(c) Undivided interest owned by minors on reservation which are under the Indian Reorganization Act.

(d) Difficulty of reaching agreement among all heirs as to use or disposal of lands.

(e) What use has been made of the Secretary's authority to sell heirship lands when the owners have died intestate and have left minor or incompetent heirs? To what extent has the tribe been encouraged or permitted to buy such lands?

Prior to April 10, 1942, when the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Council set up its land code and the exchange assignment program, the heirship problem was as great on the Cheyenne River Reservation as on other reservations. With the establishment of the exchange assignment program, which was designed to consolidate land holdings for the use of Indian owners, much of the highly fractionated ownership of land was eliminated. Since 1945, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe has spent approximately $678,862 of its funds, local and Oahe, and $35,327 of gratuity funds for the purchase of lands with particular emphasis on complicated estates and alien Indian interests. Members of the tribe were encouraged to exchange their fractional inherited interests to the tribe in return for a solid block of land under single ownership either for their own use or in an area that would bring them lease income. The accomplishments under this program have been remarkable. It is believed that if a careful appraisal of the results were made of this program, the benefits and advantages to the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and its individual members will be outstanding. The program is no longer popular among the people of the Cheyenne River Reservation and has more or less been discontinued since 1951. The exchanges now being made are for lieu trust patents. This was brought about by the brief interest brought by oil and gas leasing which brought about the passage of the act of July 14, 1954 (68 Stat. 487) which converts all exchange assignments to the status of trust patents. Many units of grazing land were blocked out to accommodate the many members of the tribe who were eager and anxious to engage in the business of stock raising. It is estimated that 85 percent of all estates having over 5 heirs or more have been liquidated. A check in 1945 revealed that approximately 1,527 Indians from other reservations owned fractional inherited interests in 1,692 allotments. Today 246 Indians from other reservations have fractional inherited interests in 155 allotments. The tribe acquired undivided interests in 115 estates as the results of the exchange assignment program but of this number 64 have been purchased giving the tribe full ownership and leaving a balance of 51 estates still with the tribe owning an undivided interest. It is planned to either purchase this remaining number to give the tribe full ownership or partition with the other owners to eliminate the divided ownership. Where a minor owns an interest in an allotment and the other owners request

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a sale, a guardian is appointed through the tribal court, and the legal guardian consents to the sale in the event of a supervised sale or executes a deed in his behalf if the sale is to the tribe. If the other owners are not interested in selling the land and it would not be to the best interests of the minor to sell his land, he is encouraged to retain his land in trust until he reaches his majority and then he may dispose of the land as he wishes. It is very seldom that heirs have difficulty reaching agreement as to use or disposal of lands. From 1947 to 1953 extensive use was made of the secretarial authority to sell heirship lands. Most of the purchases made with gratuity funds were under this authority. This type of conveyance is no longer used.

PART II-CHEYENNE RIVER

1. How much acreage and how many tracts have been sold that the tribe, individual Indian owners, or the Bureau have alleged were key tracts?

Every tract of land for which an application for sale is filed is referred to the land and forestry committee of the tribal council to determine if it will fit into the tribal-land program and if the termination of the trust status will seriously affect the protection and use of Indian lands remaining in trust status. Upon determination by the land and forestry committee that a tract would fit into the tribal-land program, the tribal council offers to pay the appraised price for the land, and in just about every case the individual has agreed to a sale to the tribe. If the tract for which application for sale has been filed is determined not to be of essential interest to the tribe, the land is advertised for sale to the general public.

2. How much acreage and how many tracts alleged by the tribes or individual Indian owners to be key tracts were determined by Bureau officials not to be key tracts?

None.

3. How much acreage and how many tracts alleged by the tribe to be key tracts were sold to the tribe or individual Indian owners?

One hundred eighteen thousand six hundred and sixty-eight acres and five hundred and eighty tracts.

4. How much acreage and how many tracts alleged by the tribe to be key tracts were sold to non-Indians?

None.

5. If there were sales of key tracts to non-Indians, discuss the effect that such sales have had on the use of Indian land remaining in Indian ownership.

None.

6. Discuss the extent to which key tracts which were in fee status have been acquired in trust or fee status by the tribes.

Since 1942 a great number of exchanges have been made by the tribe and members with Dewey and Ziebach Counties, Rural Credit Board

of South Dakota, and non-Indians to acquire key tracts of fee lands in trust status. The number of tracts and the acreage so acquired are reflected in the answers to questions 9 and 10. The Indian-owned lands in these exchanges were isolated tracts of tribal and allotted lands that were located outside of the consolidation area of the reservation. It has always been the policy of the tribal council to exchange for lands which will be made available for use by Indian operators.

