Washington : Government Printing Office
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That in furtherance of the Big Bend Dam and Reservoir project authorized by the Flood Control Act of December 22, 1944 (58 Stat. 887, 891)—
(a) The entire interest, including gravel but excluding the interest in oil, gas, and all other minerals of any nature whatsoever, in approximately 14,299.03 acres of land within the taking area described in this Act in the Lower Brule Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, in which the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe or individual Indians have a trust or restricted interest, and any interest the tribe or Indians may have within the bed of the Missouri River so far as it is within the boundaries of the reservation are hereby taken by the United States for the Big Bend Dam and Reservoir project on the Missouri River, and in consideration thereof and for trust or restricted lands heretofore acquired by the United States in condemnation proceedings for the Big Bend project the United States will pay to the tribe and the individual Indian owners, out of funds available for the Big Bend Dam and Reservoir project—
(1) a sum aggregating $825,000, to be disbursed in accordance with the provisions of schedules prepared pursuant to section 2(b) of this Act; and
(2) the amount of $400,715, which shall be in settlement of all claims, rights, and demands of the tribe and individual Indians arising out of the taking under this Act, to be disbursed in accordance with the provisions of section 2 hereof.
(b) Upon a determination by the Secretary of the Army, within two years from the date of enactment of this Act, filed among the appropriate land records of the Department of the Interior, that any of the lands described in this Act are not required for Big Bend project purposes, title to such land shall be revested in the former owner.
(a) The payments authorized by section 1 of this Act, less the amounts heretofore deposited by the United States in the case entitled United states of America, Plaintiff against 867.50 acres of land, etc., and Crow Creek Tribe of Sioux Indians et al., Defendants, civil numbered 335, filed in the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota, for trust property acquired in the taking area described in the Act, shall be deposited to the credit of the tribe in the Treasury of the United States and shall draw interest on the principal at the rate of 4 per centum per annum until expended.
(b) The amount paid pursuant to section 1 (a) (1) of this Act shall be allocated in accordance with Indian ownership schedules prepared by the Secretary of the Interior, after consultation with the Lower Brule Tribal Council to correct known errors and to insure fair and equitable allocation. These schedules shall reflect the amount agreed upon by the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of the Interior as the basis for negotiation, after appropriate acreage adjustments, increased by a uniform percentage to equal the amount paid. The amounts allocated for payment of property owned by individual
Indians shall be credited to their respective individual Indian money accounts. No part of the compensation provided for in section 1 shall be subject to any lien, debt, or claim of any nature whatsoever against the tribe or the individual Indian owners entitled to the compensation, except delinquent debts owed to the United states by the tribe, or delinquent debts owed to the tribe or to the United States by the individual Indians entitled to the compensation: Provided, That such compensation shall not be applied to the payment of such individual delinquent debts unless the Secretary of the Interior first determines and certifies that no hardship will result from the payment of such delinquent debts.
(c) The tribal council, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, shall make available from the funds authorized by section 1 (a) (2) of this Act not to exceed $247,325, to pay the expenses, costs, losses, and damages incurred by members of the tribe as a direct result of moving themselves and their possessions, including dwellings and other buildings owned by the individual members, on account of the acquisition referred to in section 1 of this Act. The balance of the amount paid pursuant to section 1(a) (2) shall be consolidated with the appropriation authorized by section 3 of this Act and shall be expended in accordance with the provisions of section 3.
There is authorized to be appropriated the additional sum of $1,968,750 which shall be deposited in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the tribe and which shall draw interest on the principal at the rate of 4 per centum per annum until expended, for the purposes of developing individual and family plans, relocating, reestablishing, and providing other assistance designed to improve the economic and social conditions of enrolled members of the tribe on the date of enactment of this Act. The funds authorized by this section shall be expended in accordance with plans and programs approved by both the tribal council and the Secretary of the Interior: Provided, That $400,000 shall be allocated exclusively for industrial development on the reservation or within fifty miles of any exterior boundary of the reservation with preferential right of employment for members of the tribe. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prevent cooperative action with the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe on industrial development or other programs: And provided further, That no part of such funds shall be used for per capita payments, or for the purchase of land by the tribe except for the purpose of resale to individual Indians in furtherance of the rehabilitation program authorized by this section, which resale is hereby authorized.
