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Show REPORT OF THE CO~ISSIONER OR INDIAN AVFAIEB. 107 i the ofice of the register of deeds of Swain, Cherokee, and Gmham counties, and when so registered to bax-e the effect of a deed of con-veyance, and to transfer to the party or parties to whom the conrey-ance is therein directed to be made the legal title to tbe land therein directed to be conveyed, to be held in the same plight, condition, and estate as though the eonveyance ordered were in fact executed, and to bind and entitle the parties ordered to execute or take benefit of the conveyance in and to all such provisions, conditions, and covenants as may be adjudged, to attend the eonveyance in the same manner and to the same extent as the conveyance or conveyanc,es would if the same were executed according to the decree. A deed was made March 26, 1902, by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, as ordered by the court, and is duly recorded in this oEce in Miscellaneous liecord Book, volume 5, pages 189-193, and appears on page 548 of this report. Thus it will be seen that this band of Indians holds all their lands in Qualla Boilndary and elsewhere in fee;as a corporation, duly organized under the laws of the State of North Carolina, and that Government jurisdiction over the lands and lndians is limited by the decrees of the I courts to &es where fraud, injustice, or unfair dealing is alleged. .AG REEMENT WITH FORT BERTHOLD INDIANS, NORTH DAKOTA. I An agreement was negotiated with the Indians of the ~ b rBt e rthold Reservation, N. Dak., on the 25th day of June, 1902, by which they ceded to the United States 208,000 acres of land. This agreement was submitted to Congress at its last s~ssionb, ut was not ratified. It is hoped that it will be ratified at the coming session of Congress. DIVISION OF KANSA (OR RAW) LANDS, OKLAHOMA. The agreement of the Kansa (or Kaw) Indians for an equal division of their tribal lands and funds was ratified by the act of July 1,1902 (32 Stat., 636). Section 1 of the agreement provides that each member of the tribe shall select a homestead of 160 acres, and that the remainder of the lands shall be equally divided among them by a committee appointed for this purpose. The homesteads are inalienable and non-taxable for a period of twenty-five years, and the allotments are exempt from taxation as long as the title remains in a member of the tribe, not to exceed a period of twenty-five years, and shall not be sold or encumbered in any way before the expiration of ten years. However, section 10 of the agreement providei that the Secretary of the Interior, in his discretion, at the request of any adult member of the tribe, may issue a certificate authorizing him to sell and convey |