writing by three-fourths of the adult members of the respective tribes and by their respective tribal councils. It is believed that this procedure for obtaining the Indians' approval of the contracts should be clarified in two respects:

(a) All enrolled Indians, whether they live in the reservoir-taking area or not, have an interest in the tribal lands, but not all Indians have an interest in the allotted lands or exchange assignments. It does not seem proper that Indians who have no interest in the allotted land should participate in voting on the contracts insofar as these lands are concerned. It is therefore proposed in the attached draft of bill that the contracts shall be submitted for the approval of the owners of at least 60 percent of the allotted and assigned lands. In this connection, the attached draft contains the provision that holders of exchange assignments shall be grouped with allottees and holders of heirship interests. This provision is aimed at the situation which prevails on the Cheyenne River Reservation where a considerable acreage of allotted lands has been transferred by their owners to tribal ownership in return for receiving single tracts of land under use assignments.

(b) The power of the Indians to approve alienation of tribal lands is distinctly different on the two reservations. On the Cheyenne River Reservation where the tribe is organized under the Indian Reorganization Act, the tribal council is authorized by the tribe's constitution to act on behalf of the tribe. On the Standing Rock Reservation, the tribal constitution, which was adopted in 1914, confers no such power on the tribal governing body. The attached draft of bill provides therefore that the contracts negotiated with the United States for alienation of tribal lands, shall, in the case of the Cheyenne River Reservation, receive the approval of the duly elected tribal council and, in the case of the Standing Rock Reservation, be submitted to a majority of the adult members of the tribe for their approval.

Section 2 of the attached draft sets forth the scope of the two contracts which are to be negotiated with the United States. Both H. R. 3582 and S. 1488 provide that the Chief of Engineers shall negotiate separate contracts with the Indians of each reservation; but, while the House bill provides that the contracts shall contain compensation for intangible, as well as tangible losses, the Senate bill restricts the contracts to the compensation of the Indians for their tangible losses, along with removal costs. The Senate bill provides (sec. 5) that the whole subject of additional_compensation shall be the subject of an investigation by the Secretary of the Interior who is to present the result of his investigation to the Congress. It is believed that the procedure proposed in the Senate bill in this respect is preferable and will lead to a more precise and equitable evaluation of the necessary additional compensation and consideration to which the Indians are entitled.

The attached draft of bill is similar to both House and Senate bills in that it requires the negotiated contracts to contain provisions (a) for conveying title to the Indian tribal and allotted lands to the United States, (b) for defraying relocation and reestablishment costs of Indians displaced from the Oahe taking area, (c) for protecting the constitutional rights of those Indians who may choose not to approve of the contracts, (d) for protecting Indian treaty rights in relation to hunting, trapping, and fishing, and (e) for giving the Indians access below the actual taking line of Oahe Reservoir.

The attached draft of bill contains a specific reference to including the cost of removing Indian cemeteries, contained in the Senate bill but not contained in the House bill except by implication. The attached draft also contains a provision found in the Senate bill, but not in the House bill, namely, the provision that the Bureau of Indian Affairs shall be reimbursed for reasonable costs incurred in relocating and reestablishing Government-owned buildings, facilities, roads, and bridges.

The attached draft of bill contains a feature not contained in either the House or Senate bills. Section 2 (a) contains the proviso, namely, that the date of the contract's approval by the Secretary of the Interior shall constitute the "date of taking" for purposes of determining the ownership of the Indian tribal, allotted, and assigned lands. This proviso arises out of the experience of interpreting the contract which the Fort Berthold Indians negotiated with the United States on May 20, 1948. This proviso would fix unchangeably the Indian lands covered by the contract so that such lands would not be affected by subsequent changes of ownership.

Section 3 of the attached draft of bill undertakes to specify the procedure to be followed in appraising the Indian lands. It appears to this Department that the contracts ought to include the specific amounts to be paid for the Indian property, not leaving the amounts to be determined by subsequent appraisal. Section 3

provides that the Secretary of the Interior, or his duly authorized representative, shall prepare appraisal schedules and present them to the Indian negotiators and the Corps of Engineers, to be used by them in negotiating exact valuations to be written directly into the contracts.

Section 4 of the attached bill provides that the contracts shall not be limited to the provisions enumerated in Section 2 but may include "other provisions beneficial to the Indian parties." This provision is similar to one included in the House bill and is identical in language with section 3 of the Senate bill.

