The regulations in this part govern the distribution, pursuant to the act, of judgment funds awarded to the Osage Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma. All funds appropriated by the act of January 8, 1971 (84 Stat. 1981), in satisfaction of a judgment in the Indian Claims Commission against the United States in dockets numbered 105, 106, 107, and 108, together with interest thereon, are to be distributed, except the sum of $1 million and any funds that revert to the Osage Tribe and except the amount allowed for attorney fees and expenses and the cost of distribution.

§ 112.3 Notice of time limit and place for filing claims.

The act provides for distribution of funds to allottees and heirs of Osage Indian blood of deceased allottees.

(a) All claims for per capita shares by heirs of Osage Indian blood shall be filed with the Superintendent, Osage Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Pawhuska, Okla. 74056, not later than April 27, 1974. An individual who claims as an heir of Osage Indian blood should make a timely filing of a claim which identifies, by name and allotment number, each allottee in whose share the individual claims an interest, in order that the Superintendent may notify the individual when the order of distribution for each such allottee is made. Failure to file a claim in this manner may prevent an individual from receiving notice of distribution in an instance in

which he is an interested party. Failure of an heir of Osage Indian blood to file a claim will not necessarily prevent the distribution to such heir of the portion of the allottee's share due that heir if sufficient evidence to support such distribution is available to the Superintendent. However, no heir who fails to file a claim within the prescribed period (on or before April 27, 1974) shall after that period have any right to any distribution other than that ordered by the Superintendent based on evidence available to the Superintendent during that period. Unclaimed shares of distributees are required by statute to revert to the Osage Tribe 6 months after determination of their right to share.

(b) Distribution of a living allottee's own share will be made without the filing of a claim.

§ 112.4 Issuance of Orders of Distribution.

The Superintendent, Osage Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Pawhuska, Okla. 74056, is authorized to issue the Orders of Distribution in accordance with the act and the regulations in this part. The Superintendent's decisions thereon shall be final unless a timely appeal therefrom is filed in accordance with § 112.8.

§ 112.5 Segregation of per capita shares.

The Superintendent shall segregate one per capita share for each allottee for distribution as follows:

(a) One share for distribution to each such allottee who is living on the date the Order for Distribution for that share is issued; and

(b) One share for distribution to the heir or heirs of Osage Indian blood of each allottee who is deceased on the date the Order of Distribution for that share is issued, to be divided among such heirs in such proportions as shall be computed in accordance with

§ 112.6.

§ 112.6 Distribution of share of deceased allottee.

The Superintendent shall issue an Order of Distribution which, except as otherwise provided in this § 112.6, diIvides the share of a deceased allottee leaving heirs of Osage Indian blood in

such proportions as the allottee's heirs of Osage Indian blood would have shared in the estate of the allottee if the allottee had died intestate leaving one or more individuals of Osage Indian blood as the allottee's only heirs at law under the Oklahoma law of intestate succession. In preparing such an order, the Superintendent shall accept as accurate any unambiguous determination of heirship, of an allottee or of the heir of an allottee, either made by the Secretary prior to April 18, 1912, or contained in a final order of an Oklahoma court after that date. When no such unambiguous determination is available, such order shall be based upon all other pertinent heirship evidence available to the Superintendent. When one or more of the immediate heirs of Osage Indian blood of an allottee is deceased, the heirs of Osage Indian blood of such deceased heirs shall be ascertained, successively among all remote heirs of Osage Indian blood of the allottee, in the sequence in which the deaths of the heirs occurred until the identities of all living remote heirs of Osage Indian blood, and the respective proportions of the share to which they are entitled, have been ascertained. To qualify for distribution as an heir, it must be established that the distributee and each heir of the allottee through whom the claim is traced had Osage Indian blood acquired either from an allottee or from a common ancestor of an allottee and the distributee.

§ 112.7 Notice of orders to claimants and distributees.

Notice of an Order of Distribution shall be mailed, on the date of issuance of such order, to the allottee whose share is being distributed if living, but if not living, to (a) each distributee named therein, (b) each claimant whose claim asserts entitlement to a portion of the allottee's share, and (c) each person who had not filed a claim on the date of issuance of such order but is in that order determined by the Superintendent to be ineligible to receive a portion of the allottee's share. Such notice shall be accompanied by a copy of the Order of

Distribution and shall contain instructions for filing an appeal in accordance with paragraphs (a) or (b) and (c) of § 112.8.

$112.8 Appeal from an Order of Distribution.