PART III-CHEYENNE RIVER

1. Give the position of each tribal real-estate employee, his annual salary, and the nature of his work.

Tribal lease clerk, salary $2,450. Writes leases on farm, farmpasture, and hay leases; collects fees for tribal-land enterprise; keeps record of fees paid from leases and submits report to tribal council on income from tribal lands to be used in connection with preparation of tribal budget, and such other duties as are assigned in realty

office.

Tribal grazing clerk, salary $2,450. Assists in preparation of grazing permits, collects fees for tribal-land enterprise, maintains record of fees paid from grazing permits and makes report to tribal council on income from tribal lands to be used in connection with preparation of tribal budget, and such other duties as are assigned in land operations office.

2. Give the position of each agency real estate employee whose salary, in part or in full, is paid by the tribe, the salary of such employee, the amount of such salary paid by the tribe, and the nature of his work. None.

3. Does the tribe have a regularly employed real estate adviser or consultant to advise the council with regard to tribal real estate activities? Explain fully.

No.

4. Does the tribal organization have a real estate committee with authority to approve tribal real estate activities? Explain fully.

The land and forestry committee of the tribal council, composed of three members of the tribal council, makes range unit allocations of tribal land to Indian operators. Their approval goes to the tribal council for recording in the minutes and unless the council takes exception to their approval of units, their action stands. They settle disputes regarding range units and if they cannot reach an agreement, it is taken to the tribal council for final action.

5. Does the tribal organization have a real estate committee which advises the tribal council with regard to tribal real estate activities? Explain fully.

Yes. The land and forestry committee of the tribal council, composed of three members of the council, advises and recommends to the council regarding real estate activities. This committee reviews all

land sale applications to determine if purchase by the tribe is feasible; reviews all land exchanges involving tribal lands to determine the advantages for such exchanges; determines and recommends to the council the tribal lands to be advertised for sale of grazing privileges to non-Indian permittees; recommends rates to be charged for tribal lands on grazing permits, farm, farm-pasture and hay leases; makes field inspections to determine the adequacy and suitability of range units, and all other real estate activities in regard to tribal lands.

6. To what extent has the tribe employed private consultants to study particular phases of its real estate activities. Explain fully. If the Bureau has disapproved such employment, explain why.

None.

7. Does the tribe have, or has it had, a tribal land enterprise or similar organization? If so, discuss the history and effectiveness of such organization.

On September 18, 1947, the tribal land enterprise was approved to be conducted by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. The purpose of the enterprise is to assume the clerical and ministerial details involved in the leasing, permitting, exchange, partition and other adjustments involved in the handling of individual and tribal trust or restricted lands under the jurisdiction of the Cheyenne River Reservation. Two clerks are employed at present to assist in preparation of leases and permits. One clerk is employed in the tribal office for handling of correspondence and doing routine office work for the tribal chairman. 8. Has the tribe or the area office been instructed to turn real estate operations over to the Bureau? No.

Please comment on the differences in effectiveness of Bureau and tribal operations.

Both the Bureau and tribal council have been working for the best interests of the Indian client. Occasionally there is a difference of opinion that rises between the tribe and the Bureau due to differences of tribal or Bureau policy. Eventually this is resolved. There is a joint advisory committee, composed of tribal council members, tribal office personnel, and Bureau personnel, that tries to iron out such differences.

(Executive Order No. 7868, April 15, 1938, transferred administrative jurisdiction over lands purchased by FSA for Indian use from the Department of Agriculture to Department of the Interior.)

All of the lands, with the exception of 160 acres, is being utilized by Indian permittees.

There are 3 tribal officers and 34 tribal employees on the Cheyenne River Reservation and 4 of these officers and employees are concerned with land transactions.

The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe has worked toward the goal of Indian use of Indian-owned land. The land-consolidation program which it has been promoting for 27 years is based on that principle. In 1947, under the repayment-cattle program, there were 350 operators having an average herd of 30 head of cattle grazing on range units averaging 1,250 acres of land. The total acreage of land used by Indian operators was 438,539 acres of Indian-owned land. In 1957 290 operators were using 934,519 acres of land. Of these 140 are on the rehabilitation program, which began operating on funds made available by the act of September 3, 1954, whose herds average 100 head of cattle using range units of approximately 4,000 acres of land; 102 are on the repayment-cattle program whose range units average 1,250 acres with an average of 30 head of cattle, and 50 operators who were former repayment cattle operators but are no longer on the program and are more or less independent and whose range units average about 4,900 acres. There are attached graphs and tables showing the use of Indian-owned lands by Indians from 1947 to 1957.