§ 475 TITLE 25—INDIANS Page 194

the Act of May 29, 1908 (25 Stat. L. 451), or under

any prior Act, and who have the prescribed

status of the head of a family or single person

over the age of eighteen years, and his approval

shall be final and conclusive, claims therefor to

be paid as formerly from the permanent appropriation made by said section 17 and carried on

the books of the Treasury for this purpose. No

person shall receive in his own right more than

one allowance of the benefits, and application

must be made and approved during the lifetime

of the allottee or the right shall lapse. Such benefits shall continue to be paid upon such reservation until such such time as the lands available therein for allotment on June 18, 1934,

would have been exhausted by the award to each

person receiving such benefits of an allotment of

eighty acres of such land.

(June 18, 1934, ch. 576, §14, 48 Stat. 987.)

REFERENCES IN TEXT

Section 17 of the Act of March 2, 1889, referred to in

text, probably means section 17 of act Mar. 2, 1889, ch.

405, 25 Stat. 894, which contains a proviso that each

head of family or single person over the age of eighteen

years of the Sioux Nation of Indians, ‘‘who shall have

or may hereafter take his or her allotment of land in

severalty, shall be provided with two milch cows, one

pair of oxen, with yoke and chain, or two mares and

one set of harness in lieu of said oxen, yoke and chain,

as the Secretary of the Interior may deem advisable,

and they shall also receive one plow, one wagon, one

harrow, one hoe, one axe, and one pitchfork, all suitable to the work they may have to do, and also fifty

dollars in cash; to be expended under the direction of

the Secretary of the Interior in aiding such Indians to

erect a house and other buildings suitable for residence

or the improvement of his allotment; no sales, barters

or bargains shall be made by any person other than

said Indians with each other, of any of the personal

property hereinbefore provided for, and any violation of

this provision shall be deemed a misdemeanor and punished by fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, or imprisonment not exceeding one year or both in the discretion of the court.’’

Act of June 10, 1896, referred to in text, is act June

10, 1896, ch. 398, 29 Stat. 334, which contains a provision

directing the Secretary of the Interior to ascertain the

number of Sioux and Ponca Indians in South Dakota

and Nebraska who would not be benefited by the fulfillment of the proviso quoted above from the act of March

2, 1889, and who desire to have the articles of personal

property, therein mentioned converted into money, and

in lieu of such articles of personal property, or any part

thereof he may think proper, to convert or commute

the same, or so much thereof as he may think proper,

into money, and to pay the amount thereof to such Indians.

This Act, referred to in text, is act June 18, 1934,

which is classified generally to this subchapter. For

complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title note set out under section 461 of this title

and Tables.

Section 19 of the Act of May 29, 1908, referred to in

text, probably means section 19 of act May 29, 1908, ch.

216, 35 Stat. 451, which authorizes the Secretary of the

Interior to cause allotments to be made under the provisions of act Mar. 2, 1889, ch. 405, 25 Stat. 888, to any

living children of the Sioux tribe of Indians belonging

on any of the Great Sioux reservations affected thereby

and who had not prior to May 29, 1908, been allotted, so

long as the tribe to which such Indian children belong

is possessed of any unallotted tribal or reservation

lands. The section further provides that where, for any

reason, an Indian did not receive the quantity of land

to which he was entitled under the provisions of said

act March 2, 1889, the Secretary of the Interior shall

cause to be allotted to him sufficient additional lands

on the reservation to which he belongs to make, together with the quantity of land theretofore allotted to

him, the acreage to which he is entitled under said act

March 2, 1889; and in case of the death of any such Indian, the additional lands to which he is of right entitled may be allotted to his heirs: Provided, the tribe to

which he belonged is possessed of any unallotted tribal

or reservation lands.

APPROPRIATIONS

Section 2 of act June 26, 1934, ch. 756, 48 Stat. 1225,

which was classified to section 725a of former Title 31,

Money and Finance, repealed the permanent appropriation under the title ‘‘Civilization of the Sioux (4x950)’’

effective July 1, 1935, and provided that such portions

of any Acts as make permanent appropriations to be

expended under such account are amended so as to authorize, in lieu thereof, annual appropriations from the

general fund of the Treasury in identical terms and in

such amounts as now provided by the laws providing

such permanent appropriations.

CROSS REFERENCES

Right-of-way grant, consent of tribal officials, see

section 324 of this title.

§ 475. Claims or suits of Indian tribes against

United States; rights unimpaired

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to impair or prejudice any claim or suit of any Indian

tribe against the United States. It is declared to

be the intent of Congress that no expenditures

for the benefit of Indians made out of appropriations authorized by said sections shall be considered as offsets in any suit brought to recover

upon any claim of such Indians against the

United States.

(June 18, 1934, ch. 576, §15, 48 Stat. 987.)

REFERENCES IN TEXT

This Act, referred to in text, is act June 18, 1934,

which is classified generally to this subchapter. For

complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title note set out under section 461 of this title

and Tables.

CROSS REFERENCES

Right-of-way grant, consent of tribal officials, see

section 324 of this title.

SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS

This section is referred to in section 473a of this title.

