of occupation, or association, or residence within a well-defined neighborhood, community, or rural district, may organize to adopt constitutions and bylaws and to receive charters of incorporation and Federal loans under sections 16, 17, and 10 of the Act of. June !8, 1934 (48 Stat. 984).
Sec. 2. That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to designate as an Indian reservation any area of land which has been reserved for the use and occupancy of Indians or Eskimos by section 8 of the Act of May 17, 1884 (23, Stat. 26), or by section 14 or section 15 of the Act of March 3, 1891 (26 Stat. 1101), or which has been heretofore reserved under any executive order and placed under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior or any bureau thereof, together with additional public lands adjacent thereto, within the Territory of Alaska, or any other public lands which are actually occupied by Indians or Eskimos within said Territory: Provided, That the designation by the secretary of the Interior of any such area of land as a reservation shall be effective only upon its approval by the vote, by secret ballot, of a majority of the Indian or Eskimo residents thereof who vote at a special election duly called by the Secretary of the Interior upon thirty days' notice: Provided, however, That in each instance the total vote cast shall not be less than 30 per centum of those entitled to vote: Provided further, That nothing herein contained shall affect any valid existing claim, location, or entry under the laws of the United States, whether for homestead, mineral, right-of-way, or other purpose whatsoever, or shall affect the rights of any such owner, claimant, locator, or entry-man to the full use and enjoyment of the land so occupied.
Approved, May 1, 1936.
THE OKLAHOMA INDIAN
WELFARE ACT
(PUBLIC--NO.816--74TH CONGRESS
S. 2047)
AN ACT
To promote the general welfare of the Indians of the State of Oklahoma, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby-authorized, in his discretion, to acquire by purchase,. relinquishment, gift, exchange, or assignment, any interest in lands, water rights, or surface rights to lands, within or without existing Indian reservations, including trust or otherwise restricted lands now in Indian ownership: Provided, That such lands shall be agricultural and grazing lands of good character and quality in proportion to the respective needs of. the particular Indian or Indians for whom such purchases are made. Title to all lands so acquired shall be taken in the name of the United States, in trust for the tribe, band, group, or individual Indian for whose benefit such land is so acquired, and while the title thereto is held by the United States said lands shill be free from any and all taxes, save that the State of Oklahoma is authorized to levy and collect a gross-production tax, not in excess of the rate applied to production from lands in private ownership, upon all oil and gas produced from said lands, which said tax the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized and directed to cause to be paid.
SECTION 2.
Whenever any restricted Indian land or interests in land,
other than
sales or leases of oil, gas, or other minerals therein, are offered for
sale, pursuant
to the terms of this or any other Act of Congress, the Secretary of the
Interior shall have a preference right, in his discretion, to purchase
the same for or in behalf of any other Indian or Indians of the same or
any other tribe, at a
fair valuation to be fixed by the appraisement satisfactory to the Indian
owner or owners, or if offered for sale at auction said Secretary shall
have a preference right, in his discretion, to purchase the same for or
in, be half of any other Indian or Indians by meeting the highest bid otherwise
offered therefor.
SECTION 3. Any recognized tribe or band of Indians residing in Oklahoma shall have the right to organize for its common welfare and to adopt a constitution and bylaws, under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe. The Secretary of the Interior may issue to any such organized group a charter of incorporation, which shall become operative when ratified by a majority vote of the adult members of the organization voting: Provided, however, That such election shall be void unless the total vote cast by at least 30 per centum of those entitled to vote. Such charter may convey to the incorporated group, in addition to any powers which may properly be vested in a body corporate under the laws of the State of Oklahoma, the right to participate in the revolving credit fund and to enjoy any other rights or privileges secured to an organized Indian tribe under the Act of June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984): Provided, That the corporate funds of any such chartered group may be deposited in any national bank within the state of Oklahoma or otherwise invested, utilized, or disbursed in accordance with the terms of the corporate charter.
SECTION 4. Any ten of more Indians; as determined by the official tribal rolls or Indian descendants of such enrolled members, or Indians as defined in the Act of June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984), who reside within the State .of Oklahoma in convenient proximity to each other may receive from the Secretary of the Interior a charter as a local cooperative association for any one or more of the .following purposes: Credit administration, production, marketing, consumers' protection, or land management. The provisions of this Act, the regulations of the Secretary of the Interior, and the charters of the cooperative associations issued pursuant thereto shall govern such cooperative associations: Provided, That in those matters not covered by said Act, regulations, or charters, the laws of the State of Oklahoma, if applicable, shall govern. In any stock or nonstock cooperative association no one member shall have more than one vote, and membership therein shall be open to all Indians residing within the prescribed district.
SECTION 5. The charters of any cooperative association organized pursuant to this Act shall not be amended or revoked by the Secretary except after a majority vote of the membership. Such cooperative associations may sue and be sued in any court of the State of Oklahoma or of the United States having jurisdiction of the cause of action, but a certified copy of all papers filed in any action against a cooperative association in a court of Oklahoma shall be served upon the Secretary of the Interior, or upon an employee duly authorized by him to receive such service. Within. thirty days after such service or within such extended time as the trial court may permit, the Secretary of the Interior may intervene in such action or may remove such action to the United States district court to be held in the district where such petition is pending by filing in such action in the State court a petition for such removal, together with the certified copy of the papers served upon the Secretary. It shall then be the duty of the State court to accept such petition and to proceed no further in such action. The said copy shall be entered in the said district court within thirty days after the filing of the petition for removal, and the said district court is hereby given jurisdiction to hear and determine said action.
SECTION 6.
The Secretary is authorized to make loans to individual Indians and to
associations or corporate groups organized pursuant to this Act. For the
making
of. such loans and for expenses of. the cooperative associations organized
pursuant to this Act, there shall be appropriated, out of the
Treasury of
the United States, the sum of $2,000,000.
SECTION 7. All funds appropriated under the several grants of. authority contained in the Act of June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984), are hereby made available for use under the provisions of this Act, and Oklahoma Indians shall be accorded and allocated a fair and just share of any and all funds hereafter appropriated under the authorization herein set forth: Provided, That any royalties, bonuses, or other revenues derived from mineral deposits underlying lands purchased in Oklahoma under the authority granted by this Act, or by the Act of June 18, 1934, shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States, and such revenues are hereby made available for expenditure by the Secretary of the interior for the acquisition of lands and for loans to Indians in Oklahoma as authorized by this Act and by the Act of June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984).
SECTION 8.
This Act shall not relate to or affect Osage County, Oklahoma.
SECTION 9.
The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to prescribe such
rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions
of this Act. All Acts or parts of Acts inconsistent herewith are hereby
repealed.
Approved, June
26, 1936.