CROSS REFERENCES

Offsets against awards of Indian Claims Commission, see section 70a of this title.

§ 475a. Same; offsets of gratuities.

In all suits now pending in the Court of Claims by an Indian tribe or band which have not been tried or submitted, and in any suit hereafter filed in the Court of Claims by any such tribe or band, the Court of Claims is directed to consider and to offset against any amount found due the said tribe or band all sums expended gratuitously by the United States for the benefit of the said tribe or band; and in all cases now pending or hereafter filed in the Court of Claims in which an Indian tribe or band is party plaintiff, wherein the duty of the court is merely to report its findings of fact and conclusions to Congress, the said Court of Claims is directed to include in its report a statement of the amount of money which has been expended by the United States gratuitously for the benefit of the said tribe or band: Provided, That expenditures made prior to the date of the law, treaty, agreement, or Executive order under which the claims arise shall not be offset against the claims or claim asserted; and expenditures under sections 461-463, 464, 466-470, 471473, 474, 475, 476-478, and 479 of this title shall not be charged as offsets against any claim on behalf of an Indian tribe or tribes now pending in the Court of Claims or hereafter filed: Provided further, That funds appropriated and expended from tribal funds shall not be construed as gratuities; and this section shall not be deemed to amend or affect the various Acts granting jurisdiction to the Court of Claims to hear and determine the claims listed on page 678 of the hearings before the subcommittee of the House Committee on Appropriations on the second deficiency appropriation bill for the fiscal year 1935: And provided further, That no expenditure under any emergency appropriation or allotment made subsequently to March 4, 1933, and generally applicable throughout the United States for relief in stricken agricultural areas, relief from distress caused by unemployment and conditions resulting therefrom, the prosecution of public works and public projects for the relief of unemployment or to increase employment, and for work relief (including the civilworks program) shall be considered in connection with the operation of this section. (Aug. 12, 1935, ch. 508, § 2, 49 Stat. 596.)

CROSS REFERENCES

Offsets against awards of Indian Claims Commission, see section 70a of this title.

§ 476. Organization of Indian tribes; constitution and bylaws; special election.

Any Indian tribe, or tribes, residing on the same reservation, shall have the right to organize for its common welfare, and may adopt an appropriate constitution and bylaws, which shall become effective when ratified by a majority vote of the adult members of the tribe, or of the adult Indians residing on such reservation, as the case may be, at a special election authorized and called by the Secretary of

the Interior under such rules and regulations as he may prescribe. Such constitution and bylaws, when ratified as aforesaid and approved by the Secretary of the Interior, shall be revocable by an election open to the same voters and conducted in the same manner as hereinabove provided. Amendments to the constitution and bylaws may be ratified and approved by the Secretary in the same manner as the original constitution and bylaws.

In addition to all powers vested in any Indian tribe or tribal council by existing law, the constitution adopted by said tribe shall also vest in such tribe or its tribal council the following rights and powers: To employ legal counsel, the choice of counsel and fixing of fees to be subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior; to prevent the sale, disposition, lease, or encumbrance of tribal lands, interests in lands, or other tribal assets without the consent of the tribe; and to negotiate with the Federal, State, and local Governments. The Secretary of the Interior shall advise such tribe or its tribal council of all appropriation estimates or Federal projects for the benefit of the tribe prior to the submission of such estimates to the Bureau of the Budget and the Congress. (June 18, 1934, ch. 576,

§ 16, 48 Stat. 987.)

CROSS REFERENCES

Application to certain tribes, see sections 473, 473a and 478 of this title.

§ 477. Incorporation of Indian tribes; charter; ratification by election.

The Secretary of the Interior may, upon petition by at least one-third of the adult Indians, issue a charter of incorporation to such tribe: Provided, That such charter shall not become operative until ratified at a special election by a majority vote of the adult Indians living on the reservation. Such charter may convey to the incorporated tribe the power to purchase, take by gift, or bequest, or otherwise, own, hold, manage, operate, and dispose of property of every description, real and personal, including the power to purchase restricted Indian lands and to issue in exchange therefor interests in corporate property, and such further powers as may be incidental to the conduct of corporate business, not inconsistent with law; but no authority shall be granted to sell, mortgage, or lease for a period exceeding ten years any of the land included in the limits of the reservation. Any charter so issued shall not be revoked or surrendered except by Act of Congress. (June 18, 1934, ch. 576, § 17, 48 Stat. 988.)

