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MISSISSIPPI CHOCTAW

INFORMATION CONCERNING THE CURRENT INDIAN TRIBAL USE OF LAND HELD IN TRUST FOR THE MISSISSIPPI BAND OF CHOCTAW INDIANS THROUGH LEASING OR OTHERWISE, AND THE CONDITIONS OF SUCH LEASING OR USE

On January 1, 1954, approximately 7,000 acres of the land held in trust for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians which could be used for farming, pasture, and residential purposes was set up as tribal units for rental purposes. These units were leased on a yearly basis (Tribal Resolution Cho-1-52, dated March 16, 1952).

The following statistics are given concerning the availability and occupancy of these units for the calendar years 1954 through May 1958:

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The agriculture committee of the tribal council determines each year the amount to be charged for house and garden sites, tillable land and pastureland. New leases cannot be executed until prior year's rent has been paid. If the occupant is delinquent in his rent, he is sent a monthly notice. If he is delinquent after the year for which the lease is executed, he is sent a 10-day notice to pay or vacate the premises. If no action is taken by lessee on 10-day notice, he is sent a 30-day notice to vacate the premises. Failure to vacate the premises results in referring the claim to the United States attorney for proper action. To date 14 cases have been turned over to the United States attorney but no positive action has been taken by the Justice Department.

There are 12,262 acres of timberlands. The tribe has a memorandum of understanding dated April 27, 1954, for a 5-year period with the Department of Agriculture (unnumbered resolution dated December 23, 1952) to mark and select trees for sale to the highest bidder. The Agriculture Department is paid for this service by the tribe yearly. At the present time there have been 5 sales of timber as follows:

Sale No. 1, April 29, 1955: Approximately 973 acres of mixed hardwood and southern pine for $46,000.

Sale No. 2, January 10, 1956: Approximately 284 acres of pulpwood for $4,350.

Sale No. 3, October 26, 1956: Approximately 382 acres of mixed hardwood and southern pine for $28,520.

Sale No. 4, October 21, 1957: Approximately 343 acres of mixed hardwood, southern pine and pulpwood for $22,314.

Sale No. 5, October 21, 1957: Approximately 400 acres of pulpwood for $6,055.

The tribe employs intermittent labor under the supervision of the Forest Service to go into the forest to carry out a timber-stand-improvement program. This work is usually performed in the late fall and early spring and the number employed as day labor ranges from

1 to 13.

At the present time there are 3 oil and gas leases in effect, which are for a 10-year period, on 320 acres of land in Jones County, Miss.

The tribe employs only one full-time employee, a clerk-stenographer, who is employed by contract on a yearly basis. Up to July 1, 1957, the tribe did not employ any full-time employees. The duties of this employee are not concerned with land transactions.

2. FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES AGENCY

Hon. JAMES E. MURRAY,

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS,
Muskogee, Okla., July 7, 1958.

Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs,

Washington, D. C.

MY DEAR MR. MURRAY: Pursuant to your recent request, received June 25, 1958, we are enclosing in duplicate a report on the "Disposition and Acquisition of Indian Land in the Last 10 Years" for the Five Civilized Tribes of Oklahoma.

Sincerely yours,

PAUL L. FICKINGER,

Area Director.

DISPOSITION AND ACQUISITION OF LANDS IN THE LAST 10 YEARS FOR THE FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES, JULY 3, 1958

PART I

1. Acres in tribal ownership July 1, 1947, 10,353; acres in trust July 1, 1947, 36,412; acres acquired in fee by tribes, 0.

2. Acres of trust or restricted land in individual ownership July 1, 1947, 1,366,797.

3. The number of transactions, by which tribal or individually owned lands were disposed of (including the placing of unrestricted fee title in the hands of owners by issuance of patents in fee, certificates of competency consummated during each fiscal year since July 1, 1947. (See table attached.)

4. The number of acres disposed of or removed from Bureau supervision during each fiscal year since July 1, 1947. (See table attached.) 5. Give the number of transactions each year in answer to No. 3 above, broken down by type of transaction. (See table attached.) 6. Give the acreages for each year which will be shown in answer to No. 4. (See table attached.)

7. How many transactions, by which tribal or individual Indian lands were acquired, were consummated during each fiscal year since July 1, 1947? (See table attached.)

8. How many acres were so acquired during each calendar year since July 1, 1947? (See table attached.)

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. (See table attached.)

10. Give the acreages for each year which will be shown in answer to No. 8 above, broken down by the type of transaction. (All purchases of fee lands on attached table.)

11. Number of acres in tribal ownership December 31, 1957, 6,894; acres held by the United States in trust, 35,359; acres acquired in fee by the tribe, 0.

