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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 974. Sale of trust lands
(a) Requisite owners' request; time limitation; bidding; member
purchases; reservation of mineral rights; representation of
minors, incompetents and missing owners
The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to partition or to
sell the complete interest (including any unrestricted interest) in
any land in which an undivided interest is owned by a member of the
Ponca Tribe of Native Americans of Nebraska in a trust or
restricted status, provided the partition or sale is requested by
the owners of a 25 per centum interest in the land, and the
partition or sale is made within three years from September 5,
1962. Any such sale shall be by competitive bid, except that with
the concurrence of the owners of a 25 per centum interest in the
land any owner of an interest in the land shall have the right to
purchase the land within a reasonable time fixed by the Secretary
of the Interior prior to a competitive sale at not less than its
current market value. If more than one preference right is
exercised, the sale shall be by competitive bid limited to the
persons entitled to a preference. If the owners of a 25 per centum
interest in the land so request, mineral rights may be reserved to
the owners in an unrestricted status. The Secretary of the Interior
may represent for the purposes of this section any Indian owner who
is a minor, or who is non compos mentis, and, after giving
reasonable notice of the proposed partition or sale by publication,
he may represent an Indian owner who cannot be located.
(b) Removal of restrictions; title to lands
All restrictions on the alienation or taxation of interests in
land that are owned by members of the Ponca Tribe of Native
Americans of Nebraska three years after September 5, 1962 shall be
deemed removed by operation of law, and an unrestricted title shall
be vested in each such member.
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