The Secretary of the Army, out of funds appropriated for the Big Bend project other than funds provided, by this Act, is authorized and directed to relocate and reestablish such Indian cemeteries, tribal monuments, and shrines within the taking area of the Big Bend project as the tribal council, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, shall select and designate: Provided, That reinterment of individual remains, but not entire cemeteries, outside the reservation boundaries is authorized if desired by the next of kin and approved by the tribal council, but in no event will reinterment be made to a site which exceeds the equivalent distance from the disinterment site to the farthest point at which reinterment could be made within the reservation boundaries.
The Secretary of the Army is authorized and directed out of funds appropriated for the Big Bend project other than funds provided by this Act to protect, replace, relocate, or reconstruct any existing essential governmental and agency facilities on the reservation, including schools, hospitals, Public Health Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs offices, facilities, service buildings, and employees' quarters, roads, bridges, and incidental matters or facilities in connection therewith, which the Secretary of the Interior determines
will be impaired or required by reason of the Big Bend project: Provided, however, That the design criteria employed shall be reasonably comparable to that of the presently existing roads, bridges, and facilities.
The Secretary of the Army, under plans approved by the Secretary of the Interior after consultation with the Lower Brule Tribal Council, is authorized and directed, out of funds appropriated for the Big Bend project other than funds provided by this Act, to locate, lay out, and construct on tribal land on a site provided by the Lower Brule Sioux Council with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior a townsite for the new town of Lower Brule, including substitute and replacement streets, utilities, including water, sewerage, and electricity, taking into account the relocation and replacement of the governmental and agency facilities as provided for in section 5 of this Act and the reasonable future growth of the new town: Provided, however, That the design criteria employed shall be reasonably comparable to that of the existing town streets, utilities, and facilities. The tribal council is authorized, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior (a) to convey, with or without compensation, tribal land, exclusive of minerals, for church or cemetery purposes for so long as the land is used for such purposes, and (b) to sell unimproved lots, exclusive of minerals, in the relocated town of Lower Brule at competitive sale to the highest qualified bidder but for not less than the appraised value, pursuant to such terms and condition as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe.
All minerals of any kind whatsoever, including oil and gas, but excluding gravel, in the lands taken by this Act are hereby reserved for the benefit of the tribe or individual Indian owners as their interests may appear. All right, title, and interest of the United States in such minerals in trust or restricted land heretofore acquired by the United States for the Big Bend project are hereby revested in the former owners. All such minerals in trust or restricted land hereafter acquired by the United States for the Big Bend project shall be reserved for the benefit of the owners as their interests may appear. Nothwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section the exploration and development of such minerals, including oil and gas, within the taking area shall be subject to all reasonable regulations of the Secretary of the Army necessary for the protection of the Big Bend project.
Members of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe now residing within the taking area of the Big Bend project shall have the right without charge to remain on and use the lands taken by this Act until required to vacate to such times as may be fixed by the Secretary of the Army, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior: Provided, That the time for vacating in any event will not extend beyond July 1, 1963.
Individual Indians and the tribe are authorized without charge to retain timber and improvements removed by them from their respective trust or restricted lands on the reservation acquired by this Act and heretofore acquired by the United States for the Big Bend project. Up to sixty days before the individual Indian landowners and the tribe are required to vacate the taking area in accordance with this Act, they shall have the right, without charge, to cut and remove all timber and to salvage any improvements on their respective lands, but, if such rights are not exercised or are waived within the time prescribed, the tribe, through its tribal council, may exercise such rights: Provided, That the timber cut and the salvage permitted by this section shall not be construed to be compensation.
