CLASSIFICATION OF THE CHIPPEWA INDIANS OF

MINNESOTA

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS,

Wednesday, March 21, 1928. The subcommittee met at 2.30 o'clock, p. m., in the committee room, Capitol, Hon. F. D. Letts (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.

Mr. LETTS. The committee will be in order. This hearing before the subcommittee on Chippewa legislation is upon H. R. 461, by Mr. Selvig, a bill authorizing the classification of the Chippewa Indians of Minnestoa, and for other purposes.

At the beginning of this record I will insert the bill. (The bill, H. R. 461, is as follows:)

[H. R. 461, Seventieth Congress, first session]

A BILL Authorizing the classification of the Chippewa Indians of Minnesota, and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 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, 1929, which shall show the Indian and English names, address, date of birth, degree of blood, sex, family relationship, and date 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.

Said rolls, when approved by the Secretary of the Interior, shall be conclusive for the purposes of section 3 hereof: Provided, That if otherwise entitled the names of any children born after July 1 1929, shall be placed on the proper roll for future payments and distributions in conformity with section 4 of this act.

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SEC. 3. Upon approval of said rolls the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized and directed to set apart under an appropriate designation from the principal fund of the Chippewa Indians of Minnesota accruing under the said act of January 14, 1889, or otherwise, the sum of $1,500,000, which shall bear interest at the rate of 5 per centum per annum to be credited to the principal fund semiannually, the combined fund of principal and interest to be subject only to annual appropriation by Congress for the benefit of all the Chippewa Indians of Minnesota. The Secretary of the Interior shall then determine the pro rata share of each enrollee in the remainder of said principal fund; pay to competent adults their respective shares; deposit at interest in properly bonded banks the shares of the minor children of competent adults; and pay not to exceed $50 annually from the funds of each minor to the parent or guardian for the support and education of said minors: Provided, That the Secretary of the Interior may at any time in his discretion suspend such payments to any parent or guardian who has failed properly to use or account for previous payments, and expend the balance of said shares for the best interests of the minors. The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to withdraw from the Treasury of the United States so much of the said remaining principal fund as may be necessary to carry out this provision. The aggregate of the shares of incompetent Indians, their minor children, and orphan minors shall remain undivided in the Treasury of the United States and be carried as the "Chippewa in Minnesota Fund, Incompetent Indians," which shall belong to and be held as a common fund for the exclusive use and benefit of the incompetent adults, their minor children, and orphan minors, at 5 per centum interest to be credited to the principal fund semiannually, the combined fund of principal and interest to be disposed of only as herein provided.

SEC. 4. All funds thereafter accruing to the Chippewa Indians of Minnesota from any source shall be deposited separately in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the "Chippewa in Minnesota Fund" and shall bear interest at the rate of 5 per centum per annum to be credited to the principal fund semiannually and disposed of only as herein provided. Whenever the combined fund of principal and interest reaches a sufficient amount the Secretary of the Interior is authorized in his discretion to make similar withdrawals, payments, and deposits therefrom as provided in section 3 hereof, to all enrolled Indians living on the date thereof.

SEC. 5. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized in his discretion upon satisfactory showing of competency to transfer to the competent roll the names of any adult Indians originally enrolled as incompetent and the names of any minors on the incompetent or orphan minor roll upon reaching the age of twentyone years, and to pay to them their respective pro rata shares of the incompetent fund created by section 3 hereof then available, and upon such transfer to withdraw from the Treasury of the United States and deposit at interest in properly bonded banks the shares of the minor children of said adults subject to payment to the parents or guardians as provided in said section 3: Provided, That until such withdrawal the incompetent adults, their minor children, and orphan minors shall have no vested or descendible right to their respective shares, which in the event of death prior thereto shall remain in the fund.

SEC. 6. An annual appropriation.is hereby authorized in such amount as may be necessary, with the approval of Congress, from the "Chippewa in Minnesota Fund, Incompetent Indians" for expenditure in the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior for the relief of distress of such incompetent Indians as may be in need thereof.

SEC. 7. Except as to section 1 hereof this act shall not become effective until two-thirds of the properly enrolled male Chippewa Indians of Minnesota over eighteen years of age shall have agreed thereto in writing and until a proclamation of the President to that effect. The commission is authorized to present and explain this act to the Indians for the purpose of obtaining their approval and to submit a report thereof to the Secretary of the Interior.

SEC. 8. The Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to make all needful rules and regulations for carrying into effect the provisions of this act.

Mr. LETTS. At this point I will insert in the record a report of the Secretary of the Interior, which was furnished upon the request of the chairman of the committee.

(The letter of the Secretary of the Interior referred to is as follows:)