Page images
PDF
EPUB

TEXT OF REPORTS FROM INDIAN AGENCIES AND TRIBAL COUNCILS-Continued

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

LIST OF CHARTS 1

1 List of charts showing individual Indian trust land removed from trust status, 1948-57, annually, the
total by area for the 10 years, and totals of areas by years.

A STATEMENT BY HON. JAMES E. MURRAY

To the Members of the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs:

During the past 4 or 5 years there has been grave concern over the increasing alienation of Indian lands from trust status. I was keenly aware of the situation in my own State of Montana and was informed that a similar situation existed in other States. The major apprehension is that decreases in the Indian land base will seriously impair the effective use of Indian tribal and individual trust land in terms of economic land units.

Finding that detailed statistics on the extent of Indian trust land disposals were not available in Washington, I arranged for the formulation of a questionnaire which would provide the committee with the necessary data for more adequate study. On April 17, 1958, the questionnaire was sent to 52 agency offices and the tribal organizations of those agencies.

On May 13, 1958, I requested the Secretary of the Interior to declare a moratorium on Indian trust land sales until such time as this committee might complete its investigation of the situation and initiate recommendations for legislation or other measures. On May 28, 1958, Acting Secretary of the Interior Hatfield Chilson informed me that the requested moratorium would be in effect for the balance of the congressional session. The moratorium would not apply to the Klamath Reservation of Oregon because the trust status of all allotted lands would terminate there on August 13, 1958, and the termination law specifically provides for departmental assistance to these Indians in the sale of their heirship lands.

The preliminary committee study elicited some of the most detailed statistical data that has been collected in recent years concerning Indian trust land. Tribal trust land increased by 1,213,307.41 acres during the 10 years studied (1948-57), while individual trust land decreased by 3,307,217.38 acres, resulting in a net loss of 2,093,909.97 acres of trust land to our Indian population. The greatest losses took place within the Billings and Aberdeen areas with Billings alone accounting for a loss of over 1 million acres of individual Indian trust land.

The study did not stop at this point but showed the various means by which the land was removed from trust status. Total acreage removed from individual trust (3,307,217.38) included lands that were sold to the tribes and presumably remained in trust status, thus not representing a direct loss to our Indian population. The prime objective of this study concerned the individual acreage removed from all trust status, so the statistics were refined to include only "sales to fee" and "fee patent," indicating complete removal from trust. Lands in these categories are individually owned trust lands. Under "sales to fee" the land is sold directly from trust status with the fee patent issued to the buyer. On the other hand, lands categorized as "fee

30451-58-2

XVII

« PreviousContinue »