(a) An Order of Distribution of the share of an allottee living on the date the order is issued shall become final 3

days from the date thereof unless an appeal is filed by an interested party with the Superintendent before the expiration of those 3 days.

(b) An Order of Distribution of the share of an allottee who is deceased on the date the order is issued shall become final 30 days from the date thereof unless an appeal is filed by an interested party with the Superintendent before the expiration of those 30 days.

(c) Each appeal must contain a statement of the reasons that the appellant considers the Order of Distribution to be subject to error, and each appellant must, at the time of filing his appeal, mail a copy thereof to each person named as a distributee in the Order of Distribution. The Superintendent shall furnish a copy of the appeal to each other interested party to whom a copy of the Order of Distribution was mailed.

(d) The Regional Solicitor, Tulsa, is authorized to determine appeals from Orders of Distribution in accordance with the act and the regulations in this part. The Regional Solicitor's decision thereon shall be final on the date of the issuance of his decision and shall constitute the final action of the Department of the Interior in connection with such appeal.

(e) The Superintendent may, in his discretion for good cause shown, order partial distribution of any undisputed segment of any share for which an appeal is pending when such distribution will not be affected by the appeal decision on the disputed portion of the share.

[38 FR 9163, Apr. 11, 1973, as amended at 39 FR 41707, Dec. 2, 1974]

When an Order of Distribution, either as issued or as amended by decision on appeal, has become final, the Superintendent shall either disburse to distributees the amounts distributed to them or deposit such amounts to appropriate accounts, in accordance with the following guidelines:

(a) When the amount distributed to any heir is less than $20, the amount shall be segregated in a special account for that heir until all Orders of Distribution have become final, at which time the sum of all amounts thus segregated to such account shall be disbursed or redeposited as provided in paragraphs (b), (c), (d) and (e) of this 112.9, if such sum equals or exceeds $20. When such sum is less than $20, such sum in each of such accounts, and all unclaimed shares, and all amounts awarded to distributees which remain unclaimed for 6 months after the Order of Distribution has become final, shall, subsequent to @ April 27, 1974, be deposited to the acI count of the Osage Tribe as sums I which have reverted to it.

1(b) Living allottees having certifiIcates of competency shall have their I distributions disbursed directly to

them.

(c) Living allottees not having certi¡ficates of competency shall have their distributions deposited to their ac[counts, subject to withdrawal by them at their request.

(d) Heirs of Osage Indian blood who are at least 18 years of age and are not under guardianship shall have their distributions disbursed directly to them.

(e) Heirs of Osage Indian blood who are under guardianship shall have their distributions deposited to their accounts, subject to disbursement to the distributees or their guardians or other persons on their behalf on such terms and conditions as the Superintendent shall consider to be in their best interests during their legal disability, after which the remaining portion shall be disbursed to such distributees.

(f) Heirs of Osage Indian blood who are under 18 years of age shall have

their distributions deposited to their accounts, with the funds represented by such deposits invested at favorable rates of return for prudent investments, to be disbursed with earnings thereon only when the respective distributees for whom they are held shall attain the age of 18 years.

ministered as authorized by the Secretary of the Interior."

(b) The purpose of the regulations in this part is to set forth procedures and guidelines to govern the use of such funds. Included are: (1) Application requirements and processes for use of the funds for educational purposes by eligible persons; and (2) procedures whereby the funds may also be used for socioeconomic programs of benefit to the Osage Tribe.

§ 112a.2 Definitions.

(a) "Act" means Pub. L. 92-586 enacted October 27, 1972 (86 Stat. 1295). (b) "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Department of the Interior.

(c) "Assistant Secretary" means the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs.

(d) "Superintendent" means the official in charge of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Osage Indian Agency.

(e) "Reverted funds" means the unpaid portions of the per capita distribution funds, as provided by the Act, which were not distributed because they were: (1) Unclaimed within the period specified by the Act; or (2) for an amount totaling less than $20 due an individual from one or more shares of one or more Osage allottees. The Act provides that such unpaid funds revert to the Osage Tribe and upon their reverting thereto are to be used together with the $1 million fund for education or other socioeconomic programs of benefit to the Osage Tribe.

(f) "Allottee" means a person whose name appears on the roll of the Osage Tribe of Indians approved by the Secretary of the Interior on April 11, 1908, pursuant to the Act of June 28, 1906 (34 Stat. 539).

(g) "Osage Tribal Education Committee" means the committee selected to administer the provisions of this part as specified by § 112a.5.

