What Does it Mean for an American Indian Tribe to Be Terminated?
The Chickamauga Nation would not know what it means to be terminated since The Chickamauga Nation has NEVER been Terminated
Why does The Chickamauga Nation always have to provide the Congress of the United States with information they already have available at their fingertips?
Felix Cohen and Steven L. Pevar are the Pantheon of Legal Scholars when it comes to American Indian Law.
Both are quoted in almost every Supreme Court case dealing with American Indian Law issues.
Here is what Pevar has to say about Tribal Termination.
"May Congress Terminate a Trust Relationship? The third sentence is vital to understanding the information below.
"In each instance, it accomplished this by passing a law that prohibited the tribe from exercising governmental powers, required the tribe to distribute all of its property and assets to tribal members or to a state-charted corporation, eliminated the reservation, and declared that the tribes' trust relationship with the United States had ended."
Terminated tribes are prohibited from exercising governmental powers, have had their reservations eliminated, and have had their trust relationship ended.
Proof 1 of the First Termination of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma
EDITORIAL ASSERTION: At the request of the government of the cherokee nation to Congress, Congress formally terminated their government, and agreed to the allotment of all of the lands in the 14 counties. This is the death nail of the cherokee nation government and citizenship in the cherokee nation because no one born after September 1, 1902 can enroll or become a citizen.
All persons who were entitled to citizenship were born prior to September 1, 1902 and have henceforth died leaving no person entitled to citizenship in the cherokee nation nor participate in a tribal government.
Section 25 is succinct in the clear that the roll of citizens of the Cherokee Nation shall be made on September 1, 1902 and the names of all persons then living and entitled to enrollment on that date shall be placed on said roll by the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes.
Section 25 is devastating to the claims of the Cherokee that they have citizens under this act. “No child born thereafter to a citizen, and no white person who has intermarried with a Cherokee citizen since the sixteenth day of December, eighteen hundred and ninety-five, shall be entitled to enrollment or to participate in the distribution of the tribal property of the Cherokee Nation.”
Section 63 is the final end of the government of the Cherokee Nation in that it ceased to exist on March 4, 1906.
Section 74 This act shall not take effect or be of any validity until ratified by a majority of the whole number of votes cast by the legal voters of the Cherokee Nation which occurred on August 7, 1902.
The Cherokee Agreement - 32 Statute 716
July 1, 1902 The Fifty-Seventh Congress of the United State Session Chapter 1375 of July 1, 1902 32 Statute 716 An Agreement with the Cherokee by Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled agrees to the following:
This agreement ratified by Cherokee Nation at an election held August 7, 1902.
AN ACT To provide for the allotment of the lands of the Cherokee Nation, for the disposition of town sites therein, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled.
Definition of Words Employed Herein
SEC. 1. The words “nation” and “tribe” shall each be held to refer to the Cherokee Nation or tribe of Indians in Indian Territory.
SEC. 7. The words “member” or “members” and “citizen” or “citizens” shall be held to mean members or citizens of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory.
Roll of Citizenship
SEC. 25. The roll of citizens of the Cherokee Nation shall be made as of September first, nineteen hundred and two, and the names of all persons then living and entitled to enrollment on that date shall be placed on said roll by the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes.
SEC. 26. The names of all persons living on the first day of September, nine teen hundred and two, entitled to be enrolled as provided in section twenty-five hereof, shall be placed upon the roll made by said Commission, and no child born thereafter to a citizen, and no white person who has intermarried with a Cherokee citizen since the sixteenth day of December, eighteen hundred and ninety-five, shall be entitled to enrollment or to participate in the distribution of the tribal property of the Cherokee Nation.
Titles
SEC. 60. Any allottee accepting such patent shall be deemed to assent to the allotment and conveyance of all lands of the tribe as provided in this act, and to relinquish all his right, title, and interest to the same, except in the proceeds of lands reserved from allotment.
Miscellaneous
SEC. 63. The tribal government of the Cherokee Nation shall not continue longer than March fourth, nineteen hundred and six.
SEC. 67. The Secretary of the Interior shall cause to be paid all just indebtedness of said tribe existing at the date of the ratification of this act which may have lawfully been contracted, and warrants there for regularly issued upon the several funds of the tribe, as also warrants drawn by authority of law hereafter and prior to the dissolution of the tribal government, such payments to be made from any funds in the United States Treasury belonging to said tribe, and all such indebtedness of the tribe shall be paid in full before any pro rata distribution of the funds of the tribe shall be made. The Secretary of the Interior shall make such payments at the earliest time practicable, and he shall make all needed rules and regulations to carry this provision into effect.
SEC. 74. This act shall not take effect or be of any validity until ratified by a majority of the whole number of votes cast by the legal voters of the Cherokee Nation in the manner following :
SEC. 75. The principal chief shall, within ten days after the passage of this act by Congress, make public proclamation that the same shall be voted upon at a special election to be held for that purpose within thirty days thereafter, on a certain date therein named, and he shall appoint such officers and make such other provisions as may be necessary for holding such election. The votes cast at such election shall be forthwith duly certified as required by Cherokee law, and the votes shall be counted by the Cherokee national council, if then in session, and if not in session the principal chief shall convene an extraordinary session for the purpose, in the presence of a member of the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, and said member and the principal chief shall jointly make certificate thereof and proclamation of the result and transmit the same to the President of the United States.
Approved July 1, 1902.
Proof 2 of First Termination of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma
EDITORIAL ASSERTION: After the “Cherokee Agreement with Congress in 1902, 32 Statute 716, the last Cherokee Chief, William Charles Rogers, Will Roger’s Father, addressed the final Cherokee Council on November 9, 1904.
He acknowledged not only to the Council, but to the world, that the 1902 agreement had brought an end to the government of the Cherokee Nation.
He pulled no punches when he makes his final proclamation to the Council. They have come together for the purpose of the dissolution of the Cherokee Nation Government.
