RESERVE CERTAIN PUBLIC-DOMAIN LANDS FOR USE AND BENEFIT OF KANOSH BAND OF INDIANS, UTAH APRIL 19, 1935.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. MURDOCK, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 380] The Committee on Indian Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. 380) to reserve certain public-domain lands in the State of Utah for use and benefit of the Kanosh Band of Indians, Utah, having considered the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it do pass without amendment. This bill has the approval of the Department as can be seen from the following letter addressed to the Chairman of the Senate Indian Committee from the Secretary of the Interior: Hon. ELMER THOMAS, THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, Chairman Committee on Indian Affairs, United States Senate. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Further reference is made to your letter of January 29, requesting a report on S. 380, a bill to reserve 80 acres on the public domain for the use and benefit of the Kanosh Band of Indians in the State of Utah. The Kanosh Band is one of several scattered bands of nontreaty Indians of Utah. Several of the members of the band have received allotments on the public domain under the provisions of section 4 of the general allotment act of February 8, 1887 (24 Stat. L. 388), as amended. In order that the Indians would have sufficient land for the grazing of a few cattle and sheep, 920 acres of public domain adjacent to the allotments were reserved for them by the act of February 11, 1929 (45 Stat. L. 1161). If S. 380 is enacted, it will add to the reserved area 80 acres, described as W/2 SW/4, section 10, township 23 south, range 5 west, Salt Lake meridian. This land was included in application for public-domain allotments filed many years ago by members of the band. The applications were rejected, but the Indians have always considered the land was theirs and have continued to use it. There are now about 39 individuals in the Kanosh Band. The 80 acres proposed to be reserved for them is the only irrigable land available for their use. The members of the band have been using it in common and, therefore, it if is H. Repts., 74-1, vol. 223 reserved all will be benefited. None of their present allotted or reserved land is irrigable. If this tract should be lost to these Indians it would leave them without any lands which could be farmed. The Commissioner of the General Land Office, under date of April 10, 1934, advised that the tract in question is shown by the records of that office to be vacant, unappropriated public land. In view of the foregoing, I recommend that S. 380 be enacted. 1st Session No. 738 EXCHANGE OF LANDS RESERVED FOR THE SEMINOLE INDIANS IN FLORIDA APRIL 19, 1935.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. ROGERS of Oklahoma, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 654] The Committee on Indian Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. 654) authorizing the exchange of the lands reserved for the Seminole Indians in Florida for other lands, having considered the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it do pass without amend ment. This bill has the approval of the Department, as can be seen from the following letter from the Secretary of the Interior addressed to the Chairman of the Senate Indian Committee. Hon. ELMER Thomas, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, Chairman Committee on Indian Affairs, United States Senate. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Reference is made to your letter of January 24, requesting a report on S. 654, a bill authorizing the exchange of lands reserved for the Seminole Indians in Florida for other lands. The groups of Seminole Indians now living in Florida are remnants of the Seminole Nation which was moved to Indian Territory (now the State of Oklahoma), in accordance with the treaties of March 28, 1833 (7 Stat. L. 423), January 4, 1845 (9 Stat. L. 821), and August 7, 1856 (11 Stat. L. 699). A number of the Seminole Indians refused to move and receded to the swamps in Florida. Attempts by the Government and by members of the Seminole Nation to persuade them to migrate to the Indian Territory were unsuccessful. Those Indians who remained in Florida lost their rights with the Seminole Nation, and for a number of years no provision was made for them by either the Federal Government or the State of Florida. They lived principally in the Everglades, remaining almost entirely apart from white settlements, and to the present time are shy and retiring in the presence of white people. Because of the inaccessibility of the swamps in which the Seminoles in Florida lived, little was known of them for a number of years. However, as white civilization began to encroach upon their hunting and fishing grounds, the need for some protection for the Indians became apparent; and in accordance with the acts of August 15, 1894 (28 Stat. L. 303), March 2, 1895 (28 Stat. L. 892), June 10, 1896 (29 Stat. L. 337), June 7, 1897 (30 Stat. L. 78), March 1, 1899 (30 Stat. L. 938), and June 6, 1900 (31 Stat. L. 302), 23,062 acres were purchased for the use of the Indians. By Executive order of June 28, 1911, 3,680 acres of public domain were reserved for the Seminole Indians, making a total of 26,742 acres reserved for them by the Federal Government. There are about 560 Seminole Indians in Florida. The State of Florida has shown a willingness to aid in the care of these Indians, and in 1917 the State legislature authorized a reservation of 99,200 acres of State lands for the use of the Indians. Most For the most part, the Indians live in camps in the swamps. Only a few, if any, of the Indians have removed to the lands purchased and reserved for them by the Federal Government, and they make but little use of these lands. of the Indians are now living on unreserved State or privately owned land. The purpose of the proposed legislation is to authorize an exchange of the lands purchased and set aside by Executive order for the Indians with the State of Florida for lands on which the Indians are living, or will make use of, and which will be of substantial benefit to them. In view of their reluctance to move in the past, it does not appear that it would be practicable to try to remove them at this time to the areas reserved for them. So long as they are not living on reserved land, this Department cannot use funds appropriated for Indian purposes in improving their homes or aiding them in other ways to improve their methods of living. If the proposed legislation is enacted, it is hoped that lands can be acquired which will be used by the Indians for homes, gardens, farming, and stock raising, and the Indian Service will then be in a position to extend much more help and protection to them. For further information relative to their present living conditions and their needs for assistance, reference is made to the rather lengthy report on the Seminole Indians in Florida made by Mr. Roy Nash in 1930 and printed in full in Senate Document No. 314, Seventy-first Congress, third session. The area set aside for the Indians by the State of Florida is within the outer boundary of the proposed Everglades National Park. There are at present very few, if any, Indians living upon this tract, and it is hoped the State will set aside for the Indians in lieu of this reserve an area of approximately the same size immediately north of the proposed park. It is believed the lieu tract would be of substantially more benefit to the Indians than the present reserve, and it will fit in well with the program of the Federal Government for improving living conditions among the Seminoles. In view of the foregoing, I recommend that S. 654 be enacted. Sincerely yours, PROVIDING FOR PAYMENT OF $25 TO EACH ENROLLED CHIPPEWA INDIAN, RED LAKE BAND OF MINNESOTA APRIL 19, 1935.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. RYAN, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 4123] The Committee on Indian Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 4123) providing for the payment of $25 to each enrolled Chippewa Indian of the Red Lake Band of Minnesota from the timber funds standing to their credit in the Treasury of the United States, having considered the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it do pass with the following amendments. On page 1, line 7, strike out "$25" and insert in lieu thereof "$15". Amend the title so as to read as follows: Providing for the payment of $15 to each enrolled Chippewa Indian of the Red Lake Band of Minnesota from the timber funds standing to their credit in the Treasury of the United States. The Commissioner of Indian Affairs was present at the committee meeting when the above amendment was made and stated that the Department would have no objection to this bill as amended. The following is a letter from the Secretary of the Interior regarding this bill: Hon. WILL ROGERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Chairman Committee on Indian Affairs, House of Representatives. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Reference is made to your request of January 21, for a report on H. R. 4123, which would authorize a payment of $25 to each enrolled Chippewa Indian of the Red Lake Band of Minnesota, from the timber fund standing to their credit in the Treasury of the United States. In connection with this bill careful consideration has been given to the needs of these Indians in relation to the amounts that have been expended from emer. gency funds for the benefit of the Indians of that jursidiction. |