§ 478. Acceptance of sections 461-479 optional. Sections 461, 462, 463, 464, 465, 466-470, 471–473, 474, 475, 476—478, and 479 of this title shall not apply to any reservation wherein a majority of the adult Indians, voting at a special election duly called by the Secretary of the Interior, shall vote against its application. It shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior, within one year after June 18, 1934, to call such an election, which election shall be held by secret ballot upon thirty days' notice. (June 18, 1934, ch. 576, § 18, 48 Stat. 988.)

EXTENSIONS OF TIME

The time for holding an election under this section was extended to June 18, 1936, by act June 15, 1935, ch. 260, 2, 49 Stat. 378.

Act June 15, 1935, ch. 260, § 3, 49 Stat. 378 provided that the periods of trust or the restrictions on alienation of Indian lands should be extended to Dec. 31, 1936, in case of a vote against the application of sections 461 to 479. § 478a. Procedure.

In any election heretofore or hereafter held under sections 461-463, 464, 465, 466-470, 471-473, 474, 475, 476-478, and 479 of this title, on the question of excluding a reservation from the application of the said sections or on the question of adopting a constitution and bylaws or amendments thereto or on the question of ratifying a charter, the vote of a majority of those actually voting shall be necessary and sufficient to effectuate such exclusion, adoption, or ratification, as the case may be: Provided, however, That in each instance the total vote cast shall not be less than 30 per centum of those entitled to vote. (June 15, 1935, ch. 260, § 1, 49 Stat. 378.)

§ 478b. Laws, treaties and rights unaffected by passage of sections 461-479.

All laws, general and special, and all treaty provisions affecting any Indian reservation which has voted or may vote to exclude itself from the application of sections 461-463, 464, 465, 466-470, 471473, 474, 475, 476-478, and 479 of this title shall be deemed to have been continuously effective as to such reservation, notwithstanding the passage of said sections. Nothing in said sections shall be construed to abrogate or impair any rights guaranteed under any existing treaty with any Indian tribe, where such tribe voted not to exclude itself from the application of said sections. (June 15, 1935, ch. 260,

§ 4, 49 Stat. 378.)

§ 479. Definitions.

The term "Indian" as used in sections 461-463, 464, 465, 466-470, 471-473, 474, 475, 476-478, and 479 of this title shall include all persons of Indian descent who are members of any recognized Indian tribe now under Federal jurisdiction, and all persons who are descendants of such members who were, on June 1, 1934, residing within the present boundaries of any Indian reservation, and shall further include all other persons of one-half or more Indian blood. For the purposes of said sections, Eskimos and other aboriginal peoples of Alaska shall be considered Indians. The term "tribe" wherever used in said sections shall be construed to refer to any Indian tribe, organized band, pueblo, or the Indians residing on one reservation. The words "adult Indians" wherever used in said sections shall be construed to refer to Indians who have attained the age of twenty-one years. (June 18, 1934, ch. 576, § 19, 48 Stat. 988.)

§ 480. Indians eligible for loans.

Hereafter no individual of less than one-quarter degree of Indian blood shall be eligible for a loan rom funds made available in accordance with the provisions of sections 461-463, 464, 465, 466-470, 471-473, 474, 475, 476-478, 479, and 501-509 of this title. (May 10, 1939, ch. 119, § 1, 53 Stat. 698.)

§ 481. Tribal organizing work; allowance to Indians traveling away from home.

In the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior, not to exceed $3 per diem in lieu of subsistence may be allowed to Indians actually traveling away from their place of residence when assisting in organizing Indian chartered corporations, or other tribal organizations, in accordance with the provisions of sections 473a, 476-478, 479, and 501-509 of this title. (May 10, 1939, ch. 119, § 1, 53 Stat. 693; June 18, 1940, ch. 395, § 1, 54 Stat. 413; June 28, 1941, ch. 259, § 1, 55 Stat. 311; July 2, 1942, ch. 473, § 1, 56 Stat. 513.)