12. Acres of trust or restricted land in individual Indian ownership December 31, 1957, 928,634.

13. Prior to allotment, the Five Civilized Tribes owned and occupied an area of 1912 million acres in what is now eastern Oklahoma. Fifteen million seven hundred and ninety-four thousand acres of this land were allotted to 101,508 members of the Five Tribes including intermarried whites, adopted citizens, and freedmen. Most of the allotments were made in the period 1902 to 1910. The lands were not held "United States in trust for individuals" as were the lands allotted under the General Allotment Act; instead, deeds or patents, executed by the chief of the particular tribe were delivered to the individual allottee. Restrictions against alienation were provided for in such deeds, by reference to the specific act of Congress under which the land was allotted.

Before the task of allotment was completed, various laws were passed providing for the removal of restrictions under certain conditions. The act of July 1, 1902 (32 Stat. 641), entitled "An act to ratify and confirm an agreement with the Choctaw and Chickasaw Tribes of Indians, and for other purposes," provides in section 16-

All lands allotted to members of said tribes, except such land as set aside to each for a homestead as herein provided, shall be alienable after issue of patent as follows: one-fourth in acreage in 1 year, one-fourth in acreage in 3 years and the balance in 5 years; in each case from date of patent.

Here is an act, primarily concerned with the allotment of lands of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations, also, providing for the alienation of certain parts of allotments with no action by or notice to the Secretary of the Interior. The legality of a conveyance during the period fom the passage of this act until the act of May 27, 1908, except for fullbloods, who were restricted after passage of the act of April 26, 1906, which restricted alienation of fullbloods, can be determined only by comparing date of the patent and the date of any instrument purporting to convey and the provisions of the above-cited act. Under this act certain allotments usually considered restricted, could have been legally conveyed with no record of such conveyance with the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Section 19 of the act of April 26, 1906 (34 Stat. 137), provides— that no fullblood Indian of the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Creek, or Seminole Tribes shall have power to alienate, sell, dispose of, or encumber in any manner any of the lands allotted to him for a period of 25 years from and after the passage and approval of this act, unless such restrictions shall, prior to the expiration of said period, be removed by act of Congress.

Section 22 of the same act provides "that the adult heirs of any deceased Indian of either of the Five Civilized Tribes *** may sell and convey the lands inherited from such decedent. All conveyances made under this provision by heirs who are fullblood Indians are to be subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior." By

the provisions of the above act, lands inherited by Indians of less than fullblood were unrestricted.

"An act for the removal of restrictions from part of the lands of allottees of the Five Civilized Tribes and for other purposes," was the title of an act passed May 27, 1908 (35 Stat. 312), which set up a general scheme for alienation of lands of members of the Five Civilized Tribes. Section 1 of this act removes the restrictions against alienation from all lands except those lands allotted as homesteads to allottees of halfblood or more, and less than three-fourths, and both homestead and surplus of lands allotted to individuals enrolled as threefourths or more Indian blood.

The restricted lands were to remain restricted until April 26, 1931, unless removed by the Secretary of the Interior. (These restrictions were extended for an additional period of 25 years by the act of May 10, 1928.) Here in one broad act, restrictions were automatically removed from all but 37,000 of the more than 100,000 original allottees. Section 9 of this act provides

That the death of any allottee of the Five Civilized Tribes shall operate to remove all restrictions upon the alienation of said allottee's land: Provided, That no conveyance of any interest of any fullblood Indian heir in such land shall be valid unless approved by the court having jurisdiction of the settlement of the estate of said deceased allottee.

Here for the first time, conveyance by heirs of certain degree of blood require approval of the courts and not the Secretary of the Interior. The pattern of disposal of inherited property established by this act has been followed except for some minor provisions in all subsequent legislation pertaining to the Five Civilized Tribes. One of those exceptions is contained in section 9 of the act of May 27, 1908, which states that the homesteads, of members of the Five Civilized Tribes of one-half or more Indian blood who die leaving issue surviving, born since March 4, 1906, shall remain inalienable unless restrictions are removed therefrom by the Secretary of the Interior.

The act of June 14, 1918, provided another method by which land inherited by fullbloods could be conveyed or transferred by action of certain courts in Oklahoma. Section 2 of the act reads in part as follows:

That the lands of fullblood members of any of the Five Civilized Tribes are hereby made subject to the law of the State of Oklahoma, providing for the partition of real estate.

All restricted land of members of the Five Civilized Tribes was tax exempt until the passage of the act of May 24, 1928 (45 Stat. 733), section 4 of which provides

That on and after April 26, 1931, the allotted, inherited, and devised restricted lands of each Indian of the Five Civilized Tribes in excess of one hundred and sixty acres shall be subject to taxation by the State of Oklahoma. The Statutes of Limitation of the State of Oklahoma had been made applicable to restricted lands of members of the Five Civilized Tribes by section 2, of the act of April 12, 1926 (44 Stat. 239). The machinations of the above two acts provides another method whereby restricted lands may be sold without the approval of the Secretary of the Interior.

The first proviso in section 1 of the act of January 27, 1933 (47 Stat. 77), has been interpreted to mean, that, to be restricted, the "entire interest in any tract of restricted and tax-exempt land” ac

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