Subject to the right of the United States to occupy, use, and control trust and restricted lands acquired by this Act and heretofore acquired in condemnation action civil numbered 335 for the
construction, operation, and maintenance of the Big Bend Dam and Reservoir project pursuant to the Flood Control Act of 1944, approved December 22, 1944, and amendatory laws, as determined necessary by the Secretary of the Army adequately to serve said purposes, the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe shall be permitted, after the Big Bend Dam gates are closed and the waters of the Missouri River impounded, to graze stock without charge on such of the land described in this section as lies between the level of the reservoir and the taking line described in section 16 of this Act and as the Secretary of the Army determines is not devoted to other beneficial uses and to lease such land for grazing purposes to members or nonmembers of the tribe on such terms and conditions as the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe. The tribe and members thereof shall have without cost the right of free access to the shoreline of the reservoir including the right to hunt and fish in and on the aforesaid shoreline and reservoir, subject, however, to regulations governing the corresponding use by other citizens of the United States.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for the purposes of (1) providing substitute land for individual Indians who owned land within the taking area of the Fort Randall or Big Bend projects, (2) consolidating landholdings, and (3) eliminating fractionated heirship interests within the reservation, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to purchase, with funds made available by such individual Indians or by the tribe, land or interests in land, and to sell tribal land upon request of the tribe, but no service charge shall be made by the United States. The land selected by and purchased for individual Indians may be either inside or outside the boundaries of the reservation. Title to any land or interests in land acquired within the boundaries of the reservation shall be taken in the name of the United States in trust for the tribe or the individual Indian for whom the land is acquired, and title to any land or interests in land acquired outside the boundaries of the reservation shall be taken in the name of the individual for whom it is acquired: Provided, That title to lands outside the exterior boundaries of the reservation acquired by the tribe shall be taken in the name of the tribe subject to a restriction against alienation without the consent of the Secretary of the Interior, but shall not be exempt from taxation.
For the purposes of this section, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to partition or sell individual owned lands in which all interests are held in trust or restricted status (1) upon the request of the owners of not less than a 25 per centum interest in such land where ten persons or more own or claim interests in the land, or (2) upon the request of the owners of not less than a 50 per centum interest in such land where fewer than ten persons own or claim interests in the land. For the purpose of this section, the Secretary of the Interior may represent any Indian owner who is a minor or who is under any other legal disability, and the Secretary, after first giving reasonable notice by publication of the proposed sale, is authorized to represent any Indian owner or claimant who cannot be located after reasonable and diligent search. Sales of all Indian trust or restricted interests in land shall be in accordance with the following procedure:
(a) Upon receipt of requests from the required ownership interests, the Secretary shall notify the tribe and each owner of an undivided Indian interest in the land by a letter directed to his last known address that each such owner and the tribe has a right to purchase the land for its appraised value, unless one of the owners objects within the time fixed by the Secretary, or for a lower price if all of the owners agree, and that if more than one owner or if one owner and the tribe wants to purchase the land it will be sold on the basis of sealed competitive bids restricted to the owners of undivided interests in the land and the tribe.
(b) If no Indian owner of an undivided interest in the land elects to purchase the land within the time fixed by the Secretary, and the tribe owns no interest in the land, the Secretary shall offer to sell the land at its appraised value to the tribe, unless one of the Indian owners or his authorized representative objects within the time fixed by the Secretary to a sale to the tribe at the appraised value.
(c) If any Indian owner or his authorized representative objects to a sale to the tribe at the appraised value, the Secretary shall offer the land for sale by sealed competitive bid with a preferential right in the tribe or any Indian owner to meet the high bid, unless one of the Indian owners or his authorized representative objects within the time fixed by the Secretary to the grant of such preferential right. All bids shall be rejected if no bid substantially equal to the appraised value is received.
(d) If any Indian owner or his authorized representative objects to a sale by sealed competitive bid with a preferential right to meet the high bid, the Secretary shall offer the land for sale by sealed bids without such preferential right: Provided, That, if at any time before sealed bids are invited the tribe or one of the Indian owners asks that the land be sold at auction, then after notice to all interested parties, including the tribe, the land shall be sold at auction immediately after the opening of the sealed bids and auction bidding shall be limited to the Indian owners, the tribe, and persons who submitted sealed bids in amounts not less than 75 per centum of the appraised value of the land. The highest sealed bid shall be considered the opening auction bid. No sale shall be made unless the price is equal to the highest sealed bid and substantially equal to the appraised value.
