§ 121.7 Notice of orders to claimants and distributees.

Notice of an Order of Distribution shall be mailed, on the date of issuance of such order, to the allottee whose share is being distributed if living, but if not living, to (a) each distributee named therein, (b) each claimant whose claim asserts entitlement to a portion of the allottee's share, and (c) each person who had not filed a claim on the date of issuance of such order but is in that order determined by the Superintendent to be ineligible to receive a portion of the allottee's share. Such notice shall be accompanied by a copy of the Order of Distribution and shall contain instructions for filing an appeal in accordance with paragraphs (a) or (b) and (c) of § 121.8.

§ 121.8 Appeal from an Order of Distribution.

(a) An Order of Distribution of the share of an allottee living on the date the order is issued shall become final 3 days from the date thereof unless an appeal is filed by an interested party with the Superintendent before the expiration of those 3 days.

(b) An Order of Distribution of the share of an allottee who is deceased on the date the order is issued shall become final 30 days from the date thereof unless an appeal is filed by an interested party with the Superintendent before the expiration of those 30 days.

(c) Each appeal must contain a statement of the reasons that the appellant considers the Order of Distribution to be subject to error, and each appellant must, at the time of filing his appeal, mail a copy thereof to each person named as a distributee in the Order of Distribution. The Superintendent shall furnish a copy of the appeal to each other interested party to whom a copy of the Order of Distribution was mailed.

(d) The Regional Solicitor, Tulsa, is authorized to determine appeals from Orders of Distribution in accordance with the act and the regulations in this part. The Regional Solicitor's decision thereon shall be final on the date of the issuance of his decision and shall constitute the final action of

When an Order of Distribution, either as issued or as amended by decision on appeal, has become final, the Superintendent shall either disburse to distributees the amounts distributed to them or deposit such amounts to appropriate accounts, in accordance with the following guidelines:

(a) When the amount distributed to any heir is less than $20, the amount shall be segregated in a special account for that heir until all Orders of Distribution have become final, at which time the sum of all amounts thus segregated to such account shall be disbursed or redeposited as provided in paragraphs (b), (c), (d) and (e) of this section, if such sum equals or exceeds $20. When such sum is less than $20, such sum in each of such accounts, and all unclaimed shares, and all amounts awarded to distributees which remain unclaimed for 6 months after the Order of Distribution has become final, shall, subsequent to April 27, 1974, be deposited to the account of the Osage Tribe as sums which have reverted to it.

(b) Living allottees having certificates of competency shall have their distributions disbursed directly to them.

(c) Living allottees not having certificates of competency shall have their distributions deposited to their accounts, subject to withdrawal by them at their request.

(d) Heirs of Osage Indian blood who are at least 18 years of age and are not under guardianship shall have their distributions disbursed directly to them.

(e) Heirs of Osage Indian blood who are under guardianship shall have their distributions deposited to their accounts, subject to disbursement to the distributees or their guardians or other persons on their behalf on such terms and conditions as the Superintendent shall consider to be in their best interests during their legal disability, after which the remaining portion shall be disbursed to such distributees.

(f) Heirs of Osage Indian blood who are under 18 years of age shall have their distributions deposited to their accounts, with the funds represented by such deposits invested at favorable rates of return for prudent investments, to be disbursed with earnings thereon only when the respective distributees for whom they are held shall attain the age of 18 years.

SOURCE: 54 FR 34155, Aug. 18, 1989, unless otherwise noted.

§ 122.1 Purpose and scope.

(a) The purpose of this part is to set forth procedures and guidelines to govern the use of authorized funds in education programs for the benefit of Osage Tribal members, along with application requirements and procedures used by those eligible persons.

(b) The Osage Tribe by act of Congress, October 27, 1972 (25 U.S.C. 883, 86 Stat. 12950, as amended by Pub. L. 98-605) on October 30, 1984, provides that $1 million, together with other funds which revert to the Osage Tribe, may be advanced, expended, invested, or reinvested for the purpose of financing an education program of benefit to the Osage Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma, with said program to be administered as authorized by the Secretary of the Interior.

Act means Osage Tribe by Act of Congress, October 27, 1972 (25 U.S.C. 883, 86 Stat. 1295), as amended by Pub. L. 98-605.