§ 482. Loans from revolving fund; regulations.

The Secretary of the Interior, or his designated representative, is authorized, under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, to make loans from the revolving fund established pursuant to sections 461, 462, 463, 464, 465, 466-470, 471-473, 474, 475, 476-478, and 479 of this title and sections 501-510 of this title, to tribes, bands, groups, and individual Indians, not otherwise eligible for loans under said sections: Provided, That no portion of these funds shall be loaned to Indians of less than one-quarter Indian blood. (May 7, 1948, ch. 266, 62 Stat. 211.) § 483. Sale of land by individual Indian owners.

The Secretary of the Interior, or his duly authorized representative, is authorized in his discretion, and upon application of the Indian owners, to issue patents in fee, to remove restrictions against alienation, and to approve conveyances, with respect to lands or interests in lands held by individual Indians under the provisions of sections 461, 462, 463, 464, 465, 466-470, 471-473, 474, 475, 476-478, and 479 of this title, or sections 501-510 of this title. (May 14, 1948, ch. 293, 62 Stat. 236.)

PROMOTION OF WELFARE OF INDIANS IN OKLAHOMA

§ 501. Acquisition of agricultural and grazing lands for Indians; title to lands; exemption from taxation.

The Secretary of the Interior is authorized, in his discretion, to acquire by purchase, relinquishment, gift, exchange, or assignment, any interest in lands, water rights, or surface rights to lands, within or without existing Indian reservations, including trust or otherwise restricted lands now in Indian ownership: Provided, That such lands shall be agricultural and grazing lands of good character and quality in proportion to the respective needs of the particular Indian or Indians for whom such purchases are made. Title to all lands so acquired shall be taken in the name of the United States, in trust for the tribe, band, group, or individual Indian for whose benefit such land is so acquired, and while the title thereto is held by the United States said lands shall be free from any and all taxes, save that the State of Oklahoma is authorized to levy and collect a gross-production tax, not in excess of the rate applied to production from lands in private ownership, upon all oil and gas produced from said lands, which

Inapplicability of section to Osage County, Oklahoma, see section 508 of this title.

§ 502. Purchase of restricted Indian lands; preference to Secretary of Interior; waiver of preference. Whenever any restricted Indian land or interests in land, other than sales or leases of oil, gas, or other minerals therein, are offered for sale, pursuant to the terms of any Act of Congress, the Secretary of the Interior shall have a preference right, in his discretion, to purchase the same for or in behalf of any other Indian or Indians of the same or any other tribe, at a fair valuation to be fixed by the appraisement satisfactory to the Indian owner or owners, or if offered for sale at auction said Secretary shall have a preference right, in his discretion, to purchase the same for or in behalf of any other Indian or Indians by meeting the highest bid otherwise offered therefor.

The preference right of the Secretary to purchase shall be considered as waived where notice of the pendency of sale is given in writing to the Superintendent of the Five Civilized Tribes for at least ten days prior to the date of sale and the Secretary does not within that time exercise the preferential right to purchase. (June 26, 1936, ch. 831, § 2, 49 Stat. 1967; Aug. 4, 1947, ch. 458, § 10, 61 Stat. 734.)

AMENDMENTS

1947-Act Aug. 4, 1947, amended section by providing for waiver of preference by failure to purchase after notice. CROSS REFERENCES

Inapplicability of section to Osage County, Oklahoma, see section 508 of this title.

§ 503. Organization of tribes or bands; constitution; charter; right to participate in revolving credit fund.

Any recognized tribe or band of Indians residing in Oklahoma shall have the right to organize for its common welfare and to adopt a constitution and bylaws, under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe. The Secretary of the Interior may issue to any such organized group a charter of incorporation, which shall become operative when ratified by a majority vote of the adult members of the organization voting: Provided, however, That such election shall be void unless the total vote cast be at least 30 per centum of those entitled to vote. Such charter may convey to the incorporated group, in addition to any powers which may properly be vested in a body corporate under the laws of the State of Oklahoma, the right to participate in the revolving credit fund and to enjoy any other rights or privileges secured to an organized Indian tribe under sections 476 and 477 of this title: Provided, That the corporate funds of any such chartered group may be deposited in any national bank within the State of Oklahoma or otherwise invested, utilized,

§ 504. Cooperative associations; charter; purposes; voting rights.

