Volume 86 · 200
Public Law 92–309
To provide for the disposition of funds appropriated to pay judgments in favor of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and the Miami Indians of Indiana in Indian Claims Commission dockets numbered 255 mid 124—C, dockets numbered 256, 12TU, E, and F, and dockets numbered 131 mid 253, and of funds appropriated to pay a judgment in favor of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma In docket numbered 251—A, and for other purposes.
Approved June 2, 1972
Statutory text
AN ACT
To provide for the disposition of funds appropriated to pay judgments in favor of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and the Miami Indians of Indiana in Indian Claims Commission dockets numbered 255 mid 124—C, dockets numbered 256, 12TU, E, and F, and dockets numbered 131 mid 253, and of funds appropriated to pay a judgment in favor of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma In docket numbered 251—A, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
That the funds
Miami Indians of Indiana and Oklahoma.
Judgment fund distribution.
appropriated by the Acts of July 22, 1969 (83 Stat. 49), and January 8, 1971 (84 Stat. 1981), to pay judgments awarded to the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and the Miami Indians of Indiana in Indian Claims Commission dockets numbered 255 and 124—C, dockets numbered 256, 124—D, E, and F, and dockets numbered 131 and 253, and to pay a judgment awarded to the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma in docket numbered 251—A, together with interest thereon, after payment of attorney fees and litigation expenses, shall be distributed as provided in this Act.
Sec. 2.
The Secretary may make appropriate withdrawals from the judgment funds and interest thereon, using interest funds first, to pay costs incident to carrying out the provisions of this Act.
Sec. 3.
The Secretary of the Interior shall bring current to the date of this Act the roll prepared pursuant to section 4 of the Act
of October 11, 1960 (80 Stat. 909), by (a) adding the names of persons living on the date of this Act who were eligible for enrollment under said section 4 but were not enrolled, (b) by adding the names of children born to enrollees on or prior to the date of this Act and who are living on said date, (c) by adding the names of children born to persons who were eligible for enrollment under said section 4 but who were not enrolled, regardless of whether such persons are living or deceased on the date of this Act, provided said children of such persons are living on the date of this Act, and (d) by deleting the names of persons who are deceased as of the date of this Act.
Sec. 4.
An application for addition of a name to the roll pursuant to section 3 or this Act must be filed with the area director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Muskogee, Oklahoma, on forms prescribed for that purpose, The determination of the Secretary regarding the eligibility of an applicant shall be final.
Sec. 5.
On completion of the roll by the Secretary of the Interior, the balance of the funds appropriated to satisfy the judgments in dockets numbered 255 and 124—C, dockets numbered 256, 124—D, E, and F, and dockets numbered 131 and 253, and interest accumulated thereon, shall be distributed equally to the individuals enrolled.
Sec. 6.
The funds on deposit in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma that were appropriated by the Act of July 22, 1969 (83 Stat. 49), to pay a judgment by the Indian Claims Commission in docket numbered 251—A, together with the interest thereon, after payment of attorney fees and expenses, may be advanced or expended for any purpose that is authorized by the tribal governing body of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, and approved by the Secretary of the Interior.
Sec. 7.
Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the Secretary of the Interior shall distribute a per capita share payable to a living enrollee directly to such enrollee, and shall distribute a per capita share payable to a deceased enrollee directly to his heirs or legatees upon proof of death and inheritance satisfactory to the Secretary, whose findings upon such proof shall be final and conclusive.
Sums payable to enrollees or their heirs or legatees who are less than eighteen years of age or who are under a legal disability shall be paid in accordance with such procedures, including the establishment of trusts, as the Secretary of the Interior determines appropriate to protect the best interest of such persons.
Sec. 8.
None of the funds distributed under the provisions of this Act shall be subject to Federal or State income taxes.
Sec. 9.
The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to prescribe rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this Art. including the establishment of deadlines.
Approved June 2, 1972.