quired by inheritance, devise, gift, or purchase with restricted funds, must be acquired by Indians of one-half or more Indian blood. If the entire interest is not acquired by such halfbloods or more than halfbloods, the land is unrestricted. This proviso was effective until passage of the act of August 4, 1947. The act of August 4, 1947 (61 Stat. 732), provides that all restrictions upon lands of members of the Five Civilized Tribes are removed upon death provided that any conveyance of any interest in such restricted land by an heir or devisee of one-half or more Indian blood requires approval of the county court of the county in which the land is situated. The act of August 11, 1955, extended the restrictions for the lives of the Inidan who own such lands subject to restriction on the date of that act. This act also states that "any Indian of the Five Civilized Tribes" may apply to the Secretary of the Interior for a removal of restrictions. If the Secretary disapproves or fails to approve or disapprove an application within a 90-day period, the Indian may apply to the county court in the county in which he or she resides for an order removing restrictions. (The regulations for activating this act have not been finally approved.) For the past decade, the agency has been operating under the provision of the act of August 4, 1947, pertaining to inherited lands. Any conveyance in restricted inherited land by an Indian of more than one-half blood, requires approval of the county court of the county in which the land is situated. Any interest inherited by a non-Indian or an Indian of less than one-half blood is entirely unrestricted and can be conveyed as any nonrestricted land. The holders of any interest in such a tract of land may partition the lands in the proper courts. None of the parties involved in such a partition suit are required to furnish this office with a copy of the final decree in such suit. Removal of restrictions by this office have been accomplished under the acts of May 27, 1908, and May 10, 1928. The act of August 11, 1955, which extended restrictions for the life of the present owner is also expected to provide the basis for any removal of restrictions in the future. This brief discussion of the various acts of Congress pertaining to removal of restrictions of lands owned by members of the Five Civilized Tribes is given to provide general background information relative to the peculiar status of restrictions at this agency. Many persons who have provided invaluable service to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for many years do not adequately understand the various laws affecting the Five Civilized Tribes. The acts referred to above are considered to be most pertinent but contain many provisions or conditions which may affect a particular case and can only be fully understood by a thorough study of all the laws relating to the Five Civilized Tribes. 13. (b) What study is being made of the cause and effect of sales? The conditions affecting each tract of land offered for sale are carefully considered before offering and again at the time of accepting or rejecting bids received. (c) Has the tribal council passed or considered any resolution on this subject? For all intents and purposes, the Five Civilized Tribes were dissolved by the act of April 26, 1906 (34 Stat. 137), are presently unorganized, and have no tribal councils as such. There is an intertribal council composed of representatives of the Five Tribes which has no legal authority but serves as an advisory organization. 14. As outlined in No. 13 above, the heirship problem in the Five Civilized Tribes is different from other Indian tribes in the United States. Since the inception of the act of August 4, 1947, any interest in restricted lands inherited by persons of less than one-half Indian blood are unrestricted. Interest in such land acquired by Indians of one-half or more Indian blood can be conveyed only with the approval of the county court of the county in which the land is situated. Surface leases on such lands must be approved by the area director, while oil and gas leases are approved by the county court. To what extent does the heirship or multiple ownership problem affect the acquisition or disposal of Indian lands with particular reference to: (a) Undivided interest owned by tribes: The Five Civilized Tribes own no undivided interests in lands, except for a few tracts purchased pursuant to the act of June 26, 1936 (49 Stat. 1967) the title to which is held by the United States in trust for such tribe. (b) Undivided interests owned by non-Indians: Non-Indian or Indians of less than one-half blood, own undivided interests in many of the tracts of land included in the 318,000 acres classed as heirship lands. Since the heirs of members of the Five Civilized Tribes are determined by the courts, this office cannot determine the restricted status of such lands until the heirs are determined and this office so advised. It is a common practice for an heir of more than one-half Indian blood to sell his interest or a part of his interest with the approval of the county court. The purchasers of such interest may then file partition proceedings in the proper district court, which may and often does, result in the entire interest passing from Indian ownership. (c) Undivided interest owned by minors on reservations which are under the Indian Reorganization Act: The Five Civilized Tribes of Oklahoma are not organized under the Indian Reorganization Act. (d) Surface lease of heirship land requires the approval of this office and some difficulty is experienced in reaching agreement between the heirs. (e) In the Five Civilized Tribes, heirship lands owned by minors or incompetents are handled by guardians appointed by the courts. The Five Civilized Tribes are not presently purchasing land. PART II-FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES 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? None. 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? None. 3. How much acreage and how many tracts alleged by the tribe to be key tracts were sold to non-Indians? None. 4. 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. 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 restricted status by individual Indians. or in trust or fee status by tribes. None. PART III-FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES 1. Give the position of each tribal real estate employee, his annual salary, and the nature of his work. None. 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. No. 5. Does the tribal organization have a real estate committee which advises the tribal council with regard to tribal real estate activities? Explain fully. No. 6. To what extent has the tribe employed private consultants to study particular phases of its real estate activities. If the Bureau has disapproved such employment, explain why. No. 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. None. 8. Has the tribe or the area office been instructed to turn real estate operations over to the Bureau? Please comment on the differences in effectiveness of Bureau and tribal operations. There has been no tribal operation of real estate matters for 50 years except for the small amount of unallotted land remaining. Such unallotted land remaining has not been sold in many cases because of the lack of clear title to such lands by the tribes. The act of April 26, 1906, was entitled "An Act To Provide for the Final Disposition of the Affairs of the Five Civilized Tribes in the Indian Territory and for Other Purposes," and had as its intent the disposal of property of the Five Civilized Tribes. The various acts passed since that time have had the same purpose or intent and have resulted in what amounts to a termination program for the Five Civilized Tribes. FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES Individually owned land [No. T.-Number of transactions. Ac. -Acreage] DISPOSALS REMOVAL FROM INDIAN BUREAU JURISDICTION BY PLACING OF UNRESTRICTED FEE-SIMPLE TITLE IN OWNERS 1 These figures are included in "Removal of restrictions" above, and in "Purchase of trust or restricted land from other Indians" on next sheet. 2 United States in trust for Cherokee Tribe. Taken for construction of Fort Gibson Reservoir. Considerable acreages of individually owned land were taken prior to this time for Fort Gibson Reservoir, Tenkiller Ferry Reservoir, and. somewhat earlier, Denison Dam and Camp Gruber Military Reservation. Additional land will be needed in the near future for reservoirs in this area presently authorized for construction. 3 Figures not available for 1952. Land acreage figures for the Five Civilized Tribes Agency were adjusted in 1952 when it was discovered that land sold to the United States for the construction of various projects mentioned above had not been deducted from restricted land records, and inherited land sold through the county courts in 20 counties in the southern part of the Five Civilized Tribes had not been deducted from restricted status because records of such sales were not furnished this office. Total adjustment amounted to approximately 137,000 acres. 4 See answer to No. 14. |