Any ten or more Indians, as determined by the official tribal rolls, or Indian descendants of such enrolled members, or Indians as, defined in section 479 of this title, who reside within the State of Oklahoma in convenient proximity to each other may receive from the Secretary of the Interior a charter as a local cooperative association for any one or more of the following purposes: Credit administration, production, marketing, consumers' protection, or land management. The provisions of sections 501-509 of this title, the regulations of the Secretary of the Interior, and the charters of the cooperative associations issued pursuant thereto shall govern such cooperative associations: Provided, That in those matters not covered by said chapter, regulations, or charters, the laws of the State of Oklahoma, if applicable, shall govern. In any stock or nonstock cooperative association no one member shall have more than one vote, and membership therein shall be open to all Indians residing within the prescribed district. (June 26, 1936, ch. 831, § 4, 49 Stat. 1967.)

CROSS REFERENCES

Inapplicability of section to Osage County, Oklahoma, see section 508 of this title.

§ 505. Same; amendment or revocation of charters; suits by and against associations.

The charters of any cooperative association organized pursuant to section 504 of this title shall not be amended or revoked by the Secretary except after a majority vote of the membership. Such cooperative associations may sue and be sued in any court of the State of Oklahoma or of the United States having jurisdiction of the cause of action, but a certified copy of all papers filed in any action against a cooperative association in a court of Oklahoma shall be served upon the Secretary of the Interior, or upon an employee duly authorized by him to receive such service. Within thirty days after such service or within such extended time as the trial court may permit, the Secretary of the Interior may intervene in such action or may remove such action to the United States district court. (June 26, 1936, ch. 831, § 5, 49 Stat. 1968; June 25, 1948, ch. 646, § 29, 62 Stat. 991.)

AMENDMENTS

1948-Act June 25, 1948, amended section by omitting provisions relating to procedure for removal, which ar now covered by sections 1441-1450 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.

EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1948 AMENDMENT Section 38 of act June 25, 1948, provided that the amendment of this section should be effective as of Sept. 1, 1948.

CROSS REFERENCES Inapplicability of section to Osage County, Oklahoma, see section 508 of this title.

§ 506. Loans to individuals and groups; appropriation. The Secretary is authorized to make loans to individual Indians and to associations or corporate groups organized pursuant to sections 503 and 504 of this title. For the making of such loans and for expenses of the cooperative associations organized pursuant to said sections there shall be appropriated, out of the Treasury of the United States, the sum of $2,000,000. (June 26, 1936, ch. 831, § 6, 49 Stat. 1968.)

CROSS REFERENCES

Inapplicability of section to Osage County, Oklahoma, see section 508 of this title.

Indians eligible for loans, see section 480 of this title. Interest charges to be covered into revolving fund, see section 470a of this title.

§ 507. Availability and allocation of funds; royalties from mineral deposits.

All funds appropriated under the several grants of authority contained in sections 465 and 469-471 of this title, are made available for use under the provisions of sections 501-509 of this title, and Oklahoma Indians shall be accorded and allocated a fair and just share of any and all funds appropriated after June 26, 1936, under the authorization herein set forth: Provided, That any royalties, bonuses, or other revenues derived from mineral deposits underlying lands purchased in Oklahoma under the authority granted by sections 501-509 of this title, or by sections 461-463, 464, 465, 466-470, 471-473, 474, 475, 476-478, and 479 of this title, shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States, and such revenues are made available for expenditure by the Secretary of the Interior for the acquisition of lands and for loans to Indians in Oklahoma as authorized by sections 470 and 506 of this title. (June 26, 1936, ch. 831, § 7, 49 Stat. 1968.)

§ 509. Rules and regulations; separability provisions. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to prescribe such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of sections 501-509 of this title. All Acts or parts of Acts inconsistent with such sections are repealed. (June 26, 1936, ch. 831, § 9, 49 Stat. 1968.)

