Washington : Government Printing Office
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| Public Law 86-322 | Catawba Indian Tribe. Division of assets. |
| Public Law 86-322 | Publication in F. |
| Sec. 2 | Shares. |
| Sec. 3 | Distribution. |
| Sec. 3 | 593 |
| Sec. 4 | Land surveys. |
| Sec. 5 | 25 U. S. C. 461-479. |
| Sec. 7 | Tax exemption. |
| Sec. 7 | 594 |
| Sec. 8 | Education program. |
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That when a majority of the adult members of the Catawba Indian Tribe of South Carolina, according to the most reliable information regarding membership that is available to the Secretary of the Interior, have indicated their agreement to a division of the tribal assets in accordance with the provisions of this Act, the Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register a notice of that fact. The membership roll of the Catawba Indian Tribe of South Carolina shall thereupon be closed as of midnight of the date of such notice, and no child born thereafter shall be eligible for enrollment. The Secretary of the Interior with advice and assistance of the tribe shall prepare a final roll of the members of the tribe who are living at such time, and when so doing shall provide a reasonable opportunity for any person to protest against the inclusion or omission of any name on or from the roll. The Secretary's decisions on all protests shall be final and conclusive. After all protests are disposed of, the final roll shall be published in the Federal Register.
Each member whose name appears on the final roll of the tribe as published in the Federal Register shall be entitled to receive an approximately equal share of the tribe's assets that are held in trust by the United States in accordance with the provisions of this Act. This right shall constitute personal property which may be inherited or bequeathed, but it shall not otherwise be subject to alienation or encumbrance.
The tribe's assets shall be distributed in accordance with the following provisions:
(a) If the State of South Carolina by legislation authorizes assets that are held by the State in trust for the tribe to be included in the distribution plan prepared by the Secretary in accordance with the provisions of this Act, they may be included.
(b) A The tribal council shall designate any part of the tribe's land that is to be set aside for church, park, playground, or cemetery purposes and the Secretary is authorized to convey such tracts to trustees or agencies designated by the tribal council for that purpose and approved by the Secretary.
(c) The remaining tribal assets shall be appraised by the Secretary and the share of each member shall be determined by dividing the total number of enrolled members into the total appraisal. The tribal assets so appraised shall not include any improvements that were placed on the part of an assignment that is selected by an assignee, or his wife or children, pursuant to subsection (d) of this section. Such improvements shall be property of the assignee.
(d) Subject to the provisions of this subsection, each member who is an adult under the laws of the State and who has an assignment shall be given the option of selecting and receiving title to any part of his assignment that has an appraised value not in excess of his share of the tribe's assets. A wife, husband, or child of such adult member may select and receive title to any part of such assignment that has an appraised value not in excess of her or his share of the tribe's assets; and, if the child is a minor under the laws of the State, the option on his behalf may be exercised by such adult member. Each selection shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, who shall consider the effect of the selection on the total value of the property. The title to any part of an assignment so selected may be taken in the name of the person entitled thereto, or the title to all of
the parts of an assignment so selected may be taken in the names of the persons entitled thereto as tenants in common.
(e) Each member who has no assignment may select and receive title to any part of the tribal land that is not selected pursuant to subsection (d) of this section and that has an appraised value not in excess of his share of the tribe's assets.
(f) All assets of the tribe that are not selected and conveyed to members pursuant to subsections (d) and (e) of this section shall be sold and the proceeds distributed to the members in accordance with their respective interests. Such sales shall be by competitive bid and any member shall have the right to purchase property offered for sale for a price not less than the highest acceptable bid therefor. If more than one member exercises such right, the property shall be sold to the member exercising the right who offers the highest price. Any tribal assets that are not sold by the Secretary within two years from the date of the notice provided for in section 1 of this Act shall be conveyed to a trustee selected by the Secretary for disposition in accordance with this subsection, and the fees and expenses of such trustee shall be paid out of funds appropriated for the purposes of this Act.
The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to make such land surveys and to execute such conveyancing instruments as he deems necessary to convey marketable and recordable titles to the tribal assets disposed of pursuant to this Act. Each grantee shall receive an unrestricted title to the property conveyed.
The constitution of the tribe adopted pursuant to the Act of June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984), as amended, shall be revoked by the Secretary. Thereafter, the tribe and its members shall not be entitled to any of the special services performed by the United States for Indians because of their status as Indians, all statutes of the United States that affect Indians because of their status as Indians shall be inapplicable to them, and the laws of the several States shall apply to them in the same manner they apply to other persons or citizens within their jurisdiction. Nothing in this Act, however, shall affect the status of such persons as citizens of the United States.
Nothing in this Act shall affect the rights, privileges, or obligations of the tribe and its members under the laws of South Carolina.
No property distributed under the provisions of this Act shall at the time of distribution be subject to any Federal or State income tax. Following any distribution of property made under the provisions of this Act, such property and income derived therefrom by the distribute shall be subject to the same taxes, State and Federal, as in the case of non-Indians: Provided, That for the purpose of capital gains or losses the base value of the property shall be the value of the property when distributed to the grantee.
Prior to the revocation of the tribal constitution provided for in this Act, the Secretary is authorized to undertake, within the limits of available appropriations, a special program of education and training designed to help the members of the tribe to earn a livelihood, to conduct their own affairs, and to assume their responsibilities as citizens without special services because of their status as Indians. Such program may include language training, orientation in non-Indian community customs and living standards, vocational training and related subjects, transportation to the place of training or instruction, and subsistence during the course of training or instruction. For the purposes of such program the Secretary is authorized to enter into contracts or agreements with any Federal, State, or local governmental agency, corporation, association, or persons. Nothing in this section shall preclude any Federal agency from undertaking any other program
for the education and training of Indians with funds appropriated to it.
Approved, September 21, 1959.