Chief William Charles Rogers Address to Cherokee Council
At the final session of the Cherokee Council on November 9, 1904,
Chronicles of Oklahoma, Volume 17, No. 2, June, 1939
“But a crisis in our affairs is at hand. The Government which our forefathers cherished and loved and labored so hard to perfect, has been sentenced to die. The scepter must soon pass to other hands. Still, we must force back the resentment we feel and accept the conditions as they are. The decrees of fate are inexorable. Representative bodies are usually brought together to organize or maintain a government; seldom indeed is the spectacle afforded of such a body of men calmly assembled together to prepare for its own dissolution and yet your coming together is largely for that purpose. The importance of this melancholy fact must not be underestimated or approached in a spirit of indifference. The best service of which you are capable is the demand of the hour and painstaking effort should characterize your every act so that the result may redound to the everlasting credit and benefit of our people.”[1]
Proof of the Second Termination of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and the Five Civilized Tribes in Oklahoma
EDITORIAL ASSERTION: An Act to provide for the final disposition of the affairs of the Five Civilized Tribes in the Indian Territory, and for other purposes
Section 11 “shall proceed to allot the exclusive use and occupancy of the surface of all the lands of said nation or tribe susceptible of allotment among the citizens thereof, as shown by said roll, giving to each, so far as possible, his fair and equal share thereof, considering the nature and fertility of the soil, location, and value of same”
Section 21 “that in making rolls of citizenship of the several tribes, as required by law, the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes is authorized and directed to take the roll of Cherokee citizens of eighteen hundred and eighty (not including freedmen) as the only roll intended to be confirmed by this and proceeding acts of Congress, and to enroll all persons now living whose names are found on said roll, and all descendants born since the date of said roll to persons whose names are found thereon” “Said Commission is authorized and directed to make correct rolls of the citizens by blood of all the other tribes, eliminating from the tribal rolls such names as may have been placed thereon by fraud or without authority of law, enrolling such only as may have lawful right thereto, and their descendants born since such rolls were made, with such intermarried white persons as may be entitled to Choctaw and Chickasaw citizenship under the treaties and the laws of said tribes.Said Commission shall have authority to determine the identity of Choctaw Indians claiming rights in the Choctaw lands under article fourteen of the treaty between the United States and the Choctaw Nation concluded September twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred and thirty, and to that end may administer oaths, examine witnesses, and perform all other acts necessary thereto and make report to the Secretary of the Interior.” This is for the final rolls of the Choctaw and Chickasaw.
SEC. 26. That on and after the passage of this act the laws of the various tribes or nations of Indians shall not be enforced at law or in equity by the courts of the United States in the Indian Territory. This is the end of the laws of the Five Civilized Tribes various tribes in that they no longer have authority within the United States (including the about to be newly formed state of Oklahoma)
SEC. 28. “That on the first day of July, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, all tribal courts in Indian Territory shall be abolished, and no officer of said courts shall thereafter have any authority whatever to do or perform any act thereto fore authorized by any law in connection with said courts, or to receive any pay for same; and all civil and criminal causes then pending in any such court shall be transferred to the United States court in said Territory by filing with the clerk of the court the original papers in the suit : Provided, That this section shall not be in force as to the Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Creek tribes or nations until the first day of October, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight.”
On July 1, 1892 All Tribal Courts in Indian Territory, about to become the state of Oklahoma, ceased to exist except for the Choctaw and Chickasaw whose Tribal Courts ceased to exist on October 1, 1898. AMENDED SEC. 11. “No principal chief of the Choctaw Tribe shall be appointed pursuant to section 6 of the Act of April 26, 1906 (34 Stat. 137), after a legal entity is designated and approved pursuant to subsection (a) of the first section of this Act, or after three years from the date of enactment of this Act, whichever is sooner.” This was to allow for the disposal of one half of the mineral rights leases to be retained by the United States and the rest to be sold.
The 1906 Curtis Act
April 26, 1906 The Eighty-Sixth Congress of the United States Session 1 34 Stat 137, Public Law 86-192 1906.
An Act to provide for the final disposition of the affairs of the Five Civilized Tribes in the Indian Territory, and for other purposes
An Act For the protection of the people of the Indian Territory, 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 all criminal prosecutions in the Indian Territory against officials for embezzlement, bribery, and embracery the word “officer,” when the same appears in the criminal laws heretofore extended over and put in force in said Territory, shall include all officers of the several tribes or nations of Indians in said Territory.
SEC. 9. That the jurisdiction of the court and municipal authority of the city of Fort Smith for police purposes in the State of Arkansas is hereby extended over all that strip of land in the Indian Territory lying and being situate between the corporate limits of the said city of Fort Smith and the Arkansas and Poteau rivers, and extending up the said Poteau River to the mouth of Mill Creek; and all the laws and ordinances for the preservation of the peace and health of said city, as far as the same are applicable, are hereby put in force therein: Provided, That no charge or tax shall ever be made or levied by said city against said laud or the tribe or nation to whom it belongs.
