Page images
PDF
EPUB

BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS PRESS RELEASE OF

MAY 28, 1958, AGREEING TO THE MORATORIUM

[Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Information ServiceFor release May 28, 1958]

DEPARTMENT AGREES TO DELAY INDIAN LAND SALES FOR BALANCE OF CONGRESSIONAL SESSION AT REQUEST OF SENATOR MURRAY

Acting Secretary of the Interior Hatfield Chilson announced today that the Bureau of Indian Affairs will delay until the end of the present congressional session any additional sales of Indian trust land requested by the Indian owners.

The action was taken in compliance with a request by Senator James E. Murray in his capacity as chairman of the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs.

The delay will not apply on the Klamath Reservation of Oregon because the trust status of all allotted lands will terminate there next August 13, and the termination law specifically provides for departmental assistance to these Indians in the sale of their heirship lands. In a letter of May 13 to Secretary Seaton, Senator Murray indicated that questionnaires on Indian land sales had been sent by the committee to Indian Bureau field officers and tribal officials at each local jurisdiction with a request for return of the information by June 15. He asked for a moratorium on all land sales requested by the Indians until the committee could complete a study and analysis of the completed questionnaires.

In a reply to Senator Murray dated May 28, Mr. Chilson emphasized the property rights of individual Indians that are involved. It is definitely not the policy of the Department or the Bureau—

he said

to encourage, suggest, or advise the individual Indian allottees to dispose of their land holdings. At the same time, we believe that we are democratically duty bound to honor their individual property rights the same as any other American citizen.

Imposition of an overall moratorium for an indefinite period, Mr. Chilson added, would involve a curtailment of the property rights of individual Indians and would work a hardship on many Indian owners. Moreover, he said, the Department is hesitant to take such a step even for a limited period, and is doing so only in response to Senator Murray's specific request for the balance of the present congressional session.

In his letter Mr. Chilson also called Senator Murray's attention to a May 15 statement of policy on Indian land sales by Commissioner of Indian Affairs Glenn L. Emmons. The new policy, he said, will make it easier for both tribal organizations and Indian heirs to buy up lands offered for sale by Indian owners and the net effect will be to keep more of the lands in Indian ownership.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ANALYSES

Analyses of returns to questionnaire circulated to Indian Agencies by the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs

33

INTRODUCTION TO THE LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE SERVICE MEMORANDUMS RELATIVE TO VARIOUS ASPECTS OF INDIVIDUAL INDIAN TRUST LAND REMOVED FROM THAT STATUS DURING THE PERIOD 1948 THROUGH 1957

THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE SERVICE, Washington, D. C., November 12, 1958.

To: Hon. James E. Murray. From: Indian Affairs. Subject: Introduction to the Legislative Reference Service memorandums relative to various aspects of individual Indian trust land removed from that status during the period 1948 through 1957.

The accompanying memorandums were written in answer to various requests of the committee concerning Indian land transactions. Their relationship to each other may not be immediately obvious if read as separate items. It is therefore the purpose of this memorandum to briefly place each in its proper perspective and to cover various aspects of the study that were not the subject of individual memorandums but were indicated to be of interest to the committee.

The basic objective expressed to us was the compilation and analysis of the returns from the Committee questionnaire relating to the subject of the American Indians' land base and the removal of individual Indian trust land from trust status.

Acreage removed (see pp. 37-60,99-112)

The memorandums concerning acreages removed from individual trust status are organized in such a manner as to indicate by what method and for what purpose the land was removed. Our statistics are therefore refined in a manner to isolate such categories as: (1) individual Indian trust land taken for public purposes; (2) individual Indian trust land sold to the tribe; (3) individual Indian trust land removed through private laws; and (4) individual Indian land removed from all trust status. For category 4 we have also included charts' for ready reference indicating such acreage by year, agency, area office, and grand totals for all.

Key tracts (see pp. 61–66)

The memorandum was originally intended as an analysis of methods and procedures by which the Bureau of Indian Affairs approves the sale of individual Indian trust land alleged to be "key tracts" and the removal from Indian ownership would be detrimental to the use or value of surrounding Indian trust land. While the returns imposed severe limitations on an adequate analysis they did produce a much clearer picture of the problem. There seemed to be an area of

1 Charts indicated were prepared by Robert L. Bostick, graphic information specialist, Legislative Reference Service, Library of Congress.

« PreviousContinue »