§ 475a. Offsets of gratuities

In all suits now pending in the United States

Court of Federal Claims by an Indian tribe or

band which have not been tried or submitted,

and in any suit hereafter filed in the United

States Court of Federal Claims by any such

tribe or band, the United States Court of Federal Claims is directed to consider and to offset

against any amount found due the said tribe or

band all sums expended gratuitously by the

United States for the benefit of the said tribe or

band; and in all cases now pending or hereafter

filed in the United States Court of Federal

Claims in which an Indian tribe or band is party

plaintiff, wherein the duty of the court is merely to report its findings of fact and conclusions

to Congress, the said United States Court of

Federal Claims is directed to include in its report a statement of the amount of money which
Page 195 TITLE 25—INDIANS § 476

has been expended by the United States gratuitously for the benefit of the said tribe or band:

Provided, That expenditures made prior to the

date of the law, treaty, agreement, or Executive

order under which the claims arise shall not be

offset against the claims or claim asserted; and

expenditures under the Act of June 18, 1934 (48

Stat. L. 984) [25 U.S.C. 461 et seq.], except expenditures under appropriations made pursuant

to section 5 of such Act [25 U.S.C. 465], shall not

be charged as offsets against any claim on behalf of an Indian tribe or tribes now pending in

the United States Court of Federal Claims or

hereafter filed: Provided further, That funds appropriated and expended from tribal funds shall

not be construed as gratuities; and this section

shall not be deemed to amend or affect the various Acts granting jurisdiction to the United

States Court of Federal Claims to hear and determine the claims listed on page 678 of the

hearings before the subcommittee of the House

Committee on Appropriations on the second deficiency appropriation bill for the fiscal year

1935: And provided further, That no expenditure

under any emergency appropriation or allotment made subsequently to March 4, 1933, and

generally applicable throughout the United

States for relief in stricken agricultural areas,

relief from distress caused by unemployment

and conditions resulting therefrom, the prosecution of public works and public projects for the

relief of unemployment or to increase employment, and for work relief (including the civilworks program) shall be considered in connection with the operation of this section.

(Aug. 12, 1935, ch. 508, §2, 49 Stat. 596; Pub. L.

97–164, title I, §160(a)(8), Apr. 2, 1982, 96 Stat. 48;

Pub. L. 102–572, title IX, §902(b)(1), Oct. 29, 1992,

106 Stat. 4516.)

REFERENCES IN TEXT

Act of June 18, 1934, referred to in text, popularly

known as the Indian Reorganization Act, is classified

generally to this subchapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set

out under section 461 of this title and Tables.

AMENDMENTS

1992—Pub. L. 102–572 substituted ‘‘United States

Court of Federal Claims’’ for ‘‘United States Claims

Court’’ wherever appearing.

1982—Pub. L. 97–164 substituted ‘‘United States

Claims Court’’ for ‘‘Court of Claims’’ wherever appearing.

EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1992 AMENDMENT

Amendment by Pub. L. 102–572 effective Oct. 29, 1992,

see section 911 of Pub. L. 102–572, set out as a note

under section 171 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial

Procedure.

EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1982 AMENDMENT

Amendment by Pub. L. 97–164 effective Oct. 1, 1982,

see section 402 of Pub. L. 97–164, set out as a note under

section 171 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.

§ 476. Organization of Indian tribes; constitution

and bylaws and amendment thereof; special

election

(a) Adoption; effective date

Any Indian tribe shall have the right to organize for its common welfare, and may adopt an

appropriate constitution and bylaws, and any

amendments thereto, which shall become effective when—

(1) ratified by a majority vote of the adult

members of the tribe or tribes at a special

election authorized and called by the Secretary under such rules and regulations as the

Secretary may prescribe; and

(2) approved by the Secretary pursuant to

subsection (d) of this section.

(b) Revocation

Any constitution or bylaws ratified and approved by the Secretary shall be revocable by an

election open to the same voters and conducted

in the same manner as provided in subsection (a)

of this section for the adoption of a constitution

or bylaws.

(c) Election procedure; technical assistance; review of proposals; notification of contrary-toapplicable law findings

(1) The Secretary shall call and hold an election as required by subsection (a) of this section—

(A) within one hundred and eighty days after

the receipt of a tribal request for an election

to ratify a proposed constitution and bylaws,

or to revoke such constitution and bylaws; or

(B) within ninety days after receipt of a tribal request for election to ratify an amendment

to the constitution and bylaws.

(2) During the time periods established by

paragraph (1), the Secretary shall—

(A) provide such technical advice and assistance as may be requested by the tribe or as

the Secretary determines may be needed; and

(B) review the final draft of the constitution

and bylaws, or amendments thereto to determine if any provision therein is contrary to

applicable laws.

(3) After the review provided in paragraph (2)

and at least thirty days prior to the calling of

the election, the Secretary shall notify the

tribe, in writing, whether and in what manner

the Secretary has found the proposed constitution and bylaws or amendments thereto to be

contrary to applicable laws.

(d) Approval or disapproval by Secretary; enforcement

(1) If an election called under subsection (a) of

this section results in the adoption by the tribe

of the proposed constitution and bylaws or

amendments thereto, the Secretary shall approve the constitution and bylaws or amendments thereto within forty-five days after the

election unless the Secretary finds that the proposed constitution and bylaws or any amendments are contrary to applicable laws.

(2) If the Secretary does not approve or disapprove the constitution and bylaws or amendments within the forty-five days, the Secretary’s approval shall be considered as given.

Actions to enforce the provisions of this section

may be brought in the appropriate Federal district court.

(e) Vested rights and powers; advisement of presubmitted budget estimates

In addition to all powers vested in any Indian

tribe or tribal council by existing law, the con-