SEC. 11. That when the roll of citizenship of any one of said nations or tribes is fully completed as provided by law, and the survey of the lands of said nation or tribe is also completed, the Commission heretofore appointed under acts of Congress, and known as the ” Dawes Commission,” shall proceed to allot the exclusive use and occupancy of the surface of all the lands of said nation or tribe susceptible of allotment among the citizens thereof, as shown by said roll, giving to each, so far as possible, his fair and equal share thereof, considering the nature and fertility of the soil, location, and value of same ; but all oil, coal, asphalt, and mineral deposits in the lands of any tribe are reserved to such tribe, and no allotment of such lands shall carry the title to such oil, coal, asphalt, or mineral deposits; and all town sites shall also be reserved to the several tribes, and shall be set apart by the Commission heretofore mentioned as incapable of allotment. There shall also be reserved from allotment a sufficient amount of lands now occupied by churches, schools, parsonages, charitable institutions, and other public buildings for their present actual and necessary use, and no more, not to exceed five acres for each school and one acre for each church and each parsonage, and for such new schools as may be needed; also sufficient land for burial grounds where necessary. When such allotment of the lands of any tribe has been by them completed, said Commission shall make full report thereof to the Secretary of the Interior for his approval: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall in any way affect any vested legal rights which may have been heretofore granted by act of Congress, nor be so construed as to confer any additional rights upon any parties claiming under any such act of Congress: Provided further. That whenever it shall appear that any member of a tribe is in possession of lands, his allotment may be made out of the lands in his possession, including his home if the holder so desires : Provided further, That if the person to whom an allotment shall have been made shall be declared, upon appeal as herein provided for, by any of the courts of the United States in or for the aforesaid Territory, to have been illegally accorded rights of citizenship, and for that or any other reason declared to be not entitled to any allotment, he shall be ousted and ejected from said lands; that all persons known as intruders who have been paid for their improvements under existing laws and have not surrendered possession thereof who may be found under the provisions of this act to be entitled to citizenship shall, within ninety days thereafter, refund the amount so paid them, with six per centum interest, to the tribe entitled, thereto ; and upon their failure so to do said amount shall become a lien upon all improvements owned by such person in such Territory, and may be enforced by such tribe ; and unless such person makes such restitution no allotments shall be made to him : Provided further, That the lands allotted shall be nontransferable until after full title is acquired and shall be liable for no obligations contracted prior thereto by the allottee, and shall be nontaxable while so held: Provided further, That all towns and cities here to fore incorporated or incorporated under the provisions of this act are hereby authorized to secure, by condemnation or otherwise, all the lands actually necessary for public improvements, regardless of tribal lines; and when the same can not be secured otherwise than by condemnation, then the same may be acquired as provided in sections nine hundred and seven and nine hundred and twelve, inclusive, of Mansfield’s Digest of the Statutes of Arkansas.
SEC. 21. That in making rolls of citizenship of the several tribes, as required by law, the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes is authorized and directed to take the roll of Cherokee citizens of eighteen hundred and eighty (not including freedmen) as the only roll intended to be confirmed by this and proceeding acts of Congress, and to enroll all persons now living whose names are found on said roll, and all descendants born since the date of said roll to persons whose names are found thereon; and all persons who have been enrolled by the tribal authorities who have heretofore made permanent settlement in the Cherokee Nation whose parents, by reason of their Cherokee blood, have been lawfully admitted to citizenship by the tribal authorities, and who were minors when their parents were so admitted ; and they shall investigate the right of all other persons whose names are found on any other rolls and omit all such as may have been placed thereon by fraud or without authority of law, enrolling only such as may have lawful right thereto, and their descendants born since such rolls were made, with such intermarried white persons as may be entitled to citizenship under Cherokee laws.
It shall make a roll of Cherokee freedmen in strict compliance with the decree of the Court of Claims rendered the third day of February, eighteen hundred and ninety-six.
Said Commission is authorized and directed to make correct rolls of the citizens by blood of all the other tribes, eliminating from the tribal rolls such names as may have been placed thereon by fraud or without authority of law, enrolling such only as may have lawful right thereto, and their descendants born since such rolls were made, with such intermarried white persons as may be entitled to Choctaw and Chickasaw citizenship under the treaties and the laws of said tribes.
Said Commission shall have authority to determine the identity of Choctaw Indians claiming rights in the Choctaw lands under article fourteen of the treaty between the United States and the Choctaw Nation concluded September twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred and thirty, and to that end may administer oaths, examine witnesses, and perform all other acts necessary thereto and make report to the Secretary of the Interior.
The roll of Creek freedmen made by J. W. Dunn, under authority of the United States, prior to March fourteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, is hereby confirmed, and said Commission is directed to enroll all persons now living whose names are found on said rolls, and all descendants born since the date of said roll to persons whose names are found thereon, with such other persons of African descent as may have been rightfully admitted by the lawful authorities of the Creek Nation.
It shall make a correct roll of all Choctaw freedmen entitled to citizenship under the treaties and laws of the Choctaw Nation, and all their descendants born to them since the date of the treaty.
It shall make a correct roll of Chickasaw freedmen entitled to any rights or benefits under the treaty made in eighteen hundred and sixty-six between the United States and the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes and their descendants born to them since the date of said treaty, and forty acres of land, including their present residences and improvements, shall be allotted to each, to be selected, held, and used by them until their rights under said treaty shall be determined in such manner as shall be hereafter provided by Congress.
The several tribes may, by agreement, determine the right of persons who for any reason may claim citizenship in two or more tribes, and to allotment of lands and distribution of moneys belonging to each tribe; but if no such agreement be made, then such claimant shall be entitled to such rights in one tribe only, and may elect in which tribe he will take such right ; but if he fail or refuse to make such selection in due time, he shall be enrolled in the tribe with whom he has resided, and there be given such allotment and distributions, and not elsewhere.
No person shall be enrolled who has not heretofore removed to and in good faith settled in the nation in which he claims citizenship: Provided, however, That nothing contained in this act shall be so construed as to militate against any rights or privileges which the Mississippi Choctaws may have under the laws of or the treaties with the United States.
Said Commission shall make such rolls descriptive of the persons thereon, so that they may be thereby identified, and it is authorized to take a census of each of said tribes, or to adopt any other means by them deemed necessary to enable them to make such rolls. They shall have access to all rolls and records of the several tribes, and the United States court in Indian Territory shall have jurisdiction to compel the officers of the tribal governments and custodians of such rolls and records to deliver same to said Commission, and on their refusal or failure to do so to punish them as for contempt; as also to require all citizens of said tribes, and persons who should be so enrolled, to appear before said Commission for enrollment, at such times and places as may be fixed by said Commission, and to enforce obedience of all others concerned, so far as the same may be necessary, to enable said Commission to make rolls as herein required, and to punish anyone who may in any manner or by any means obstruct said work.