Section 5 of the attached bill contains a provision not found in either the House or Senate bills requiring that the contracts shall be submitted to the Congress within 18 months of the enactment of the legislation.

Section 6 of the attached draft of bill, the text of which, except for one provision relative to a reserve of power for the benefit of the Indians, is taken from section 5 of the Senate bill directs that the Secretary of the Interior shall cause an investigation to be made under the direction of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and a report thereon shall be submitted to the Congress within 18 months of the enactment of the legislation concerning what additional provisions should be made (that is, in addition to provisions contained in the contracts) to rehabilitate the Indians, or to compensate them for additional losses resulting from the construction and operation of the Oahe project, or to fulfill any treaty or other obligation of the Government, together with estimates of the cost thereof, to be financed from appropriations to be made to the Department of the Interior.

Section 6 (g) of the attached draft of bill contains a provision of the House bill, not contained in the Senate bill, namely, the provision for the reservation of a block of power to be set aside from the Oahe project for the two tribes and for the delivery of the block of power for the Indians' use, sale, and disposition. This provision is similar to that contained in pending legislation dealing with the taking of lands on the Fort Berthold Reservation (N. Dak.) for the Garrison project (S. J. Res. 11 and H. J. Res. 33). The fact that the 100,000 acres of land being taken from the Cheyenne River and Standing Rock Indians forms an integral part of the reservoir required in the development of the electric energy at Oahe Dam, and the further fact that the Indians are being required to make extensive sacrifices in the interest of the general public gives justification for the inclusion of a power reservation for them in the contracts to be negotiated.

Section 7 provides that nothing in the act shall be construed to restrict the orderly construction, or delay the completion, of the Oahe project. The language is taken directly from the Senate bill.

In conclusion I urge consideration of this highly important matter by the present session of the Congress. Oahe Dam is under construction, and time is rapidly shortening within which to work out the settlement for final approval

DRAFT OF A BILL PROPOSED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

A BILL To authorize the negotiation, approval, and ratification of separate settlement contracts with the Sioux Indians of Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota and of Standing Rock Reservation in South Dakota and North Dakota for Indian lands and rights acquired by the United States for the Oabe Dam and Reservoir. Missouri River development

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Chief of Engineers, Department of the Army, is hereby authorized and directed to negotiate separate contracts containing the provisions outlined in section 2 hereof with the Sioux Indians of the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota and the Soiux Indians of the Standing Rock Reservation in South Dakota and North Dakota, through representatives of the two tribes appointed for this purpose by their tribal councils, and the contracts so negotiated shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior and of the parties in interest as follows: (1) In the case of allotted lands, inherited interests in allotted lands, and lands covered by exchange assignments, there shall be secured the assent in writing of the owners or holders thereof, representing 60 percent of the total acreage of the lands in the taking areas of the two reservations respectively, (2) in the case of tribal lands and interests within the taking area within the Cheyenne River Reservation the assent of the tribe shall be given in accordance with the constitution and bylaws of the Cheyenne River Tribe, and (3) in the case of tribal lands and interests within the taking area within the Standing Rock Reservation the assent of the tribe shall be given by a majority of the adult members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

SEC. 2. The contracts made pursuant to section 1 of this Act shall

(a) Convey to the United States the title to all tribal, allotted, assigned, and inherited lands or interests therein belonging to the Indians of each tribe required by the United States for the reservoir to be created by the construction of the dam across the Missouri River in South Dakota, to be known as Oahe Dam, including such lands along the margin of said reservoir as may be required by the Chief of Engineers, United States Army, for the protection, development, and use of said reservoir: Provided, That the date on which the contract is approved by the Secretary of the Interior shall be the date of taking by the United States for purposes of determining the ownership of the Indian tribal, allotted and assigned lands conveyed thereby to the United States, subject to the determinations and the payments to be made as hereinafter provided for:

(b) Provide for the payment of

(1) just compensation for lands and improvements and interests therein, including values above and below the surface, conveyed pursuant to subsection (a);

(2) costs of relocating and reestablishing the members of each tribe who reside upon such lands; and

(3) costs of relocating and reestablishing Indian cemeteries, tribal monuments, and shrines located upon such lands;

(c) Provide for reimbursement to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for reasonable costs actually incurred in relocating and reestablishing Government-owned buildings, facilities, roads, and bridges located upon such lands;

(d) Provide adequate protection for the rights of individual members of each tribe who may refuse to join in the approval of the said contract;

(e) Provide for the preservation of any treaty rights of the tribe in regard to fishing, hunting, and trapping, insofar as may be practicable under the physical conditions existing when the Oahe project is completed;

(f) Provide for nonexclusive access rights to the Oahe Reservoir and for the reservation to the said Indians of the use of the land between the water line and the taking line insofar as the same may be consistent with the operation and control of the Oahe project;

(g) Provide a schedule of dates for the orderly removal of the Indians and their personal property situated within the taking area of the Oahe Reservoir within the respective reservations.