Allottee means a person whose name appears on the roll of Osage Tribe of Indians approved by the Secretary of the Interior on April 11, 1908, pursuant to the Act of June 28, 1906 (34 Stat. 539).

Assistant Secretary means the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs.

Osage Tribal Education Committee means the committee selected to administer the provisions of this part as specified by § 122.6.

Reverted funds means the unpaid portions of the per capita distribution fund, as provided by the Act, which were not distributed because the funds were:

(1) Unclaimed within the period specified by the Act; or

(2) For an amount totaling less than $20 due an individual from one or more shares of one or more Osage allottees.

Secretary means the Secretary of the Department of the Interior or his/ her authorized representative.

§ 122.3 Information collection.

and

(a) The information collection requirements contained in §§ 122.6 and 122.9 have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget under U.S.C. 3501 et seq. and assigned clearance numbers 1076-0098 1076-0106, respectively. The information collected in § 122.6 is used to determine the eligibility of Osage Indian student applicants for educational assistance grants. The information collected in § 122.9 provides summary review for program evaluation and program planning. Response to the information collections is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with 25 U.S.C. 883.

(b) Public reporting burden for this information collection is estimated to average 30 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing the burden, to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Information Collection Clearance Officer, Room 337 SIB, 18th & C Streets, NW., Washington, DC 20240; and the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (1076-0106), Washington DC 20503.

§ 122.4 Establishment of the Osage Tribal Education Committee.

(a) The Osage Tribe, to maintain its right of Tribal autonomy, shall, at the direction of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, establish the Osage Tribal Education Committee (OTEC) to fulfill the responsibilities and provisions of this part as set out in § 122.6.

(b) This committee shall be composed of seven (7) members. Five (5) of the members shall be of Osage blood or descendents of Osage, and two (2) from the education staff of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

(1) Of the five Osage members, at least three shall be legal residents and/or live within a 20-mile radius of one of the three Osage Indian villages. Of these, at least one member shall reside within the specified radius of

the Pawhuska Indian village; at least one member shall reside within the specified radius of the Hominy Indian village; and at least one member shall reside within the specified radius of the Greyhorse Indian village.

(2) The two remaining Osage committee members will be members at large.

§ 122.5 Selection/nomination process for committee members.

(a) Selection of the five (5) OTEC members shall be made by the Assistant Secretary in accordance with the following:

(1) Any adult person of Osage Indian blood who is an allottee or a descendant of an allottee is eligible to serve on the Osage Tribal Education Committee.

(2) Nominees for committee membership shall include a brief statement of interest and qualifications for serving on the committee.

(b) Nominations may be made by any Osage organization, including the Osage village communities of Greyhorse, Hominy and Pawhuska, by requesting its candidates to follow procedures outlined in paragraph (a)(2) of this section.

(c) Nominations shall be delivered by registered mail to the following address: Osage Tribal Education Committee, c/o Area Education Programs Administrator, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Muskogee Area Office-Room 152, 5th & W, Okmulgee, Muskogee, Oklahoma 74401.

(d) A Nominee Selection Committee composed of OTEC members so designated by the Assistant Secretary will review all nominations. Upon completion of this process, the Nominee Selection Committee will forward its recommendations for final consideration to the Assistant Secretary.

(e) Each member shall be sworn in for a four year term. At the discretion of the Assistant Secretary, members may succeed themselves with a recommendation for reappointment from the Nominee Selection Committee.

(f) The Assistant Secretary may, until a vacancy is filled, appoint an individual to serve for a temporary period not to exceed 120 days.

§ 122.6 Duties of the Osage Tribal Education Committee.

(a) For the purpose of providing financial assistance to eligible Osage applicants for educational assistance, the Osage Tribal Education Committee shall maintain an office and retain all official records at the Bureau of Indian Affairs offices located at the Federal Building, Muskogee, Oklaho

ma.

(b) The Osage Tribal Education Committee shall be responsible for implementing an overall plan of operation consistent with the policy of Indian self-determination which incorporates a systematic sequential process whereby all student applications for financial aid are rated and ranked simultaneously to enable a fair distribution of available funds.

(1) All applicants shall be rated by a point system appropriate to applications for education assistance. After all applications are rated, the Osage Tribal Education Committee will rank the applications in a descending order for award purposes. No awards shall be made until all applications are rated against the point system.

