OCR Text |
Show dians to the Indians: advantage, for even crude and imperfect exam-ples of industry and thrift invariably have had their influence; and, in truth, the great majority of the settlers who have become neighbors to the Indians are capable of setting high standards in husbandry and perseverance. The completion of allotments incidentally furnishes a tribal fund from the net proceeds of the sale of surplus lands. I SALES OF %AND. The great policy of changing the Indian's native view, of bring-ing each allotted Indian to look upon some piece of land as pecul-iarly his individual property, and to make it a means of self-support does not require that in all cases all the land should be inalienable during the period covered by the Governinent's trust patent. As it is no part of the Government's policy that an Indian should have more land than he can utilize, Congress in 1902 provided that the hein of deceased allottees might sell and convey the land they inherited, subject to tke approval of the Secretary of the Interior. Under this " act many Indians have sold their inherited lands and used the pro-oeeds to improve the allotments on which they live. In 1906 further legislation was passed requiring the Secretary of the Interior to ascertain the legal heirs of Indians who died after being allotted subsequently to the act, and either to cause to be issued to the heirs a patent in fee or to have the land sold and a patent issued to the purchaser. In 1906 Congress also provided a way for original allottees to sell their land, by vesting the Secretary of the Interior with power to cause a patent in fee to be issued to any allottee of whose com-petency to manage his affairs the Secretary was satisfied. In 1907 tho Congress went further, in the Noncompetent act," permitting the allottees to sell their lands if they had the approval of the Secretary provement of their remaining lands. Under the provisions of the statutes Sust mentioned and under of the Interior. Thus, Indians possessing no inherited lands have been able to sell part of their allotments to obtain money for the im- ] I special acts affecting only limited districts, administrative action in this office for the fiscal year affected 340,000 acres, of which the lands covered by approvals for sale, aggregating 150,000 acres, were dis-posed of for a total of almost $2,500,000, or an average of $16 per acre. Another method for alienating allotments was authorized by the Congress in 1910; the statute allows an Indian to devise his trust land if he is over 21 years of age and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and the Secretary of the Interior have approved the will.pftar a 1 |