SEC. 3. To assist the negotiators in arriving at the amount of just compensation as provided herein in section 2 (b) (1), the Secretary of the Interior or his duly authorized representative, shall have prepared an appraisal schedule on an individual tract basis of the tribal, allotted, and assigned lands, including heirship interests therein, located within the taking areas of the respective reservations. In the preparation thereof, he shall have determined the fair market value of the lands, giving full and proper weight to the following elements of appraisal: Improvements, severance damage, standing timber, mineral rights, and the uses to which the lands are reasonably adapted. He shall transmit the schedules to the representatives of the tribes appointed to negotiate a contract and to the Chief of Engineers, United States Army, and the said schedules shall be used as a basis for determining the amount of just compensation to be included in the contracts.

SEC. 4. The specification in section 2 of certain provisions to be included in each contract shall not operate to preclude the inclusion in such contracts of other provisions beneficial to the Indians who are parties to such contracts.

SEC. 5. The contracts negotiated and approved pursuant to this act shall be submitted to the Congress, within eighteen months from and after the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 6. The Secretary of the Interior is hereby directed to cause an investigation to be made under the direction of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and to report to the Congress within eighteen months from the date of enactment of this Act, as to what additional provisions should be made to rehabilitate the Indians and to compensate them for additional losses resulting from the construction and operation of said dam or the abrogation of any treaty obligation of the Government, together with estimates of the cost thereof, to be financed from appropriations to be made to the Department of the Interior. Such report shall include, but not be limited to, recommendations with respect to damages. tangible and intangible, for which said Indians should be compensated. It shall include recommendations as to action to be taken to provide (a) for the complete rehabilitation and adjustment of said Indians in all tribal and individual matters and affairs; (b) for the future economic, social and religious life and new fields of endeavor of said Indians; (c) for all necessary interim aid to said Indians; (d) for continuation of the economic, social, religious, and community life of

said Indians; (e) for the reestablishment of a sound economic base for the future of said Indians; (f) for the readjustment and consolidation of individual land holdings of said Indians and (g) for the reservation of a block of power for sale and distribution by the respective tribes for use of such power on the respective reservations, to be delivered at such point or points on the respective reservations and at such voltage as may be determined by the Secretary of the Interior. Payment shall be made for the power actually used at the lowest wholesale rate or rates, applicable to the same class of service, made available to other customers receiving power from the Oahe Dam. The transmission and distribution system necessary for the delivery of such block of power to the customers of such respective tribes shall be constructed from time to time as needed by such tribes, with funds made available therefor by the United States without cost to the respective tribes. The rates for the sale of the power by the respective tribes shall be subject to approval by the Secretary of the Interior. Until such time as the respective tribes shall require all the electrical power reserved to them, any amount in excess of that actually required by the said respective tribes shall be available to the Secretary of the Interior for sale or disposition off the respective reservations; and (h) to compensate adequately the respective tribes and individual members thereof for all breaches of their treaties with the United States; for the abrogation of section I (c) of article IV of the constitution and bylaws of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of South Dakota adopted in accordance with section 16 of the Indian Reorganization Act of June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984). SEC. 7. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to restrict the orderly prosecution of the construction or delay the completion of the Oahe Dam to provide protection from floods on the Missouri River.

Some clarifying amendments to H. R. 5372 have been made by the Committee on Public Lands. As amended, it provides that the approved contracts shall constitute final and complete settlement of all claims of these Indians against the United States arising from the construction of the Oahe project.

The contracts negotiated pursuant to this legislation would be submitted to the Congress for final approval within 18 months from the date of its enactment. No appropriation of Federal funds would be requested until after the contracts have been approved.

The Committee on Public Lands unanimously recommend the early enactment of H. R. 5372 as amended.