The rolls so made, when approved by the Secretary of the Interior, shall be final, and the persons whose names are found thereon, with their descendants thereafter born to them, with such persons as may intermarry according to tribal laws, shall alone constitute the several tribes which they represent.
The members of said Commission shall, in performing all duties required of them by law, have authority to administer oaths, examine witnesses, and send for persons and papers ; and any person who shall willfully and knowingly make any false affidavit or oath to any material fact or matter before any member of said Commission, or before any other officer authorized to administer oaths, to any affidavit or other paper to be filed or oath taken before said Commission, shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and on conviction thereof shall be punished as for such offense.
SEC. 25. That before any allotment shall be made of lands in the Cherokee Nation, there shall be segregated there from by the Commission heretofore mentioned, in separate allotments or otherwise, the one hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred acres purchased by the Delaware tribe of Indians from the Cherokee Nation under agreement of April eighth, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, subject to the judicial determination of the rights of said descendants and the Cherokee Nation under said agreement. That the Delaware Indians residing in the Cherokee Nation are hereby authorized and empowered to bring suit in the Court of Claims of the United States, within sixty days after the passage of this act, against the Cherokee Nation, for the purpose of determining the rights of said Delaware Indians in and to the lands and funds of said nation under their contract and agreement with the Cherokee Nation dated April eighth, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven; or the Cherokee Nation may bring a like suit against said Delaware Indians ; and jurisdiction is conferred on said court to adjudicate and fully determine the same, with right of appeal to either party to the Supreme Court of the United States.
SEC. 26. That on and after the passage of this act the laws of the various tribes or nations of Indians shall not be enforced at law or in equity by the courts of the United States in the Indian Territory.
SEC. 27. That the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to locate one Indian inspector in Indian Territory, who may, under his authority and direction, perform any duties required of the Secretary of the Interior by law relating to affairs therein.
SEC. 28. That on the first day of July, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, all tribal courts in Indian Territory shall be abolished, and no officer of said courts shall thereafter have any authority whatever to do or perform any act thereto fore authorized by any law in connection with said courts, or to receive any pay for same; and all civil and criminal causes then pending in any such court shall be transferred to the United States court in said Territory by filing with the clerk of the court the original papers in the suit : Provided, That this section shall not be in force as to the Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Creek tribes or nations until the first day of October, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight.
SEC. 29. That the agreement made by the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes with commissions representing the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes of Indians on the twenty third day of April, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, as herein amended, is hereby ratified and confirmed, and the same shall be of full force and effect if ratified before the first day of December, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, by a majority of the whole number of votes cast by the members of said tribes at an election held for that purpose; and the executives of said tribes are hereby authorized and directed to make public proclamation that said agreement shall be voted on at the next general election, or at any special election to be called by such executives for the purpose of voting on said agreement; and at the election held for such purpose all male members of each of said tribes qualified to vote under his tribal laws shall have the right to vote at the election precinct most convenient to his residence, whether the same be within the bounds of his tribe or not: Provided, That no person whose right to citizenship in either of said tribes or nations is now contested in original or appellate proceedings before any United States court shall be permitted to vote at said election : Provided further, That the votes cast in both said tribes or nations shall be forthwith returned duly certified by the precinct officers to the national secretaries of said tribes or nations, and shall be presented by said national secretaries to a board of commissioners consisting of the principal chief and national secretary of the Choctaw Nation, the governor and national secretary of the Chickasaw Nation, and a member of the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, to be designated by the chairman of said Commission; and said board shall meet without delay at Atoka, in the Indian Territory, and canvass and count said votes and make proclamation of the result; and if said agreement as amended be so ratified, the provisions of this act shall then only apply to said tribes where the same do not conflict with the provisions of said agreement; but the provisions of said agreement, if so ratified, shall not in any manner affect the provisions of section fourteen of this act, which said amended agreement is as follows:
This agreement, by and between the Government of the United States, of the first part, entered into in its behalf by the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, Henry L. Dawes, Frank C. Armstrong, Archibald S. McKennon, Thomas B. Cabaniss, and Alexander B. Montgomery, duly appointed and authorized thereunto, and the governments of the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes or nations of Indians in the Indian Territory, respectively, of the second part, entered into in behalf of such Choctaw and Chickasaw governments, duly appointed and authorized thereunto, viz, Green McCurtain, J. S. Standley, N. B. Ainsworth, Ben Hampton, Wesley Anderson, Amos Henry, D. C. Garland, and A. S. Williams, in behalf of the Choctaw Tribe or Nation, and It. M. Harris, I. O. Lewis, Holmes Colbert, P. S. Mosely, M. V. Cheadle. R. L. Murray, William Perry, A. H. Colbert, and R. L. Boyd, in behalf of the Chickasaw Tribe or Nation.
