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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 348. Patents to be held in trust; descent and partition
Upon the approval of the allotments provided for in this act by
the Secretary of the Interior, he shall cause patents to issue
therefor in the name of the allottees, which patents shall be of
the legal effect, and declare that the United States does and will
hold the land thus allotted, for the period of twenty-five years,
in trust for the sole use and benefit of the Indian to whom such
allotment shall have been made, or, in case of his decease, of his
heirs according to the laws of the State or Territory where such
land is located, and that at the expiration of said period the
United States will convey the same by patent to said Indian, or his
heirs as aforesaid, in fee, discharged of said trust and free of
all charge or incumbrance whatsoever: Provided, That the President
of the United States may in any case in his discretion extend the
period. And if any conveyance shall be made of the lands set apart
and allotted as herein provided, or any contract made touching the
same, before the expiration of the time above mentioned, such
conveyance or contract shall be absolutely null and void: Provided,
That the law of descent in force in the State or Territory where
such lands are situate shall apply thereto after patents therefor
have been executed and delivered, except as provided by the Indian
Land Consolidation Act [25 U.S.C. 2201 et seq.] or a tribal probate
code approved under such Act and except as herein otherwise
provided: And provided further, That at any time after lands have
been allotted to all the Indians of any tribe as herein provided,
or sooner if in the opinion of the President it shall be for the
best interests of said tribe, it shall be lawful for the Secretary
of the Interior to negotiate with such Indian tribe for the
purchase and release by said tribe, in conformity with the treaty
or statute under which such reservation is held, of such portions
of its reservation not allotted as such tribe shall, from time to
time, consent to sell, on such terms and conditions as shall be
considered just and equitable between the United States and said
tribe of Indians, which purchase shall not be complete until
ratified by Congress, and the form and manner of executing such
release shall also be prescribed by Congress: Provided, however,
That all lands adapted to agriculture, with or without irrigation
so sold or released to the United States by any Indian tribe shall
be held by the United States for the sole purpose of securing homes
to actual settlers and shall be disposed of by the United States to
actual and bona fide settlers only in tracts not exceeding one
hundred and sixty acres to any one person, on such terms as
Congress shall prescribe, subject to grants which Congress may make
in aid of education: And provided further, That no patents shall
issue therefor except to the person so taking the same as and for a
homestead, or his heirs, and after the expiration of five years'
occupancy thereof as such homestead; and any conveyance of said
lands so taken as a homestead, or any contract touching the same,
or lien thereon, created prior to the date of such patent, shall be
null and void. And the sums agreed to be paid by the United States
as purchase money for any portion of any such reservation shall be
held in the Treasury of the United States for the sole use of the
tribe or tribes of Indians; to whom such reservations belonged; and
the same, with interest thereon at 3 per centum per annum, shall be
at all times subject to appropriation by Congress for the education
and civilization of such tribe or tribes of Indians or the members
thereof. The patents aforesaid shall be recorded in the Bureau of
Land Management, and afterwards delivered, free of charge, to the
allottee entitled thereto. And if any religious society or other
organization was occupying on February 8, 1887, any of the public
lands to which this act is applicable, for religious or educational
work among the Indians, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized
to confirm such occupation to such society or organization, in
quantity not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres in any one
tract, so long as the same shall be so occupied, on such terms as
he shall deem just; but nothing herein contained shall change or
alter any claim of such society for religious or educational
purposes heretofore granted by law. And in the employment of Indian
police, or any other employees in the public service among any of
the Indian tribes or bands affected by this act, and where Indians
can perform the duties required, those Indians who have availed
themselves of the provisions of this act and become citizens of the
United States shall be preferred.
Provided further, That whenever the Secretary of the Interior
shall be satisfied that any of the Indians of the Siletz Indian
Reservation, in the State of Oregon, fully capable of managing
their own business affairs, and being of the age of twenty-one
years or upward, shall, through inheritance or otherwise, become
the owner of more than eighty acres of land upon said reservation,
he shall cause patents to be issued to such Indian or Indians for
all of such lands over and above the eighty acres thereof. Said
patent or patents shall be issued for the least valuable portions
of said lands, and the same shall be discharged of any trust and
free of all charge, incumbrance, or restriction whatsoever; and the
Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed to ascertain,
as soon as shall be practicable, whether any of said Indians of the
Siletz Reservation should receive patents conveying in fee lands to
them under the provisions of this Act.
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