§ 510. Payment of gross production taxes; method.

Whenever restricted Indian lands in the State of Oklahoma are subject to gross production tax on minerals, including oil and gas, the Secretary of the Interior, in his discretion, may cause such tax or

24626°-53-vol. 2—106

taxes due the State of Oklahoma to be paid in the manner provided for by the statutes of the State of Oklahoma. (Aug. 25, 1937, ch. 772, 50 Stat. 806.)

REVOLVING LOAN FUND FOR KLAMATH INDIANS

§ 530. Capital reserve fund; interest for administrative expenses.

The Secretary of the Interior shall cause to be established on the books of the Treasury, out of any unobligated tribal funds of the Indians of the Klamath Reservation in Oregon (hereinafter referred to as the "Klamath Indians") on deposit in the Treasury of the United States, a capital reserve fund for said Klamath Indians. Such fund shall be created by setting aside the sum of $50,000 for the fiscal year 1937, and shall be augmented by additions of $50,000 for each fiscal year thereafter. Such fund shall be held in the Treasury of the United States and shall bear interest as provided by law. The interest upon such fund shall be used, insofar as it is sufficient, for the payment of the expenses of administration of the Klamath Indian Reservation in Oregon. (Aug. 28, 1937, ch. 874, § 1, 50 Stat. 872.)

CROSS REFERENCES

Addition to fund and limitation on further additions, see section 542 (a) of this title.

Transfer of certain judgment funds to capital reserve fund, see section 542 (c) of this title.

§ 531. Reimbursable loan fund; purposes for which loans authorized.

The Secretary of the Interior shall cause to be established on the books of the Treasury, out of any unobligated tribal funds of the Klamath Indians on deposit in the Treasury, a reimbursable loan fund from which loans may be made to enrolled Klamath Indians for industrial and agricultural assistance and the construction and improvement of homes (including the purchase of land and interests in land, building material, farming equipment, industrial equipment, trucks, livestock, feed, food, seed, tools, machinery, implements, household goods, bedding, clothing, or any other equipment or supplies necessary to enable such Indians to fit themselves for or to engage in farming, the livestock industry, or such other industrial or agricultural pursuits or avocations as will enable them to become self-supporting); for the educational advancement of such Indians; for financial assistance in cases of illness, death, or other emergency; for the maintenance and support of the aged, infirm, and incapacitated Klamath Indians; and for the repayment of reimbursable loans previously made to such Indians from tribal funds. For the establishment of such loan fund, the Secretary of the Interior shall immediately set aside the unexpended balance of any funds heretofore appropriated or authorized to be used out of the tribal funds of the Klamath Indians for the establishment of reimbursable loan funds for industrial assistance or for any other purpose; and in addition thereto, out of any unobligated tribal funds, $100,000 shall be set aside for the fiscal year 1938 and $50,000 for each of the next three fiscal years. (Aug. 28, 1937, ch. 874, § 2, 50 Stat. 872.)

§ 532. Same; administration of fund; loan board, personnel; preference in land sales; limitation on administrative expenses.

The reimbursable loan fund provided for in section 531 of this title shall be administered, under and subject to such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe, by a loan board composed of Klamath Indians of not to exceed five members: Provided, That in the event any property pledged as security is offered for sale to satisfy any obligation, the Klamath Indians shall have preferential right, except there shall be no discrimination as to terms of sale, to purchase the same: Provided further, That the expenses of administering such fund, including such per diem for members of the loan board as may be authorized by the Secretary of the Interior, shall be paid from such loan fund. After the fiscal year 1939 the aforesaid expenses of administration shall not exceed the amount received from service fees, surcharges, and interest paid in on loans. (Aug. 28, 1937, ch. 874, § 3, 50 Stat. 872.) § 533. Security for loans.