AMENDED: PUBLIC LAW 86-192-AUG. 26, 1959
To supplement the Act of April 26, 1906 (34 Stat. 137), entitled "An Act to provide for the final disposition of the affairs of the Five Civilized Tribes in the Indian Territory, and for other purposes", 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 order to complete the action for the Choctaw Tribe authorized by the Act of April 26,1906 (34 Stat. 137), entitled "An Act to provide for the final disposition of the affairs of the Five Civilized Tribes in the Indian Territory, and for other purposes", the Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed:
(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsections (b) and (c) of this section, to sell within three years after the date of this Act or as soon thereafter as possible, upon such terms and conditions as he deems proper, all lands, interests therein, and improvements thereon except a one-half interest in the oil, gas, hydrocarbons, and all other minerals or mineral rights in such lands, which one-half interest shall be reserved) that now or hereafter belong to the Choctaw Tribe, or to the Choctaw and Chickasaw Tribes jointly, and either are held by the United States in trust for the tribe or tribes or are subject to a restriction against alienation imposed by the United States, and to sell upon such terms and conditions as he deems proper a one-half interest in all oil, gas, hydrocarbons, and all other minerals or mineral rights in any such lands that were acquired by and are owned by the United States pursuant to the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act of June 26, 1936 (49 Stat. 1967), as amended (25 U.S.C. 501-50925 U.S.C. 501-50925 U.S.C. 501-50925 U.S.C. 501-50925 U.S.C. 501-509), or the Indian Reorganization Act of June 18,1934 (48 Stat. 984), as amended (25 U.S.C. 461 and the following). The remaining one-half interest in such mineral deposits shall be held in trust for the tribe or tribes until conveyed as hereinafter provided. The proceeds from all such sales, after deduction of the costs of sale, shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the tribe or tribes to which the surface rights in the land belonged. As soon as feasible, but not later than three years after the date of enactment of this Act, unrestricted title to the Choctaw portion of the one-half interest in the oil, gas, hydrocarbons, and all other minerals or mineral rights that is directed to be reserved and held in trust by this subsection shall be conveyed by the Secretary to a trustee, corporation, or other legal entity that is organized under State law and that is designated by the Choctaw Tribe and approved by the Secretary. If no such legal entity is designated and approved, unrestricted title to such interest shall be conveyed by the Secretary to the owner of the surface rights in the land. The Chickasaw portion of such one-half interest shall be held in trust until such time as the Secretary determines that it should be sold or conveyed for the benefit of the tribe, which sale or conveyance is hereby authorized.
(b) To convey without consideration, upon request of the Choctaw Tribe, to a trustee, corporation, or other legal entity that is organized under State law and that is designated by the tribe and approved by the Secretary, an unrestricted title to any of the lands that are subject to sale under subsections (a) and (d) of this section, together with all mineral rights therein: Provided That if such lands are held for the benefit of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Tribes jointly, the Choctaw Tribe shall pay to the Chickasaw Tribe prior to such conveyance the appraised value of the undivided Chickasaw interest.
(c) To convey to the life tenant, his heirs, devisees, successors, or assigns unrestricted title to the entire interest in lands and improvements thereon, including mineral deposits, that were acquired pursuant to the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act of June 26,1936 (49 Stat. 1967), as amended (25 U.S.C. 501-50925 U.S.C. 501-50925 U.S.C. 501-50925 U.S.C. 501-50925 U.S.C. 501-509), or the Indian Reorganization Act of June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984), as amended (25 U.S.C. 461 and the following), by the United States in trust for a designated individual Indian for his lifetime and thereafter in trust for the tribe.
(d) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, to sell within three years after the date of enactment of this Act or as soon thereafter as possible, upon such terms and conditions as he deems proper, or to transfer to a Federal agency or to a public body for public use, the lands, interests therein, and improvements thereon which have been acquired by the United States for use of the Choctaw Tribe under authority of title I I of the National Industrial Recovery Act of June 16, 1933 (48 Stat. 200), and subsequent Acts, administrative jurisdiction over which has heretofore been transferred by the President from the Secretary of Agriculture to the Secretary of the Interior by Executive Order Numbered 7868, dated April 15, 1938. The proceeds from such sales, after deduction of costs of sale, shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the tribe.
SEC. 2. Nothing in this Act shall deprive any Indian of any individual right, ownership, or contract right he may have in land that is sold.
SEC. 3. Any one or more of the enrolled members of the Choctaw Tribe or their descendants who occupy under a written lease or permit from the Bureau of Indian Affairs a portion of any lands subject to sale under the provisions of this Act shall have the right to purchase at such sale the lands which they occupy for a price equal to the highest acceptable competitive bid therefor, less the appraised value of any improvements which they may have placed thereon and which were not a part of the consideration for the lease or permit.
SEC. 4. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to execute such patents, deeds, assignments, releases, certificates, contracts, and other etc. instruments as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out the provisions of this Act, or to establish a marketable title to any property disposed of pursuant to this Act.
SEC. 5. Nothing in this Act shall abrogate any valid lease, permit, license, right-of-way, lien, or other contract heretofore approved. Whenever such instrument places in or reserves to the Secretary any powers, duties, or other functions with respect to the property subject hereto, the Secretary may transfer such functions, in whole or in part, to any Federal agency with the consent of such agency.
SEC. 6. The Secretary is authorized to set off against any indebtedness payable to the tribe or to the United States by an individual member of the tribe, or payable to the United States by the tribe, any funds payable to such individual or tribe under this Act and to deposit the amounts set off to the credit of the tribe or the United States as the case may be.
SEC. 7. The Act of June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984), as amended (25 U.S.C. 461), and the Act of June 26,1936 (49 Stat. 1967), as amended (25 U.S.C. 501-50925 U.S.C. 501-50925 U.S.C. 501-50925 U.S.C. 501-50925 U.S.C. 501-509), shall not apply to the Choctaw Tribe and its members after the date of enactment of this Act, except that the provisions of section 1 of the Act of June 26, 1936, with respect to taxes on lands that are held by the United States in trust shall continue in effect until the trust is terminated, and any trust for the benefit of an individual Indian that was created pursuant to such section shall be terminated only as otherwise authorized by this Act or by any other Federal statute.
SEC. 8. Nothing in this Act shall affect any claim heretofore filed against the United States by the Choctaw Tribe.
SEC. 9. Nothing in this Act shall affect the provisions of the Act of August 11,1955 (69 Stat. 666).
SEC. 10. I n any per capita distribution of tribal funds that is here-after made to members of the Choctaw Tribe, or their heirs or legatees, no payment shall be made in an amount that is less than $1, and any share that is less than $1 shall be credited to the appropriation available for carrying out the purposes of this Act.
SEC. 11. No principal chief of the Choctaw Tribe shall be appointed pursuant to section 6 of the Act of April 26, 1906 (34 Stat. 137), after a legal entity is designated and approved pursuant to subsection (a) of the first section of this Act, or after three years from the date of enactment of this Act, whichever is sooner.
