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Show 32 BFZORT OF TEE C O M ~ ~ ~ I O N OEPR I NDIAN ~ FBIBS . A bill to set aside 15 townships in Monroe County, Fla., was intro-duced in the legialature of that State in 1911, but failed to become law. During the period from 1895 to 1900, from funds provided by Con-gress, 23,061.72 acres lying in Ts. 47 and 48 s., Rs. 32,33, and 34 E., were purchased for the Seminole Indians. On November 22, 1897, there were withdrawn for them approximately 480 acres lying in Ts. 50 and 51 S., Rs. 40 and 41 E. All efforts for their education on the part of the State and Federal Governments and missions have been unsuccessful, because of the severe penalty inflicted by the tribal laws on any Seminole who learns to read and write. TRUST PLAN FOR PUEBLOS. I t has been proposed that the lands of the Pueblo Indians shall he deeded by them to ;he Government to be held in trust for their benefit for a period of 25 years. There are 20 Pueblos in New Mexico, with a total population of about 6,000 Indians, Laguna, with about 1,600, being the largest. The land grants to these Indians were in most cases made by the King of Spain in 1691, or later, and these titles have been confirmed to them by Congress or by the Court of Private Land Claims and patented since the American occupation after the Mexican War. These Indians have lost considerable land through their own improv-idence, the encroachments of white settlers, and the adverse deci-sions of the courts, and there are now pending before the courts suits involving the title to much of it. Owing to the gradual loss of land, and the ditficulty of maintain-ing schools and otherwise administering the affairs of these Indians because of the lack of jurisdiction over their lands, the department, in 1911, recommended to Congress the enactment of legislation which would permit the Secretary to accept, on behalf of the United States, as trustee, all such lands as might be conveyed by any of the com-munities of Pueblo Indians. The bib making this provision were introduced in the Sixty-second Congress as H. R. 22528 and S. 6085. Representatives of 11 of the Pueblos made a trip to Washington last February, accompanied by their special attorney, to urge upon the department the acceptance of trust deeds and to petition Congress to enact legislation authorizing the Seoretary of the Interior to accept the trust. These Indians appeared before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in connection with the hearing on Senate bill 6085, where they argued that if their property is to be conserved it will be necessary for the United States to hold it in trust for the next 25 or more years, and until the coming generation may have an oppor-tunity to become educated. |