Act. The tribal council has resisted pressures to make a per capita distribution of the judgment, and proposes to use the money as follows: The council has displayed a progressive and responsible attitude, and experience gained through participation in planning and managing this program should help the Quechans in becoming more adept at managing their own affairs. Any per capita distribution, if one should be authorized, is exempted from Federal and State income tax. This is a standard provision carried in all bills of this kind. COST The enactment of the bill will involve no Federal cost. COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION The Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs recommends that the bill be enacted. DEPARTMENTAL REPORT The favorable report of the Department of the Interior, together with background information, is as follows: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Hon. JOHN W. McCORMACK, Speaker of the House of Representatives, DEAR MR. SPEAKER: Enclosed is a draft of a proposed bill to provide for the disposition of judgment funds on deposit to the credit of the Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Reservation, Calif., in Indian Claims Commission docket No. 319, and for other purposes. We recommend that the bill be referred to the appropriate committee for consideration and that it be enacted. The Indian Claims Commission on August 5, 1965, approved a compromise settlement of $520,000 to the Quechan Tribe in docket No. 319. The award represents compensation for 667,544 acres of land in California, taken on March 3, 1853, and for 881,644 acres of land in Arizona, taken on January 9, 1884, and for which the Indians received no payment. Certain reservation lands were excluded. Funds were appropriated by the act of October 31, 1965 (79 Stat. 1152), to cover the award. Attorneys' fees in the amount of $52,000 were allowed by the Indian Claims Commission. No attorney expenses have yet been approved. The Quechan Tribe filed two additional claims with the Indian Claims Commission. One, docket numbered 89, petitioning for a general accounting and alleging breach of the agreement of December 4, 1893, was dismissed on April 24, 1958. The other, docket numbered 320, petitioning for compensation for reservation lands ceded to the Government under the 1893 agreement, is pending before the Commission. Under the Indian Claims Commission order of March 3, 1964, the Quechans were determined not to be a party in the claims of "certain Indians of California" dockets numbered 31 and 37, and were therefore barred from participating in the $29,100,000 compromise settlement. The historic Quechan Tribe aboriginally used and occupied a tract of land in southeast California and southwest Arizona. The tribe is organized under the provisions of the act of June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984). A constitution and bylaws were adopted by the tribe and approved by the Secretary on December 18, 1936. The constitution designates the Quechan Tribal Council as the official governing body. The proposed legislation provides that the funds on deposit in the U.S. Treasury to the credit of the Quechan Tribe, as the beneficiaries of the award in docket numbered 319, and the interest thereon, less payment of attorneys' fees and expenses, may be advanced, expended, invested, or reinvested for any purpose that is authorized by the Quechan Tribal Council and approved by the Secretary of the Interior. The tribal council has displayed a progressive and responsible attitude. It withstood pressures for per capita distribution of the judgment fund and insisted that the money be used for reservation and community development. The council appointed a planning committee. The members of the committee with the assistance and guidance of local Bureau of Indian Affairs representatives developed a program for the use of the money. The program proposes to spend the judgment money as follows: $33,000 for administrative purposes; $100,000 for education purposes; $135,000 for community development; $100,000 for home improvement and construction; $75,000 for land purchases; and $25,000 to be held as a reserve for emergencies. The council and the individual tribal members have not had experience in handling large sums of money. Responsibility, however, has been shown in handling the tribe's small annual income and Office of Economic Opportunity programs. With proper assistance and guidance the council should be able to carry out the proposed program. The experience gained through participation in planning and managing this program will help the Quechans in becoming more adept at managing their own affairs. There are enclosed a report on the social and economic conditions of the Quechan Tribe of Indians of the Fort Yuma Reservation, Calif., a current financial statement of the judgment funds, and a copy of Tribal Resolution No. R-6-14-66, adopted on June 14, 1966, supporting the proposed program prepared by the Quechan Planning Com mittee. The Bureau of the Budget has advised that there is no objection to the submission of this proposed legislation from the standpoint of the administration's program. Sincerely yours, HARRY R. ANDERSON, Assistant Secretary of the Interior. QUECHAN TRIBAL JUDGMENT FUND-INDIAN CLAIMS COMMISSION DOCKET 319 Statement as of Mar. 13, 1968 Net award (14 times 7397, awards of Indian Claims Commission, $520, 000. 00 +31, 631. 72 52, 000. 00 23, 220.00 75, 220. 00 476, 411. 72 None FACT SHEET-AWARD TO QUECHAN TRIBE OF THE FORT YUMA RESERVATION, IN INDIAN CLAIMS COMMISSION DOCKET NO. 319 Award.-$520,000. Appropriated.-Act of October 31, 1965 (79 Stat. 1152). Attorney expenses. None as yet. Basis for award.-Compromise settlement of aboriginal claim of Quechan Tribe to 667,544 acres of land in California taken in 1853 and 881,644 acres in Arizona taken in 1884. Disposition and proposed use of funds.-Tribal council proposes the following: Administrative expenses over 18-year period.. Community development... Education, primarily scholarship grants. Home construction and improvement_ Tribal land purchases. - Reserve emergency fund.. Total_-_ $33, 000 135, 000 100, 000 100, 000 75,000 25,000 468, 000 An advance of $23,220 from the judgment has been requested and received by the tribe for program planning purposes. Population.-An April 1, 1963, census lists 1,544. Two-thirds within reservation service area: 900 on the reservation, 75 adjacent, the remainder elsewhere. Total of 243 families. An official membership roll is being prepared by the tribe. Land.