SEC. 12. (a) The Secretary of the Interior is directed to exercise the discretionary authority granted by the Act of May 24, 1949 (63 Stat. 76, 84), to distribute per capita all of the funds held by the United States for the benefit of the Choctaw Tribe; except the amount necessary for the operation of the Choctaw Tribal Government until a legal entity is designated and approved pursuant to subsection (a)of the first section of this Act or until three years from the date of enactment of this Act, whichever is sooner.
(b) Any per capita sum or other tribal funds or securities accruing to any member of the Choctaw Tribe or to his heirs or legatees, under this or any other Act, including any such sums that have been credited to individual Indian money accounts without application of the Indian for his distributive share of the tribal asset involved, that is not claimed by such person within seven years after the Secretary has first announced the procedure for submitting claims or within two years after the date of enactment of this Act, whichever is later, shall escheat to the tribe by operation of law and shall be transferred by the Secretary immediately upon the expiration of such time to the legal entity that is designated and approved pursuant to subsection (a)of the first section of this Act. If no such legal entity is designated and approved within three years from the date of enactment of this Act, any sums that would escheat to the tribe under this subsection shall escheat to the United States and be deposited in the miscellaneous receipts of the Treasury.
(c) The legal entity organized under State law and designated and approved pursuant to subsection (a) of the first section of this Act, if any, shall be the successor in interest to the Choctaw Tribe for all purposes.
Approved August 25, 1959.
Proof of the Termination of the Eastern Band of Cherokee in North Carolina
EDITORIAL ASSERTION: The Eastern Band of Cherokee met with Congress to have their tribe terminated. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, on Nov. 6, 1919, agreed with the Congress of the United States to authorize their termination. House Bill 5699 providing for the final disposition of the Affairs of the Eastern Band of cherokee Indians.
On Monday, Feb. 6, 1922, 3:15 pm, 67th Congress First Session. H.R. 3852, June 4, 1924, an act providing for final disposition of the Affairs of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina was passed (session 1, chapter 253, 1924).
Sec. 2. This means what it says, no person born after June 4, 1924 shall be entitled to enroll.The Eastern Band of Cherokee relinquished their state Charter, and all rights and privileges as a Native American Tribe.
Proof 7 - November 6, 1919 Eastern Band of North Carolina Self Terminates
Act June 4, 1924, ch. 253, 43 Stat. 376
That the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina is hereby authorized, pursuant to the resolution of its council adopted the 6th day of November 1919, to convey to the United States of America, in trust, all land, money, and other property of said band for final disposition thereof as hereinafter provided; and the United States will accept such conveyance when approved by the Secretary of the Interior.
SEC. 2. That upon approval of such conveyance the Secretary of the Interior shall cause to be prepared a roll of the members of said band, to contain the names of all living on the date of this Act, and no person born after that date shall be entitled to enrollment.
The roll shall show the name, age, sex, and degree of Cherokee Indian blood, and separately of that derived from any other Indian ancestor, of each member. The day of the month indicating the birthday of each member shall also be shown upon said roll: Provided, That if such date is unknown and cannot be ascertained, the date of the entry of the name on the schedule shall be taken for the purposes of this Act to be the birth date of the member to whom the entry applies.
Said roll when approved by the Secretary of the Interior shall be final and conclusive as to the membership of said band, and as to the ages and degree of Indian blood of the members, but clerical changes relating to the names of such members or to sex designations may be made at any time thereafter.
SEC. 3. That in the preparation of said roll due consideration shall be given to all rolls and lists heretofore made of the membership of said band, together with any evidence elicited in the course of any investigations, and to all documents and records on file in the Interior Department or any of its bureaus or offices.
The fact that the name of any person appears on any such roll or list shall not be accepted to establish, conclusively, his right or that of his descendants to enrollment. Nor shall the absence of his name from such former rolls conclusively bar any person or his descendants from enrollment.
That in the preparation of said roll the act of the State of North Carolina of March 8, 1895, chapter 166, entitled 'An Act to amend chapter 211, laws of 1889, relating to the charter of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians' shall be disregarded.
Applications for enrollment may be presented in such manner and within such time as may be prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary of the Interior, but lack of application shall not prevent consideration of the right to enrollment of any person whose name appears on any former roll and his descendants or of any name brought in any manner to the attention of those in charge of the enrollment work, including the names of those persons of Cherokee Indian blood living July 27, 1868, in any of the counties of North Carolina, in which the common lands of said band are located, or in any of the contiguous counties of that State or of the States of Georgia and Tennessee, and of their descendants.
SEC. 4. That the lands so conveyed shall be surveyed, where found necessary, and divided into appropriate tracts or parcels and appraised at their true value as of the date of such appraisement, without consideration being given to the location thereof or to any mineral deposits therein or to improvements thereon, but such appraisement shall include all merchantable timber on all allottable lands.
SEC. 5. That reservations from allotment may be made, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior, of lands for cemeteries, schools, water-power sites, rights of way, and for other public purposes, with proper safeguards, however, for compensation to individuals who may suffer losses by reason of such reservations.
There may also be reserved any tract chiefly valuable because of the timber or of stone, marble, or other quarries thereon, or which by reason of location or topographical features may be unsuitable for allotment purposes.
Any land or other property reserved from allotment as above provided and lands not needed for allotments may be sold at such time, in such manner, and upon such terms as the Secretary may direct, and the proceeds of such sale shall be added to the funds of the band: Provided, That in the sale of timberlands the timber and the land may be sold separately.
Conveyances under such sales shall be made as provided in the case of conveyances to allottees.
SEC. 6. That all oil, gas, coal, and other mineral deposits on said lands are hereby reserved to said band for a period of twenty-five years from the date of this Act, and during such period said deposits may be leased for prospecting and mining purposes by the Secretary of the Interior, for such periods (not exceeding the period for which such minerals are reserved) and upon such terms and conditions as he may prescribe: Provided, That at the end of such twenty-five year period all such deposits shall become the property of the individual owner of the surface of such land, unless Congress shall otherwise provide.
