OCR Text |
Show fair and equitable division of tribal property, each member of the tribe having an equal share. The general allotment act provides that lands, when allotted, shall not be immediately conveyed to che allottees, but shall be held in trust for a period of 25 years (which period may beindefinitely extended by the President), at the end of which it is to be conveyed to the allot-tee or his heir.?, in fee, discharged of the' trust and free or all incum-brance. The allottee ia thus secured in the possession of his home for at least 25 years, during which time the foree of example, education, and eontact with white civilization will, in a great degree, fit him for absolute and unconditioned ownership. Special acts have since been , passed or agreemwnts concluded under whieh allot~nents have been made or are to be made, but all of them contain substautially the same provision as to the trust period. The work of makiug allotments has been carried on since the date of the last annual report, as follows: To the Indians on the Yankton Reservation, 1,484 patents have been issued and will bedelivered at an early day. The work of revising allotments made to the Yankton Sioux, rendered nemssary by theact of February 28,1891, was begun about the 1st of June last and will probably be completed by the 1st of January next. To the Sac an& Fox Indians of Oklahoma, 548 patents have been issued and delivered under the agreement ratified by the act of February 13, 1891 (26 Stats., 719), by which 160 aores were allotted to each mem-ber of the tribe, 80 acres to be held in trust for 5 years and 80 acres for a period of 25 years. To the Eastern Shawnees in the India11 Territory, 72 patents have been issued and delivered. a The following allotments have bevn approved and the issuance of ~ . patents directed : I Y Modoos in the Indian Territory ...................................... 68 Pspegoea in Arizona ................................................. 291 Ponoas in South Dakota ............................................. 167 Grande Ruude Indiana in Oregon .................................... 269 . Citizen Pottawstomies in Oklahoms. : ............................... 1,363 Abaentee Shawnees in Oklahoma .................................... 563 Iowa8 in Oklahoma .................................................. 109 - Total ......................................................... 2,830 A schedule of 1,530 allotments made to the Oneida Indiana in Wia. consin has also been submitted for approval. The following schedules of allotments have been received in thie office, but not yet acted upon : To Sac and Fox Indieus in Kansas and Nebraska. ...................... 76 To Wyandottes ip Indian Territory .................................... 238 Work is progressing in the field as follows : / I:O nthe Lake Tmr e r ~Re eservation, in South Dakota, i t will probably '? completed early in October. |