Fond du Lac, 2,690 acres; nonremoval Mille Lacs, 368 acres; and White Earth, 14,892 acres. Most of this acreage was land that had previously been part of the reservation areas and had become alienated. The purchases did include some allotments held in a trust status at time of purchase. Outside of homesites on the various reservations on this purchased land, very little use is being made of same by individual Indians, except for the use of areas on lakes which produce wild rice, the harvest of which is a source of revenue for a short season of the year. The purchases on the White Earth Reservation included a ranch headquarters which, at the time of purchase, was to be used as a vocational school for Indians; however, the school never materialized and the tribe now has the ranch property under lease. There are 4 scattered Sioux communities in Minnesota, and there was purchased for these groups 2,240 acres of land under the Indian Reorganization Act, which gives them a total of 3,281 acres, which includes purchases made for this group in the 1890's. These lands, for the most part, are assigned to individual Indians, and most of them live on their assignments. VI. MUSKOGEE AREA OFFICE 1. CHOCTAW AGENCY Hon. JAMES E. MURRAY, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, Philadelphia, Miss., June 12, 1958. Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, United States Senate, Washington, D. C. DEAR SENATOR MURRAY: In response to your request for information concerning land matters at this agency dated April 17, 1958, we are submitting herewith the attached report. You will note that a great part of the questionnaire does not apply to this agency's operation. I trust that the enclosed information is what you desire. Yours truly, PAUL VANCE, Superintendent. CHOCTAW OF MISSISSIPPI QUESTIONNAIRE ON THE DISPOSITION AND ACQUISITION OF INDIAN LANDS IN THE LAST 10 YEARS PART I As to tribal and individually owned trust or restricted land: 1. How many acres were there in tribal ownership on July 1, 1947 ? None. How many acres in trust? There were 15,678.62 acres. How many acres which the tribe had acquired in fee? None. 2. How many acres of trust or restricted land were there in individual Indian ownership of July 1, 1947? There were 75 acres. 3. How many transactions, by which tribal or individually owned lands were disposed of (including the placing of unrestricted fee title in the hands of the owners by issuance of patents in fee, certificates of competency, etc.), were consummated during each fiscal year since July 1, 1947? Do not know of any. 4. How many acres were so disposed of or removed from Bureau jurisdiction during each fiscal year since July 1, 1947 ? None. 5. Give the numbers of transactions for each year which will be shown in answer to No. 3 above, broken down by the type of transaction. None. 6. Give the acreage for each year which will be shown in answer to No. 4 above, broken down by the type of transaction. None. Questions 7 to 10 refer only to land not previously under Indian ownership: 7. How many transactions, by which tribal or individual Indian lands were acquired, were consummated during each fiscal year since July 1, 1947? None. 8. How many acres were so acquired during each calendar year since July 1, 1947? None. 9. Give the numbers of transactions for each year which will be shown in answer to No. 7 above, broken down by the type of transaction. None. 10. Give the acreages for each year which will be shown in answer to No. 8 above, broken down by the type of transaction. None. 11. How many acres were there in tribal ownership on December 31, 1957? None. How many acres held by the United States in trust? There were 15,698.62 acres. How many acres which the tribe had acquired in fee? None. How many acres of trust or restricted land were there in individual Indian ownership on December 31, 1957? None. 13. Cite and discuss briefly any special acts of Congress which have affected the acquisition and disposal of Indian lands (termination acts, private acts directing the issuance of patents in fee, etc.). Since there have been no allotments at this agency, it has not been affected by legislation regulating the sale of Indian lands. What study is being made of the cause and effect of sales? None. Has the tribal council passed or considered any resolutions on this subject? No. Please elaborate and include any resolutions approved. None. 14. Discuss to what extent, if any, the heirship or multiple-ownership problem has affected the acquisition and disposal of Indian lands, with particular reference to the following facets of the problem : None. (a) Undivided interest owned by the tribe. (b) Undivided interest owned by non-Indians and alien. Indians. None. (c) Undivided interest owned by minors on reservations which are under the Indian Reorganization Act. None. (d) Difficulty of reaching agreement among all heirs as to use or disposal of lands. None. (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? None. (f) To what extent has the tribe been encouraged or permitted to buy such lands? None. PART II-CHOCTAW OF MISSISSIPPI 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? Not applicable at this agency. 2. How much acreage and how many of the tracts alleged by the tribes or individual Indian owners to be key tracts were determined by Bureau officials not to be key tracts? Not applicable at this agency. 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? None. 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 sold. 6. Discuss the extent to which key tracts which were in fee status have been acquired in trust or restricted status by individual Indians, or in trust or fee status by tribes. None. PART III-CHOCTAW OF MISSISSIPPI 1. Give the position of each tribal real-estate employee, his annual salary, and the nature of his work. This tribe employs no personnel for handling real-estate activities. 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. This agency employs no personnel for handling real-estate activities. 3. Does the tribe have a regularly employed real-estate adviser or consultant to advise the council with regard to tribal real-estate activities? No. Explain fully. No answer required. 4. Does the tribal organization have a real-estate committee with authority to approve tribal real-estate activities? No. Explain fully. No answer required. 5. Does the tribal organization have a real-estate committee which advises the tribal council with regard to tribal real-estate activities! No. Explain fully. No answer required. 6. To what extent has the tribe employed private consultants to study particular phases of its real-estate activities? The Mississippi Choctaw Indians have not employed private consultants to study particular phases of its real-estate activities. Explain fully. No answer required. If the Bureau has disapproved such employment, explain why. No answer required, as Bureau has not disapproved such employ ment. 7. Does the tribe have, or has it had, a tribal land enterprise or similar organization? No. If so, discuss the history and effectiveness of such organization. 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. No comments. Individually owned land DISPOSALS-REMOVAL FROM INDIAN BUREAU JURISDICTION BY PLACING OF UNRESTRICTED FEE SIMPLE TITLE IN OWNERS-None DISPOSALS TO TRUST OR RESTRICTED STATUS-None DISPOSALS TO FEE STATUS-None ACQUISITIONS FROM TRUST OR RESTRICTED STATUS-None |