INDIAN AFFAIRS: LAWS AND TREATIES

Vol. I, Laws     (Compiled to December 1, 1902)

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

ACTS OF FORTY–SIXTH CONGRESS—THIRD SESSION, 1881.
CHAP. 23 | CHAP. 128 | CHAP. 132 | CHAP. 139 | CHAP. 149

Chapter 23
Sections 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

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Chapter 23
    Jan. 18, 1881. | 21 Stat., 315.

Page Images

An act for the relief of the Winnebago Indians in Wisconsin, and to aid them to obtain subsistence by agricultural pursuits, and to promote their civilization.

Whereas a large number of the Winnebago Indians of Wisconsin have selected and settled in good faith upon homestead claims, under section fifteen of the act entitled “An act making appropriations to supply deficiencies in the appropriations for the fiscal year ending

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June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-five, and prior years, and for other purposes”, approved March third, eighteen hundred and seventy-five, and all said Indians having signified their desire and purpose to abandon their tribal relations and adopt the habits and customs of civilized people, and avail themselves of the benefits of the aforesaid act, but in many instances are unable to do so on account of their extreme poverty; and

Whereas a portion of the funds belonging to said Winnebago Indians of Wisconsin, and accruing under the act of June twenty-fifth, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, “providing for deficiencies in subsistence and expenses of removal and support of the Sioux and Winnebago Indians of Minnesota”, amounting to the sum of ninety thousand six hundred and eighty-nine dollars and ninety-three cents, is now in the Treasury of the United States to their credit; and

Whereas the major portion of the fund belonging to said Indians under said act of June twenty-fifth, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, together with the sum of one hundred thousand dollars of the principal fund of the tribe, has since said date been expended for the benefit of that portion of the Winnebago Indians residing in Nebraska; and

Whereas the location of said Winnebago Indians of Wisconsin has, under the said act of March third, eighteen hundred and seventy-five, become permanent:
Therefore

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Interior be, and he is hereby authorized and directed to cause a census of the tribe of Winnebago Indians, now residing in Nebraska and Wisconsin to be taken; said enrollment to be made upon separate lists; the first to include all of said tribe now residing upon or who draw their annuities at the tribal reservation in Nebraska, and the second to embrace all of said tribe now residing in the State of Wisconsin.

That upon the completion of the census of the Winnebago Indians in Wisconsin, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed to expend for their benefit the proportion of the tribal annuities due to and set apart for said Indians under the act of June twenty-fifth, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, of the appropriations for the tribe of Winnebago Indians for the fiscal years eighteen hundred and seventy-four, eighteen hundred and seventy-five, eighteen hundred and seventy-six, eighteen hundred and seventy-seven, eighteen hundred and seventy-eight, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine, and eighteen hundred and eighty, amounting to ninety thousand six hundred and eighty-nine dollars and ninety-three cents; and the Secretary of the Interior shall also expend for the benefit of said Indians, out of the sum of forty-one thousand and twelve dollars and seventy-four cents now in the Treasury to the credit of the Winnebago tribe of Indians, and accruing under treaty appropriations for the fiscal year eighteen hundred and seventy-three and prior years, such sum as may upon the completion of said census, be found necessary to equalize the payments between the two bands on account of the payment of the sum of one hundred thousand dollars in the year eighteen hundred and seventy-two from the principal funds of the tribe to the Winnebagoes in Nebraska. And all of the said sums shall be paid pro-rata to those persons whose names appear upon the census-roll of the Winnebagoes of Wisconsin, heads of families being permitted to receive the full amount to which all the members of the family are entitled: Provided, That before any person shall be entitled to the benefits accruing under this act, it shall be made to appear that the person claiming its benefits, or the head of the family to which such person belongs, has taken up a homestead in accordance with the said act of March third, eighteen hundred and seventy-five, or that, being unable to fully comply with the said act

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by reason of poverty, he or she has made a selection of land as a homestead, with a bona fide intention to comply with said act, and that the money applied for will be used to enter the land so selected, and for the improvement of the same.

That in the future distribution of the annuities of the said tribe of Winnebago Indians, a pro-rata division, according to the number of each band as shown by said census, shall be made between that portion of said tribe in Nebraska and that portion in Wisconsin; and the moneys belonging to each shall be annually distributed to the members of said bands respectively, in the manner provided by the fifth section of the act of February twenty-first, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, entitled “An act for the removal of the Winnebago Indians, and for the sale of their reservation in Minnesota for their benefit.”

That for the purpose of equitably adjusting the amount due to the Winnebago Indians in Wisconsin, under the act of June twenty-fifth, eighteen hundred and sixty-four, from that portion of the tribe residing in Nebraska, and arising from the failure of the Department of the Interior to set aside from year to year the proportion of the tribal fund belonging to said Wisconsin Winnebagoes, as provided in said act, from the date of the passage of the same to the year eighteen hundred and seventy-six, and the payment of the full amount of the same to the Winnebagoes of Nebraska for such period, the Secretary of the Interior is hereby directed to have an account between said portions of the Winnebago tribe of Indians stated, basing the same upon the census herein provided for, charging the Winnebagoes in Nebraska with the full amount found to be due to the Wisconsin Winnebagoes under said act for the period named, and crediting them with the amount actually expended in the removal and subsistence of the Wisconsin Winnebagoes at the date of their removal to Nebraska in the year eighteen hundred and seventy-three; and the balance found in favor of the Winnebagoes of Wisconsin, whatever the amount may be, shall hereafter be held and considered as a debt dueto them from that portion of the tribe residing in Nebraska; and until said debt shall have been extinguished the Secretary of the Interior shall cause to be deducted annually from the proportion of annuity moneys due to the Winnebagoes in Nebraska, and to be paid to the Winnebago Indians in Wisconsin, such proportion of the share of annuities belonging to the said Winnebagoes of Nebraska as he may deem right and proper: Provided, however, That such sum shall not be less than seven thousand dollars per annum.

That the titles acquired by said Winnebagoes of Wisconsin in and to the lands heretofore or hereafter entered by them under the provisions of said act of March third, eighteen hundred and seventy-five, shall not be subject to alienation or incumbrance, either by voluntary conveyance or by the judgment, decree, or order of any court, or subject to taxation of any character, but shall be and remain inalienable and not subject to taxation for the period of twenty years from the date of the patent issued therefor. And this section shall be inserted in each and every patent issued under the provisions of said act or of this act,

Approved, January 18, 1881.

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