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Show REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS _ 11 cant is competent and will be permanently benefited by the release of his landed property from Governmental control. This protective policy has not prevented the consideration. of sales of lands, under Government supervision and after competltive biddmg, to provide funds in cases of emergency. SALESOF INDI~A~NN~ s.-Durintgh e year 852 applications for fee patents were received; 322 were granted and 530 denied. Certifi-cates of competency were issued to 72 applicants, and the restrictions against sales were removed from 20 allotments. There were sold 433 tracts, aggregating 44,217 acres of original allotments, and 770 tracts of inherited lands, aggregating 81,834 acres, a total of 126,051 acres, for a total considerat~on of $2,713,416. This is a decrease of 13,413 acres as compared to the area sold during the preceding year, but the increase in proceeds amounted to $218,001. On several reser-vations the bids received for the tracts more recently advertised indicate a marked increase in demand with corres.po ndin-gl.y hig- her offers. Many allotments are not entirely suitable as home sites for Indian families and there is a growing t ~ d e n c on them part to use an inherited tract in preference to the orlglna 9a llotmentl or to remove to one of the near-by towns, buy a home there with them sale proceeds, and become town residents. Often among the younger groups the head of the family finds employment in some mechanical capacity. Initiative of this sort is to be encouraged, and where the proceeds of sales will enable such social and business betterment its use m the purchase of town property is effected through the agen consent of the Secretary of the Interior. 7 protection of such families their title is made inalienab eO wffiictehs.o ut Ftohre Though farm life does not appeal to all Indians, there are many who are retaining and cultivating the more suitable tracts and using their moneys in permanent improvements and equipment. Such is the condition within the Kiowa Reservation, where 96 new houses were erwted at a cost of $188,640 and 57 barns at an expenditure of $41,496, with other improvements. These Indians expended in 1926, under the sunerintendent's sn.oe rvision. $272.021 out of sale receiots 7 . 2 amounting t; $592,901. Individual Indian moneys deposited in bonded banks are available for expenditure by check of the Indian owners, thus giving them an economic standing superior to that of many of their white neighbors. SUITS FILFD IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF CLAIMS Suits have been filed during the year in the United States Court of Claims for the adjudication of Indian claims, as follows: BlacWeet Nation, Montana, including the Nee Perees of the Colville (Wash.), and Fort Lapwai (Idaho) Reservations, and the Gros Ventre Tribe of the Fort Belknap Reservation, Mont. Suit flled July 10, 1925. Delaware Tribe of Oklahoma. A second petition was flled October 2, 19%. Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, Oklahoma. Suit flled October 21, 1925. Kaw Tribe, Oklahoma. Suit flled February 9, 1928. Creek Nation, Oklahoma. Suit filed May 20, 1926. Choctaw Nation, Oklahoma. Three suits flled June 14, 1926. Suit filed September 30, 1924, on behalf of the Yankton Sioux, South Dakota, claiming title and compensation for the red pipestone quarries, Minnesota, |