INDIAN AFFAIRS: LAWS AND TREATIES. Vol. 1, Laws

Compiled and edited by Charles J. Kappler. Washington : Government Printing Office, 1904.

ACTS OF FORTY-THIRD CONGRESS—SECOND SESSION, 1874.
CHAP. 2 | CHAP. 90 | CHAP. 132 | CHAP. 188

Chapter 90
Sections 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

Margin Notes
Chap. 90	Leases of lands by Seneca Nation of New York Indians for rail-road purposes ratified. 44 Fed. Rep., 178; 19 Hun., 570; 38 Hun., 625; 75 Hun., 396.1876, c. 246, 19 Stat., 120.
Sec. 2	Commissioners to be appointed to establish boundaries of certain villages in Allegany Reservation.
Sec. 2	Maps of survey. To be filed.
Sec. 2	Boundaries to include what.
Sec. 3	Leases in said villages by Indians to be valid for five years, etc. 26 N. Y. Supreme, 540.
Sec. 3	Who to have possession at expiration of lease.
Sec. 3	Renewal of leases.
Sec. 3	Owners of buildings on, privilege of renewal.
Sec. 3	Referees.
Sec. 3	Terms of further renewal.
Sec. 4	Power of Seneca Nation to lease lands not owned by individuals.
Sec. 5	Survey of village lands now leased.
Sec. 5	Recording of leases
Sec. 5	Assignment, devise, descent of leases.
Sec. 6	Rents due Seneca Nation how recovered and applied.
Sec. 7	Jurisdiction of courts in New York. R. S., 541, 563, 629.
Sec. 8	Laws of New York as to laying out, etc. highways, to be in force in villages.
Sec. 8	Taxation of Indians not authorized.

Chapter 90
Feb. 19, 1875. | 18 Stat., 330.

An act to authorize the Seneca Nation of New York Indians to lease lands within the Cattaraugus and Allegany reservations, and to confirm existing leases.^a

^a The subject of leases of lands by the Seneca Indians is regulated by this act, supplemented and extended by the acts of September 30, 1890, ch. 1132, post, p. 368, and February 28, 1901, ch. 622, post, p. 715. By the act of June 10, 1896, ch. 398, 29 Stat. L., 340, the Secretary of the Interior was authorized to ascertain and report as to all existing leases. Particular leases are provided for as follows: Lease of oil spring to W. B. Barker, February 20, 1893, ch. 148, post, p. 468, and June 7, 1897, ch. 3, post, p. 622; lease of sand deposits to J. W. Peglow, March 3, 1901, ch. 954, post, p. 744, and lease of manufacturing site to the Erie Preserving Company, February 27, 1901, ch. 616, post, p. 715.
The act of March 1, 1883, ch 59, post, p. 215, authorized grants of land for burial purposes, with certain reservations. The act of May 27, 1902, ch. 888, post p. 752, provided for interest on funds held by the United States, per capita payments, etc.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That all leases of land within the Cattaraugus and Allegany reservations in the State of New York, heretofore made by or with the authority of the Seneca Nation of New York Indians, to railroad corporations, are hereby ratified and confirmed; and said Seneca Nation may, in accordance with their laws and form of government, lease lands within said reservations for railroad purposes.

That the President of the United States shall appoint three commissioners, whose duty it shall be, as soon as may be, to survey, locate, and establish proper boundaries and limits of the villages of Vandalia, Carrolton, Great Valley, Salamanca, West Salamanca, and Red House, within said Allegany reservation, including therein, as far as practicable, all lands now occupied by white-settlers and such other lands as, in their opinion, may be reasonably required for the purposes of such villages; and they shall cause a return of their doings in writing, together with maps of such surveys and locations duly certified by them, to be filed in the office of the county clerk of the county of Cattaraugus, in said State, there to be recorded and preserved. The boundaries of said villages so surveyed, located, and established shall be the limits of said villages for all the purposes of this act.

That all leases of land situate within the limits of said villages when established as hereinbefore provided, except those provided for in the second section of this act, in which Indians or said Seneca Nation, or persons claiming under them are lessors, shall be valid and binding upon the parties thereto, and upon said Seneca Nation for a period of five years from and after the passage of this act, except such as by their terms may expire at an earlier date; and at the end of said period, or at the expiration of such leases as terminate within that time, said nation through its councillors shall be entitled to the possession of the said lands, and shall have the power to lease the same: Provided, however, That at the expiration of said period, or the termination of said leases, as hereinbefore provided, said leases shall be renewable for periods not exceeding twelve years, and the persons who may be at such time the owner or owners of improvements erected upon such lands, shall be entitled to such renewed leases, and to continue in possession of such lands, on such conditions as may be agreed upon by him or them and

such councillors; and in case they cannot agree upon the conditions of such leases, or the amount of annual rents to be paid, then the said councillors shall appoint one person, and the other party or parties shall choose one person, as referees to fix and determine the terms of said lease and the amount of annual rent to be paid; and if the two so appointed and chosen cannot agree, they shall choose a third person to act with them, the award of whom, or the major part of whom, shall be final and binding upon the parties; and the person or persons owning said improvements shall be entitled to a lease of said land and to occupy and improve the same according to the terms of said award, he or they paying rent and otherwise complying with the said lease or said award; and whenever any lease shall expire after its renewal as aforesaid, it may, at the option of the lessee, his heirs or assigns, be renewed in the manner hereinbefore provided.

That is shall be the further duty of the said commissioners to cause all lands within such villages now leased, as hereinbefore mentioned, to be surveyed and defined as near as may be, and to cause the same to be designated upon the maps of such villages hereinbefore mentioned and provided for. All leases of lands within said villages, whether now existing or hereafter to be made under the provisions of this act, shall be recorded in the office of the clerk of said county of Cattaraugus in the same manner and with like effect as similar instruments relating to lands lying in said county outside of said reservations are recorded by the laws of said State of New York.All leases herein mentioned or provided for shall pass by assignment in writing, will, descent, or otherwise in the manner provided by the laws of said State: Provided, however, That the rights of Indians in such leases shall descend as provided by the laws of said Seneca Nation.

That all moneys arising from rents under the provisions of this act which shall belong to said Seneca Nation shall be paid to and recoverable by the treasurer of said Seneca Nation, and expended in the same manner and for the same purposes as are other revenues or moneys belonging to said Seneca Nation.

That the courts of the State of New York within and for the county of Cattaraugus, having jurisdiction in real actions, and the circuit and district courts of the United States in and for the northern district of said State, shall have jurisdiction of all actions for the recovery of rents and for the recovery of possession of any real property within the limits of said villages, whether actions of debt, ejectment, or other forms of action, according to the practice in said courts; and actions of forcible entry and detainer, or of unlawful detainer arising in said villages, may be maintained in any of the courts of said county which have jurisdiction of such actions.

That all laws of the State of New York now in force concerning the laying out, altering, discontinuing, and repairing highways and bridges shall be in force within said villages, and may, with the consent of said Seneca Nation in council, extend to, and be in force beyond, said villages in said reservations, or in either of them; and all municipal laws and regulations of said State may extend over and be in force within, said villages: Provided, nevertheless, That nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize the taxation of any Indian, or the property of any Indian not a citizen of the United States.