-8,629 acres total: 617.17 acres tribally owned; 7,976.12 acres allotted; 35.71 acres used by BIA for administrative purposes. Lands in heirship status-6,719 acres: single owners, 148 allotments; two to nine owners, 405 allotments; 10 or more owners, 121 allotments. GENERAL RESERVATION CONDITIONS Employment and income.-Reservation economy is agricultural but allotments too small. Leasing netted $230,100 in fiscal year 1966. Some tourism which is increasing. Major income from wage work in Yuma and seasonal or temporary work in agriculture and construction. Average family income: 114 families, under $2,000; 54 families, $2,000 to $2,999; 42 families, $3,000 to $4,999; 33 families, over $5,000. Housing. Substandard. Only 26 of 171 homes not in need of replacement or repair. Tribe has housing authority and self-help housing program-30 houses planned, 10 almost completed. Health-Respiratory and gastrointestinal ailments typical of substandard housing conditions. USPHS clinic on reservation; contract hospital care in Yuma. Social services.-Provided by the State of California. Education. Most children in public schools. High secondary school dropout rate but decreasing. Several attending college. Fifty percent of adults educated up to eighth grade. Forty-five percent of adults attended high school. Readiness to manage own affairs.-Tribal leaders need more experience and training in administering tribal funds and affairs. Members need vastly increased opportunities to raise their present low standard of living. The present council, while inexperienced, has displayed a commendable and responsible attitude toward use of these judgment funds. REPORT ON SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS OF THE QUECHAN TRIBE OF THE FORT YUMA RESERVATION, CALIF., BENEFICARIES OF AWARDS GRANTED IN INDIAN CLAIMS COMMISSION DOCKET No. 319 GENERAL RESERVATION BACKGROUND No treaties were ever made with the Quechan Tribe of Indians. After a meeting in 1864 with representatives of the Indian groups along the Colorado River and its drainage, the Indian agent recommended establishment of a reservation of about 75,000 acres for some 10,000 Indians. The Colorado River Reserve was created by the act of March 3, 1865 (13 Stat. 559), but the Quechan showed no inclination to move to the reserve, and continued to reside in the vicinity of Fort Yuma. A reservation was established east of the Colorado River and north of the Gila River in Arizona Territory by Executive order of July 6, 1883, for the Yuma or Quechan Indians. "Yuma" is an English name and is synonymous with the Indian name "Quechan" (8 Ind. Cl. Comm. 143). Executive order of January 9, 1884, canceled the 1883 order and established a 48,356-acre reservation on the California side of the Colorado River. An agreement of December 4, 1893, provided, in essence, that the Yuma Indian would receive small individual allotments of irrigable lands, with the surplus reservation lands to be sold and the proceeds deposited in the U.S. Treasury to the credit of the Yuma Indians. The nonirrigable lands were to be ceded to the United States. The Fort Yuma Reservation is located in Imperial County, along the Colorado River in the extreme southeast corner of California. The community of Winterhaven is located within the boundaries of the reservation and Yuma, Ariz., is on the opposite side of the river. The reservation is 194 miles southwest of Phoenix, Ariz.; 244 miles west of Tucson, Ariz.; and 178 miles east of San Diego, Calif. The Fort Yuma Indian Reservation presently consists of 8,629 acres. Tribally owned lands of 617.17 acres, except for one 80-acre parcel, are in small tracts, many in irregular shapes with little or no rental value. The Bureau of Indian Affairs uses 35.71 acres for administrative purposes. The remainder of the reservation is individually allotted in 10-acre parcels. No fee patents have been issued to the Indians, but 45.42 acres of allotted lands have been fee patented to non-Indians. Also, 40 acres have been inherited by non-Indians as undivided interest in trust allotments. Original allotments are retained by 143 allottees. There are 6,719 acres in heirship status; 148 allotments have single owners, 405 have from two to nine owners, and 121 have 10 or more owners. In 1960 one 10-acre parcel had 68 living owners. In fiscal year 1966 11 cases were probated. Three cases were pending. Fractionation continues to be the major heirship problem. Some council members in the past have proposed purchasing individual inherited interests, but there is no indication that they will dispose of their interests, even to the tribe. The tribal council gives priority to purchase by the tribe of allotments passing out of Indian ownership to prevent checkerboarding of the reservation and to provide future tribal income. The purchase price of land in the vicinity of the Fort Yuma Reservation has been rising due to growth of the Yuma area. The climate of the area is hot and dry with ideal winter temperatures. Average annual rainfall is 4 inches. The area economic base and chief reservation land use is agricultural. With the proximity of the Colorado River, Yuma, Ariz., and the Mexican border, recreation and tourist development are important potential land uses. An additional potential is industrial development, with available sites having rail, highway, and utility connections. U.S. Interstate Highway 8, Southern Pacific Railway, and the All-American Canal cross the reservation. The Yuma International Airport, a first-class facility, is located 5 miles from the reservation. The Bureau's road system within the reservation is 5 miles graded and graveled and 0.7 of a mile paved. POPULATION AND MEMBERSHIP An April 1, 1963, census, used by the group for tribal activity purposes, lists 1,544 persons. A more recent, but unofficial, tabulation gives 1,565 as the number of enrolled tribal members. There are approximately 920 persons living on or near the reservation, making approximately two-thirds of the membership resident within the reservation service area. This total comprises 243 families. The remainder of the tribal members live elsewhere. The Quechan Tribe is currently working on an official membership roll. The constitution and bylaws of the Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation, under the Indian Reorganization Act, were adopted in 1936. This document established the Quechan Tribal Council as the official governing body to represent the tribe and to administer tribal assets. It is composed of seven members who are elected by the adult members of the tribe from the reservation resident mem |