(2) Monetary awards shall be for fixed amounts as determined by the Osage Tribal Education Committee. The fixed amounts shall be itemized in the committee's annual budgetary request, and the monetary award amounts shall be consistent with the fixed amounts itemized in the approved budget.

(3) Payment of the monetary awards shall be made directly to the student, with half of the amount payable on or before September 15 and the second half payable on or before February 15, provided the student is successfully enrolled in an accredited institution of higher education and meeting the institution's requirement for passing work.

(4) No student will be funded beyond 10 semesters or five academic years, not to include summer sessions, nor shall any student with a baccalaureate degree be funded for an additional undergraduate degree.

8122.7 Budget.

(a) By August 1 of each year, the Osage Tribal Education Committee

will submit a proposed budget to the Assistant Secretary or to his/her designated representative for formal approval. Unless the Assistant Secretary or his/her designated representative informs the committee in writing of budget restrictions by September 1, the proposed budget is considered to be accepted.

(b) The investment principal, composed of the one million dollars appropriated by the Act and reverted funds, must be invested in a federally insured banking or savings institution or invested in obligations of the Federal Government. There are no provisions in this part which shall limit the right of the Osage Tribal Education Committee to withdraw interest earned from the investment principal; however, expenditures shall be made against only the interest generated from investment principal and reverted funds.

(c) All funds deposited will accumulate interest at a rate not less than that generally available for similar funds deposited at the same banking or savings institution or invested in the same obligations of the United States Government for the same period of time.

§ 122.8 Administrative costs for management of the fund.

Funds available for expenditures may be used by the Osage Tribal Education Committee in the performance of its duties and responsibilities. Recordkeeping is required and proposed expenditures are to be attached with the August 1 proposed annual budget to the Assistant Secretary or his/her designated representative.

§ 122.9 Annual Report.

The Osage Tribal Education Committee shall submit an annual report on OMB approved Form 1076-0106, Higher Education Annual Report, to the Assistant Secretary or his/her designated representative on or before November 1, for the preceding 12 month period.

§ 122.10 Appeal.

The procedure for appealing any decision regarding the awarding of funds under this part shall be made in ac

§ 123.1 Scope and purpose.

(a) The regulations in this part shall apply to all future distributions of the Alaska Native Fund pursuant to section 6 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1605), except money reserved for the payment of attorney and other fees as provided in section 20 of the Act (43 U.S.C. 1619).

(b) These regulations are not intended (1) to alter the distribution formula of section 6 of the Act (43 U.S.C. 1605), or the redistribution formulas of sections 7(j) or 7(m) of the Act (43 U.S.C. 1606(j), (m)); or (2) to require the distribution of money in the Fund when not authorized by the Act, or when the money has been set aside in an escrow or reserved account pursuant to an order of a court of competent jurisdiction.

(c) The regulations in this part are intended to implement section 31 of the Act (43 U.S.C. 1628) which authorizes the Secretary to recognize validly executed assignments of a Regional Corporation's rights to receive payments from the Fund.

As used in the regulations in this part.

Act means the Alaska Native claims Settlement Act, as amended (Pub. L. 92-203, 85 Stat. 715, 43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.; Pub. L. 95-178, 91 Stat. 1370).

Assignee means the person or entity receiving from a Regional Corporation an assignment of certain of the corporation's future interests in the Fund.

Assignor means a Regional Corporation which has assigned to another certain of its future interests in the Fund.

Assistant Secretary means the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior, or his authorized representative.

Fund means the Alaska Native Fund created by section 6 of the Act (43 U.S.C. 1605).

Payee means the recipient of a distribution from the Fund. The payee must be a financial corporation such as a bank, credit union, or savings and loan association which is insured under the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, or the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation, respectively. The payee must be capable of receiving payment through the U.S. Treasury's Financial Communication System.

Regional Corporation means an Alaska Native Regional Corporation established under the laws of the State of Alaska in accordance with the provisions of the Act.

Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior.

§ 123.3 Payment of shares of the Fund in the absence of recognition of an assignment.

(a) All money in the Fund shall be distributed by the Assistant Secretary at the end of each three months of the fiscal year among the Regional Corporations on the basis of the relative numbers of Natives enrolled in each region.

(b) Except as otherwise authorized in the regulations in this part, a Regional Corporation's quarterly share of the Fund shall be made payable to the Regional Corporation through a