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Compiled and edited by Charles J. Kappler. Washington : Government Printing Office, 1904.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That if the Miami tribe of Indians in Kansas shall signify to the President of the United States their desire to sell the landsa reserved for the future homes of the said Indians by the first article of the treaty of June fifth, eighteen hundred and fifty-four, and which remain unallotted, together with the school-section mentioned in said article, said lands shall be disposed of in the following manner, to wit: The said secretary shall appoint three disinterested and competent persons, who shall, after being duly sworn to perform such service faithfully and impartially, personally examine and appraiseb said lands by legal subdivisions of one hundred and sixty acres or less, separately, and make return thereof to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs: Provided, That the Secretary of the Interior may, in his discretion, set aside any appraisements that may be made under the provisions of this act, and cause a new appraisement to be made: And provided further, That in making said appraisement, the land and improvements made by the United States and
Indians shall be included, and the improvements made by white settlers shall be excluded in determinating an estimate of the value thereof.
That each bona-fide settler occupying any portion of said lands at the date of the passage of this act, and having made valuable improvements thereon, or the heirs at law of such, who is a citizen of the United States, or who has declared his intention to become such, shall be entitled, at any time within one year from the return of said appraisement, to purchase, for cash, the land so occupied and improved by him, not to exceed one hundred and sixty acres in each case, at the appraised value thereof, under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe. And on failure to make payment within one year from date of said approval of appraisement the right of such settler to purchase as aforesaid shall cease, and it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior to sell the same, either at public sale or on sealed bids, for cash, to the highest bidder, at not less than the appraised value, nor less than one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, after due notice by public advertisement. And all lands referred to in this and the foregoing sections not so occupied and improved by settlers at the date of the approval of this act shall be appraised by said appraisers, including all improvements thereon of every character, and sold by direction of the Secretary of the Interior to the highest bidder, for cash, after due advertisement, either at public sale or on sealed bids, at not less than the appraised value, nor less than one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre as aforesaid, in quantities not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres aforesaid.
That if any adult member of said tribe shall desire to become a citizen of the United States, shall prove by at least two competent witnesses, to the satisfaction of the circuit court of the United States for the State of Kansas, that he or she is sufficiently intelligent and prudent to manage his or her own affairs, and has, for the period of five years, been able to maintain himself or herself and family, and has adopted the habits of civilized life, and shall take an oath of allegiance to the United States, as provided by law for the naturalization of aliens, he or she shall be declared by said court to be a citizen of the United States, which shall be entered of record and a certificate thereof given to said party. On the presentation of said certificate to the Secretary of the Interior, with satisfactory proof of identity, he may, at the request of such person or persons, cause the lands severally held by them and their minor children to be conveyed to them by patent in fee-simple, without the power of alienation, and may, at his discretion, cause to be paid to them, from time to time, their proportion of all the moneys and effects of said tribe held for them by the United States, or which may be received as the net proceeds of the sale of lands under the provisions of this act; after which said Indians and their minor children shall cease to be members of any Indian tribe; but the lands so patented to them shall not be subject to levy, taxation, or sale during the natural lives of said Indians or of their minor children.
That the Secretary of the Interior shall, in ninety days from the passage of this act, cause to be taken a census of all the Miami Indians entitled to a share in the reserved lands and the moneys set apart by the treaty between the United States and the Miami Indians, dated June the fifth, eighteen hundred and fifty-four, for that part of the tribe known as Western Miamies, including in said census those persons of Miami blood or descent for whom provision was made by the third section of the act of June twelfth, eighteen hundred and fifty-eight, if in the opinion of the Secretary of the Interior the said Indians are entitled to be so included under treaty stipulations; but in such census none shall be included unless justly entitled according to
the provisions of said treaty; and with said census there shall also be made two lists, one containing the names of all the Indians so entitled who may elect to become citizens of the United States, and their minor children (heads of families choosing) the other the names of all who elect to remain under the care of the United States, and to unite with the Wea, Peoria, Kaskaskia, and Piankeshaw Indians in the Indian Territory, according to the provisions of a contractc dated January the fifteenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, between the Western Miami Indians, of Kansas, of one part, and said Wea, Peoria, Kaskaskia, and Piankeshaw Indians, of the other part, and their minor children; which census and lists shall be filed in the office of the Secretary of the Interior, and which census and lists, when properly taken and filed as aforesaid, shall be approved by the Secretary of the Interior, and thenceforward, those whose names are on the citizens’ list shall be treated and regarded, in all respects, as citizens of the United States: Provided, That they become citizens and comply with the provisions of the third, and fourth sections of this act relating to naturalization, And provided further, That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby directed to ascertain what amount if any is due the Miami tribe of Indians referred to in the corrected lists under the treaty of eighteen hundred and fifty-four, on account of certain annuities which were distributed to and among those persons of Miami blood and descent who were included in the act of eighteen hundred and fifty-eight, and by virtue of the same were authorized and did receive their proportion respectively in said annuities, and to cause that amount to be deducted out of the consolidated fund as herein provided for and paid to said Miami Indians referred to in said corrected lists made by virtue of the said treaty of eighteen hundred and fifty- four.
And the proceeds of the sales of the said unallotted lands, including said school section, and all moneys, securities, annuities, and effects held by the United States for said Miami Indians of Kansas, after making the foregoing deductions for citizen Indians and their minor children, shall belong to and be the exclusive property of the last-named Indians, to be known as their consolidated fund.
That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized and directed to examine a contract made by and between the said Western Miami Indians of Kansas, and the confederated Wea. Peoria, Kaskaskia, and Piankeshaw Indians, made on the fifteenth day of January, anno Domini, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, and to approve the same with such modificationsd as justice and equity may require; and, for the purpose of carrying into effect said arrangement may withdraw from said consolidated fund, and pay to the confederated Wea, Peoria, Kaskaskia, and Piankeshaw Indians, a sum sufficient to pay said Wea, Peoria, Kaskaskia, and Piankeshaw Indians, according to said contract of the fifteenth of January aforesaid, for an interest in the lands of the last-named confederated tribe, for all of said Miamis, electing as aforesaid, to unite with said confederated tribe; and after making such payment, there shall be set apart and capitalized with the funds of said Wea, Peoria, Kaskaskia, and Piankeshaw Indians, a sum sufficient to warrant and justify all said Miamis so entitled, and so electing, to unite with said Wea, Peoria, Kaskaskia, and Piankeshaw Indians in drawing thereafter like annuities with said Wea, Peoria, Kaskaskia, and Piankeshaw Indians, without prejudice to the rights and interests of said last-named Indians; and the remainder of such consolidated fund shall then be paid, (under like direction,) per capita, to all those so entitled, and so electing to unitee with
said Wea, Peoria, Kaskaskia, and Piankeshaw Indians, to aid them in moving to, and improving their new homes in the Territory; and after their union with said confederated Wea, Peori, Kaskaskia, and Piankeshaw Indians, the united tribe shall be called the United Peorias and Miamis, and thereafter shall all draw equal and like annuities, according to the provisions of said contract of the fifteenth of January, anno Domini, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, and such modifications as may be agreed to by said contracting parties, with the approval of said Secretary, as herein provided.
That the provisions of this act shall not in any way affect the rights or claims of those individual Miamis or persons of Miami blood or descent who are named in the corrected list referred to in the Senate amendment to the fourth article of the treaty of June fifth, eighteen hundred and fifty-four, or their descendants.
Approved, March 3, 1873.
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