SEC. 7. That all improvements on the lands of said band of a permanent and substantial character shall be appraised separately from the lands upon which the same may be, and shall be listed in the names of the members of the band prima facie entitled thereto, but the designation of ownership shall be tentative only until the true ownership thereof is ascertained and declared, after due notice and hearing. The right to have such improvements appraised, and to make disposition thereof, shall extend to all members, except tenants, owning such improvements at the date of this Act [June 4, 1924].
Any person held to be the owner of improvements may remove the same, where found to be practicable, within ninety days from the date they are declared to belong to him, or may, within that period, dispose of the same at not more than the appraised value to any member of the band entitled to receive an allotment, under regulations to be prescribed: Provided, That the vendor shall have a lien upon the rents and profits accruing from the tract on which such improvements may be located until the purchase price thereof is fully paid.
SEC. 8. That the lands and money of said band shall be allotted and divided among the members thereof so as to give each an equal share of the whole in value, as nearly as may be, and to accomplish that the value of the standard allotment share shall be determined by dividing the total appraised value of all allotted and allottable lands by the total number of enrolled members.
If any member shall fail to receive his full share of the tribal lands, he shall be entitled to the payment of money so as to adjust the difference as nearly as possible. If any member shall receive an allotment exceeding in value his full share of the tribal lands, the difference shall be adjusted by deduction from his distributive share of the tribal funds.
SEC. 9. That when the tracts available for allotments are ascertained, each member of the said band may apply for a tract or tracts of land to the extent of thirty acres, as nearly as practicable, to include his home and improvements, if he so desires, and the selection so made shall be final as to the right to occupy and use the land so applied for as against all other members if no contest is filed against such selection within ninety days from and after formal application is made therefor: Provided, That any person claiming the right to select any given tract of land by reason of the purchase of improvements thereon shall have ninety days to make application therefor from and after the date of approval of any sale conveying to him said improvements, and such application shall become final as in other cases, subject to the right of any other member to contest such selection, ninety days from and after the same is duly made. All contests shall be instituted and heard pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Interior Department applicable thereto. Any allotment selection may be modified or limited, in the discretion of those in charge of the work, so as to give the selector of adjacent or contiguous lands access to firewood and drinking water.
SEC. 10. That adults may select their own allotments, where mentally capable of so doing, but allotments for minors may be selected by their father or mother, in the order named, or by the officers in charge of the allotment work. The said officers may also select allotments for prisoners, convicts, aged, infirm, and insane or otherwise mentally incompetent members and for the estates of deceased members and, if necessary to complete any allotments or to bring the allotment work to a close, may make arbitrary selections for and on behalf of any member of said band.
SEC. 11. That allotments may be selected for the members of any family, wherever practicable, from contiguous lands or other lands held by the head of the family, including both adult and minor children and such other relatives as are members of the household: Provided, That if any adult child shall claim the benefit of this section, he shall not be entitled as a matter of right to have his selection made from the lands desired by his father or mother or from lands needed by any minor member of the family for allotment purposes, but this shall not prevent selection of lands outside the family holdings if desired.
SEC. 12. That where annuity or other payments to individuals have heretofore been suspended because their enrollment status has been questioned, the amounts involved in such suspended payments shall be paid to individuals found entitled to enrollment or to their heirs, and all funds of said band, after making such payments and after payments needed for equalizing allotments as hereinbefore provided and all other payments herein directed to be made, shall be distributed per capita among the enrolled members of said band and the heirs of those who shall die before distribution is completed, and shall be paid to the distributees or conserved and used for their benefit, according to whether they belong to the restricted or unrestricted class, at such time and in such manner as shall be deemed advisable.
SEC. 13. That any member of said band whose degree of Indian blood is less than one-sixteenth may, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior, be paid a cash equivalent in lieu of an allotment of land. Any person desiring to avail himself of this provision may make application to the officers in charge of the allotment work at any time within ninety days after the date of the approval of the final roll, and preference shall be given in the order of application. The said officers shall have the power to add to the register of such names the names of any other members of the same class, including minors for whom no application is made for such time as may be allowed for the purpose by the regulations. Applications should be made in person by adults and for minors by their fathers or mothers, in the order named.
SEC. 14. That if any member shall claim that he is the owner of a so-called private land claim, for the reason that money was advanced by him or his ancestor to pay in whole or in part for any land the title to which is now in the band, such claim may be submitted to and equitably adjusted by the Secretary of the Interior, whose decision thereon shall be final and not subject to review by the courts. In such adjustment due consideration shall be given to matters presented by the band in the way of offsets or counterclaims.
SEC. 15. That a certificate of allotment shall be issued to each allottee upon the expiration of the contest period, if no contest is then pending, or, if a contest is then pending, upon final disposition thereof, but shall be dated as of the date of selection. Each certificate shall contain the name and roll number of the allottee, and the legal effect thereof shall be to give the allottee the right to occupy and use the surface of the land described therein, as against each and every other member of the band, but not as against the band itself, or against the United States: Provided, That the Secretary of the Interior may cancel any certificate of allotment at any time before title to the land described therein is conveyed to the allottee, if in his judgment said land should be reserved for allotment for any purpose herein authorized or for any other good and sufficient reason, but before such action is taken the allottee shall have due notice and opportunity to be heard. If any such certificate shall be revoked, the allottee may select other lands as if no certificate had been issued to him.
SEC. 16. That as soon as practicable after a certificate of allotment is issued there shall be issued to the allottee a deed conveying all right, title, and interest of the United States, as trustee, and of the band, and of every other member thereof, in and to the land described in said certificate. Each deed shall recite the roll number and degree of Indian blood of the grantee and shall be executed by or in the name of the Secretary of the Interior, who is hereby authorized to designate any clerk or employee of the department to sign his name for him to all such deeds.
Each deed, when so issued, shall be recorded in the office of the recorder of deeds for the county in which the land conveyed thereby is located. When so recorded title to the land shall vest in the allottee subject to the conditions, limitations, and restrictions herein imposed. Upon the recording of any deed it shall be the duty of the officers representing the Government of the United States to deliver it to the allottee named therein.