(h) "Other socioeconomic programs" means activities, cther than educational, for which funds may be used, as specified by § 112a.7.

tional/technical training of eligible

persons.

(j) "Point system" means a set of specific conditions appropriate to an application for educational assistance for which a specified number of points are awarded to an application for each condition met. Such point system provides the basis for rating and ranking all applications for use of funds under this part.

(k) “Rating applications” means the method, or procedure, by which each and all applications are individually evaluated against the point system to determine (1) which, if any, of the conditions for which points are awarded, have been met by the applicant; and, (2) the total number of points earned by each applicant.

(1) "Ranking applications" means the process by which all applications, after having been rated, are placed in a descending order according to the total number of points awarded each.

§ 112a.3 Principal to be invested, interest only to be expended.

(a) The principal sum of $1 million and reverted funds shall be invested and reinvested at the highest available rate of interest by the Bureau of Indian Affairs on behalf of the Osage Tribe. Expenditures for the purposes of this part shall not be made from either the $1 million principal sum or reverted funds. Rather, expenditures shall be made against only the interest generated from such principal and reverted funds.

§ 112a.4 Eligible applicants.

(a) Any person of Osage Indian blood who is an allottee or a descendant of an allottee is eligible to apply for use of funds for the purposes prescribed by, and, in accordance with, the provisions of this part. All applicants for assistance shall, as a part of the application process, identify his allotment number if he or she is an original allottee; or, if applicant is a descendant of an allottee, then, the allottee through whom eligibility is claimed shall be identified.

§ 112a.5 Establishment of Osage Tribal Education Committee.

(a) In an effort to provide the Osage Tribe maximal opportunity to exercise their right to tribal self-determination, an Osage Tribal Education Committee shall be established to perform the responsibilities and provisions of this part.

(b) The committee shall perform all duties and responsibilities as set out in § 112a.6.

(c) The committee shall be selected and convene their first meeting within (90) days after these regulations

become final.

(d) The Osage Tribal Education Committee shall be composed of seven members and shall include two (2) education staff members of the Bureau; and five (5) persons of Osage Indian blood who are allottees, or, descendants of original allottees. Of the five Osage members, at least three shall be legal residents of, or live within a 20-mile radius of one of the three Osage Indian villages. Of these, at least one shall reside within the specified radius of the Pawhuska Indian village; one, at least, within the specified radius of the Hominy Indian village; and, at least one within the specified radius of the Greyhorse Indian village. The remaining Osage committee members may include residents living in other parts of Oklahoma or the United States.

(e) Selection of the five Osage committee members shall be made by the Assistant Secretary in accordance with the following procedures and provisions.

(1) Eligibility. Any adult person of Osage Indian blood who is an allottee, or a descendant of an allottee is eligible to serve on the education committee.

(2) Applications and nominations. Formal application or nomination for committee membership shall be required. In accordance with the provisions of the following paragraph, any eligible person may make application for committee membership by submitting a brief statement requesting that he/she be considered a candidate for such committee and the reasons for desiring to serve on the committee;

and, their qualifications; or, any Osage organization, including the Osage Indian village committees, may submit the name(s) and address(es) of eligible persons as their nominee(s) for the education committee. Nominees shall submit a statement expressing their willingness to serve on the committee. Applications and nominations shall be made by registered mail, within 45 days after these regulations become final, to:

Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, Attention: Director of Indian Education Programs (Osage Tribal Education Committee), 1951 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, D.C. 20245.

(3) Personal interview of applicants and nominees. (i) Following the expiration date for receiving applications and nominations, the Bureau shall arrange for an initial review and screening of all applications/nominations. Thereafter, arrangements shall be made for personal interviews with all applicants or nominees who have been screened for consideration for committee membership. The personal interview shall be the primary method for selecting committee members, for, under controlled conditions, it can provide an objective process for selection of the most competent and effective persons to perform committee responsibilities in a fair and reasonable manner.

(ii) Each interview session shall utilize a standard interview instrument developed by an independent, experienced arbitration agency. The instrument shall be designed to measure the interviewees' responses to hypothetical problems which might be encountered in the administration of grant or scholarship programs. All interviews shall be conducted by the same arbitration agency responsible for the interview instrument.

(iii) Interviews shall be conducted at locations throughout the Nation which are central and in reasonably close proximity to applicants for the committee. Applicants shall not be compensated or reimbursed for expenses incurred as a result of interviews.

(iv) No portion of the $1 million fund shall be expended for purposes of