CHIPPEWA INDIAN CLASSIFICATION

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS,
Tuesday, June 1, 1926.

The subcommittee met at 10.30 o'clock a. m., Hon. William Williamson presiding.

Present: Messrs. Williamson (chairman), Sproul, and Hill, members of the subcommittee.

STATEMENTS OF HON. KNUD WEFALD, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MINNESOTA; WEBSTER BALLINGER, ATTORNEY AT LAW, WASHINGTON, D. C.; AND DENNISON WHEELOCK, ATTORNEY AT LAW, WASHINGTON, D. C.

Mr. WILLIAMSON. We will take up the bill H. R. 177, "authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to appraise tribal property of the Chippewa Indians, and for other purposes.'

We have a report on this bill from the Interior Department, and there is also a report on H. R. 438, Mr. Wefald's bill.

Mr. WEFALD. What is the date of the report?

Mr. WILLIAMSON. The date of the report on your bill, H. R. 438, is May 22, 1926, and the report on the bill H. R. 177 is dated May 24,

1926.

Mr. WEFALD. Then, my bill was the first one reported on.

Mr. WILLIAMSON. Yes.

Mr. WEFALD. That was according to agreement.

Mr. WILLIAMSON. We received one report on the 23d of May and the other on the 25th of May.

I will ask the clerk to read the report on the bill.

(The clerk read as follows:)

Hon. SCOTT LEAVITT,

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

Washington, May 24, 1926.

Chairman Committee on Indian Affairs,

House of Representatives.

MY DEAR MR. LEAVITT: This will refer further to your letter of December 16, 1925, transmitting among others for report and recommendation a copy of H. R. 177, proposing to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to appraise the tribal property of the Chippewa Indians.

The bill provides that after such appraisal the fee-patent Indians shall be paid their respective pro rata shares, be striken from the rolls, and have no further claim upon the tribal property. Apparently it is contemplated that such shares shall be paid from the tribal funds on deposit in the Treasury of the United States. As the appraisal is to include all the tribal property the value of a single share therein will, of course, exceed the amount of a per capita share of the tribal funds in which each Indian has an equal undivided interest. As no provision is made for the trust-patent allottees, it would be unfair to them thus to utilize part of the tribal funds in which they have an equal interest for the benefit of the fee-patent Indians.

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It is further provided that the appraisal shall include the value of any claim which the Chippewa Indians may have against the United States. It would be impossible to fix the value of such a claim until the judgment of the Court of Calims. House bill 178, known as the Chippewa Jurisdiction bill, has become law, but it will probably be several years before the matter is finally settled.

A substitute bill which it is believed would adequately meet the situation has been drafted and is attached hereto. The bill provides for three rolls, (1) competent adults and their minor children, (2) incompetent adults and their minor children, and (3) orphan minors; the setting aside of $1,500,000 from the principal fund subject to annual appropriation by Congress for the benefit of all the Chippewa Indians of Minnesota; payment of their shares in the remainder of the fund to the competent Indians; the deposit in bank of the shares of the minor children of competent Indians, subject to payment to the parents at the rate of $50 annually; that the aggregate of the shares of incompetent Indians, their minor children, and orphan minors shall remain intact undivided in the Treasury with authority for the Secretary of the Interior to withdraw such amount annually therefrom as may be necessary for the relief of distress among the incompetents; that future accruals to the tribal fund shall be handled in the same way; and that the act shall not become effective except as to section 1 until approved by a majority of the Chippewa Indians of Minnesota over 18 years of age.

It is therefore recommended that H. R. 177 be amended by striking out all after the enacting clause and inserting in lieu thereof the matter contained in the substitute bill attached hereto. In this event the title of the bill should be amended to read "A bill to authorize the classification of the Chippewa Indians of Minnesota, and for other purposes".

Report has just been made on H. R. 438 with a similar recommendation. The passage of either bill, if amended as suggested, would be satisfactory to this department.

The Director of the Bureau of the Budget advises that H. R. 177 would be in conflict with the President's financial program, but that the substitute bill and report thereon would not be in conflict therewith.

Very truly yours,

HUBERT WORK.

Mr. WILLIAMSON. I suggest that the clerk read the amendment suggested by the department.

The CLERK. Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the following:

That the President is hereby authorized to appoint a commission of three persons, one of whom shall be a member of the Chippewa Tribe of Indians of Minnesota, one an employee of the Department of the Interior, and one a resident citizen of the State of Minnesota. The members of said commission shall make oath or affirmation to support the Constitution of the United States and faithfully to discharge their duties. Said commission shall designate one of its members to act as chairman and another as secretary. The two members of the commission other than the employee of the Department of the Interior shall each receive compensation at the rate of $10 per diem and, including such employee, their actual and necessary expenses while engaged in the performance of their duties, to be paid upon itemized accounts certified by the commission and approved by the Secretary of the Interior. The commission is authorized, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, to employ necessary clerical and other help. The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to withdraw from the Treasury of the United States not to exceed $25,000 of the principal fund of the Chippewa Indians of Minnesota for payment of the compensation and expenses of the commission and its employees as herein provided, to be taken from the amount set aside under section 3 hereof.

SEC. 2. Said commission shall prepare rolls of all Chippewa Indians of Minnesota living on July 1, 1927, which shall show the Indian and English names, address, date of birth, degree of blood, sex, family relationship, and date of enrollment under the act of January 14, 1889 (Twenty-fifth Statutes at Large, page 642), or otherwise, as follows:

(1) Competent adults and their minor children.

(2) Incompetent adults and their minor children.

(3) Minor children whose parents are both dead, with the names of the parents. For the purposes of this act twenty-one years shall be deemed the age of majority.