(e) The Secretary may, when he deems it in the best interests of the Indian owners, obtain a power of attorney from the owner of a non-Indian interest in the land to be sold authorizing the Secretary to sell and convey the interest of the non-Indian owner in accordance with any part of the procedure provided in this section.
The Secretary of the Treasury, upon certification by the Secretary of the Interior, shall reimburse the tribe for fees and expenses incurred in connection with the taking of Indian lands within the reservation for the Big Bend project: Provided, That such reimbursable fees and expenses shall not exceed in the aggregate, $75,000: Provided further, That attorney fees shall be paid under the terms of a contract approved by the Secretary of the Interior.
(a) Any individual Indian who has been duly tendered payment in accordance with the schedules prepared pursuant to section 2 (b) of this Act, shall have the right to reject the sum tendered by filing a notice of rejection with the Chief of Engineers, United States Army, Washington, District of Columbia, or with the superintendent of the Pierre Indian Agency, Pierre, South Dakota, within one year from the date of enactment of this Act or within ninety days after the tender is made, whichever date is later. For the purpose of this section, the Secretary of the Interior and the tribe are authorized to represent any Indian entitled to payment who is a minor, or under any other legal disability, or who cannot be located after a reasonable and diligent search, and any person who is an undetermined heir or devisee of a deceased Indian.
(b) If the land of any Indian rejecting payment is included in condemnation proceedings heretofore instituted, the court in those proceedings shall proceed to determine the just compensation to which the individual is entitled and, if the land is not included in such condemnation proceedings, jurisdiction is hereby conferred upon the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota to determine just compensation in accordance with procedures applicable to the determination of just compensation in condemnation proceedings. No court or statutory costs, but all other costs and expenses,
including attorney's fees, shall be at the contesting individual's expense. Suit may be brought on behalf of any individual rejecting payment within one year after the date of the rejection. If a notice of rejection of the tender of payment is filed, at least 10 per centum of the tender deposited in the individual Indian money account shall be withheld from disbursement pending a final determination under this subsection.
No part of any expenditure made by the United States under any of the provisions of this Act shall be charged by the United States as an offset or counterclaim against any tribal claim against the United States which has arisen prior to the date of enactment of this Act. The payment of Sioux benefits as provided for in section 17 of the Act of March 2, 1889 (25 Stat. 888), as amended, shall be continued under the provisions of section 14 of the Indian Reorganization Act of June 18, 1934 (48 Stat. 984), on the basis now in operation without regard to the loss of tribal land within the taking area for the Big Bend project.
There is hereby authorized to be appropriated such amounts as may be necessary for the purposes of this Act.
The land taken by section 1 of this Act, embracing approximately 14,299.03 acres, and the land heretofore acquired in condemnation proceedings by civil numbered 335, embracing approximately 310,000 acres, are the lands identified and delimited on a map entitled, "A map delimiting tribal and individual Indian trust and restricted land of the Lower Brule Sioux Reservation acquired by the United States for the Big Bend Dam and Reservoir project for the sum of $825,000". Legal descriptions of the lands shown therein shall be prepared by the Secretary of the Army and attached thereto. The map and descriptions shall be prepared by the Secretary of the Army and shall be filed among the land records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, District of Columbia, and a duplicate original filed and maintained at the agency in Pierre, South Dakota. A true and correct copy of the map and descriptions shall be furnished without cost to the tribe. The Secretary of the Army shall prepare and furnish the Secretary of the Interior and the tribe tract by tract legal descriptions of trust and restricted land acquired by this Act within two years of enactment of this Act: Provided, That within ninety days after notice of rejection is filed pursuant to subsection 13 (a) the Secretary of the Army shall furnish to the individual Indian and to the Superintendent of the Pierre Indian Agency a legal description of the lands covered by the rejection.
All funds authorized by this Act paid to the tribe and individual Indians shall be exempt from all forms of State and Federal taxation.
The Secretary of the Army is authorized and directed to pay to any bona fide lessee or permittee owning improvements situated on Indian tribal land the fair value, as determined by the Secretary, or by a court of competent jurisdiction, of any such improvements which will be rendered inoperative or be otherwise adversely affected by the construction of the Big Bend Dam and Reservoir project.
Approved, October 3, 1962.