For the purpose of providing adequate security for any loans made from the revolving reimbursable loan fund provided for in section 531 of this title, the Klamath Indians are authorized to include in the securities offered therefor, in addition to any unrestricted real or personal property owned by them, any lands, interest in lands, rights, funds, future per-capita payments and other distributions of tribal assets, and other property, real, personal, or mixed, of any nature whatsoever, belonging to individual Klamath Indians, regarded or classed prior to August 28, 1937, as trust or restricted Indian property. (Aug. 28, 1937, ch. 874, § 4, 50 Stat. 872.)

§ 534. Repayments credited to fund.

All repayments made upon any loans made from the reimbursable loan fund herein provided for, all repayments made upon any loans made from reimbursable loan funds for industrial assistance or for other purposes established prior to August 28, 1937, out of Klamath tribal funds, and all interest, surcharges, and service fees paid upon any such loans, shall be credited to the reimbursable loan fund herein provided for and shall become available for the purposes herein authorized. (Aug. 28, 1937, ch. 874, § 5, 50 Stat. 873.)

§ 535. Additions to loan funds; limitation.

The amounts which the Secretary of the Interior shall cause to be added to the capital and loan funds established at his direction under the provisions of sections 530 and 531 of this title during each fiscal year shall not exceed the amount of unobligated Klamath tribal funds on deposit in the Treasury of the United States available for that purpose. 28, 1937, ch. 874, § 6, 50 Stat. 873.)

(Aug.

KLAMATH TRIBE; DISPOSITION OF CERTAIN TRIBAL FUNDS

§ 541. Creation of individual credits; authorized purchases.

The Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed from the judgment fund of the Klamath

and Modoc Tribés and Yahooskin Band of Snake Indians created as the result of the passage of the Act of June 25, 1938, and accrued interest thereon, to credit the sum of $2,000 upon the books of the Office of Indian Affairs, to each person determined by the Secretary of the Interior to be entitled to enrollment upon the annuity roll of said tribes of the Klamath Reservation, Oregon, living on August 7, 1939. The share of each adult member and not to exceed $1,500 of the share of any minor shall be available for expenditure, under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe, for the following purposes:

Purchase of land; improvement of lands acquired or already held by the Indian; erection and improvement of suitable homes; repayment of any loans received from the United States or from the Klamath tribal funds; purchase of building material, farming equipment, livestock, feed, food, seed, grain, tools, machinery, implements, household goods, bedding, clothing, and any other equipment or supplies necessary to enable the Indians to fit themselves for or to engage in farming, livestock, industry, or such other pursuits or vocations, including education, as will enable them to become self-supporting; and health purposes: Provided, however, That the funds of the aged, infirm, decrepit, and incapacitated members, and of minors, may be used for their proper maintenance and support. The remainder of the share of each minor Indian shall be held intact until such Indian reaches his majority, when it, together with interest at the rate of 4 per centum per annum, shall be available for expenditure for the purposes specified herein. As herein used, the term “minor” shall include all members of the tribe less than twenty-one years of age, except that minors eighteen years of age or over and who are married or have families of their own to support, shall be regarded as adults. On the death of any enrolled member, adult, or minor, the sum on deposit to his credit shall be distributed as personal property, and shall be available for expenditure by the distributees only for the purposes herein authorized: Provided, however, That of the aforesaid $2,000 to be prorated to each person, $100 shall be paid to each member of said tribes as a per capita payment, free from the aforesaid restrictions, under rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior. (Aug. 7, 1939, ch. 552, § 1, 53 Stat. 1252.)

REFERENCES IN TEXT

Reference in text to "act of June 25, 1938," was probably intended to be to the Second Deficiency Appropriation Act, fiscal year 1938, act June 25, 1938, ch. 681, § 203 (a), 52 Stat. 1156. Section 203 (a) of said act provided for an appropriation for payment of judgments rendered by the court of claims and reported to the 75th Congress in Senate Document Numbered 191, and House Documents Num bered 661 and 686. House Document No. 661 listed a judgment in favor of the Klamath and Modoc Tribes and Yahooskin Band of Snake Indians in the sum of $5,313,347.32, with interest on a part thereof to date of payment, for the taking of land.

TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS

All functions of all other officers of the Department of the Interior and all functions of all agencies and employees of such Department were, with two exceptions, transferred to the Secretary of the Interior, with power vested in him to authorize their performance or the