SEC. 17. That if any member enrolled as provided in this Act shall die before receiving his distributive share of the band or tribal property, the land and moneys to which he would be entitled, if living, shall descend to his heirs according to the laws of the State of North Carolina and be distributed to them accordingly, but in all such cases the allotment and deed therefor shall be made in the name of the deceased ancestor and shall be given the same force and effect as if made during his lifetime: Provided, That the provisions of the Act of Congress approved June 25, 1910 (Thirty-sixth Statutes, page 855), as amended by the Act of Congress of February 14, 1913 (Thirty-seventh Statutes, page 678), relating to the determination of heirs and approval of wills by the Secretary of the Interior, and to other matters, are hereby made applicable to the persons and estates of the members of the said band, and in the construction of said Acts no distinction shall be made between restricted lands and moneys and those conveyed or held in trust.
SEC. 18. That leases of lands allotted under this Act may be made during the restricted period for any purpose and for any term of years, under rules and regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior: Provided, That such leases shall be executed on behalf of minors and other incompetents, including any Indian deemed to be incapable, mentally or physically, of managing his business affairs properly and with benefit to himself and in their names, by a duly authorized representative of the Indian Service designated by said Secretary for the purpose: Provided further, That all leases of unpartioned estates shall be so made and approved unless all of the Indian heirs or owners are of the unrestricted class, and shall be subject to supervision during the restricted period the same as leases made on other restricted lands, but all rents and royalties accruing therefrom to unrestricted owners shall be paid, by the proper officers of the Indian Service, to such owners at the earliest date practicable after the collection thereof.
Parents may use the lands allotted to their children and receive the rents and profits arising herefrom during the minority of such children: Provided, That this privilege may be revoked by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs at any time while said lands are restricted for such cause as may by him be deemed good and sufficient.
SEC. 19. That lands allotted under this Act shall not be alienable, either by voluntary or enforced sale by the allottee or his heirs or otherwise, for a period of twenty-five years from and after the date when the deed conveying such land to the allottee is recorded as directed herein: Provided, That upon the completion of the allotments and the recording of the deeds as herein directed each allottee shall become a citizen of the United States and a citizen of the particular State wherein he (or she) may reside, with all the rights, privileges, and immunities of such citizens: Provided further, That the Secretary of the Interior may, in his discretion, at any time after a deed is recorded remove the restrictions on the lands described therein, either with or without application by the owner or owners, under such rules and regulations or special orders governing the terms of sale and the disposition of the proceeds as he shall prescribe.
SEC. 20. That lands allotted under this Act shall not be subjected or held liable to any form of personal claim, or demand, against the allottee, arising or existing prior to the removal of restrictions; and any attempted alienation or incumbrance of restricted land by deed, mortgage, contract to sell, power of attorney, or other method of incumbering real estate, except leases specifically authorized by law, made before or after the approval of this Act and prior to removal of restrictions therefrom, shall be absolutely null and void.
SEC. 21. That all lands, and other property, of the band, or the members thereof, except funds held in trust by the United States, may be taxed by the State of North Carolina, to and including the tax year following the date of this Act. Such taxes shall be paid from the common funds of said band for such period, except upon such tracts as shall have been lawfully sold prior to the date when tax assessments can be made thereon under the State law. All tax assessments made pursuant to this Act on restricted allotments or undivided tribal property held in trust by the United States shall be subject to revision by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for a period of one year following the date when such assessments are spread on the local tax rolls, but if he shall take no action thereon during said year, such assessments shall be final, but this shall not be construed to deprive any allottee of any remedy to which he would be entitled under the State law: Provided, That such restricted and undivided property shall be exempt from sale for unpaid taxes for two years from the date when such taxes become due and payable, and no penalty for delinquency in the payment of such taxes shall be charged or collected for or during said period, so that Congress may have an opportunity to make provision for the payment of such taxes if the band, or tribal, funds are found insufficient for the purpose.
After the expiration of the tax year following that in which this Act is approved all lands allotted to members of said band, from which restrictions shall have been removed, shall be subject to taxation the same as other lands. But from and after the expiration of said tax year all restricted allotments and undivided property shall be exempt from taxation until the restrictions on the alienation of such allotments are removed or the title of the band to such undivided property is extinguished.
SEC. 22. That the removal of restrictions upon allotted lands shall not deprive the United States of the duty or authority to institute and prosecute such action in its own name, in the courts of the United States, as may be necessary to protect the rights of the allottees, or of their heirs, until the said band shall be dissolved by congressional action, unless the order removing such restrictions is based upon an express finding that the Indian to whom it relates if fully competent and capable of managing his own affairs.
SEC. 23. That the authority of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina to execute conveyances of lands owned by said band, or any interest therein, is recognized, and any such conveyance heretofore made, whether to the United States or to others, shall not be questioned in any case where the title conveyed or the instrument of conveyance has been or shall be accepted or approved by the Secretary of the Interior.
SEC. 24. That the reinvestment of the proceeds arising from the sale of surplus and unallotted lands of said band in other lands in the vicinity of the Indian school at Cherokee, North Carolina, is hereby authorized, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior, and lands so purchased may be allotted as provided for herein respecting the allotment of lands now owned by said band.
SEC. 25. That all things provided for herein shall be done under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, who is authorized to prescribe needed rules and regulations.
All questions as to enrollment and as to all other matters involving the disposition of the lands or moneys of said band, or of the members thereof, shall be decided by the Secretary of the Interior, and such decision as to any matter of fact or law shall be final.
SEC. 26. That in addition to any sum or sums heretofore or hereafter regularly appropriated for salaries and expenses, there is hereby authorized to be appropriated, from the funds of the United States in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $10,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, for the payment of such expenses as shall be necessarily incurred, including the salaries of additional employees in the administration of this Act."