Source: http://www.chanrobles.com/usa/us_supremecourt/254/103/case.php
Timestamp: 2018-08-21 09:37:10
Document Index: 127915287

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 22', '§ 19', '§ 1', '§ 28', '§ 7', '§ 5', '§ 22', '§ 9', '§ 22', '§ 9', '§ 1', '§ 6', '§ 9', '§ 6']

HARRIS V. BELL, 254 U. S. 103 (1920) - US SUPREME COURT DECISIONS ON-LINE
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5. Section 6 of the Act of May 27, 1908, supra, which subjects the persons and property of minor allottees to the jurisdiction of the probate courts of the State of Oklahoma does not include or affect inherited lands in its provision that "no restricted lands of living minors shall be sold or encumbered, except by leases authorized by law, by order of the court, or otherwise." Id. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
250 F.2d 9 affirmed.
By this suit, certain conveyances of lands allotted in the name and right of a Creek Indian after his death were assailed, and their cancellation sought, by the heirs who chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
made them. On the final hearing, the district court upheld two of the conveyances, 235 F.6d 6, and that decree was affirmed by the circuit court of appeals, 250 F.2d 9. The present appeal is by the heirs.
Originally, all lands allotted to living members in their own right were subjected to specified restrictions on alienation, but those allotted in the right of deceased members were left unrestricted up to the passage of the act of April 26, 1906, c. 1876, 34 Stat. 137. Skelton v. Dill, 235 U. S. 206; Adkins v. Arnold, 235 U. S. 417, 235 U. S. 420; Mullen v. United States, 224 U. S. 448; Brader v. James, 246 U. S. 88, 246 U. S. 94; Talley v. Burgess, 246 U. S. 104, 246 U. S. 107. Section 19 of that act materially revised the restrictions respecting lands of living allottees, and § 22 dealt with the alienation of inherited lands, including, as this Court has chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
The lands in question were allotted in the name and right of Freeland Francis, a Creek child who was born in 1903, was lawfully enrolled June 10, 1905, and died twelve days later. After his death, the allotment was chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
At the time of Freeland's death, the family was residing in that part of the Indian Territory which, on the advent of statehood (November 16, 1907) became Wagoner County, and, shortly after his death, they removed to and ever since have resided in what became Okmulgee County. The lands are in the latter county, and it was in the county court thereof that the guardian's sale and conveyance were directed and approved. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
1. It is urged that the heirs took the lands as allottees, and not as heirs of Freeland -- in other words, that they received the lands as a direct allotment to them, and not as an inheritance -- and therefore that such of them as were full-blood Indians were restrained and disabled from disposing of the lands by reason of the restrictions applicable to living allottees of the full blood. If the premise were right, the conclusion would be unavoidable. See § 19, Act of 1906, supra, and § 1, Act of 1908, supra. But the premise is not right, as is shown by statutes already mentioned, such as § 28 of the Act of 1901, § 7 of the Act of 1902 and § 5 of the Act of 1906. The allotment was made in virtue of the right of Freeland, who was one of those among whom the tribal property was to be distributed. Under the statutes, that right was not extinguished by his death, but was preserved for his heirs, and it was preserved for them because they were his heirs, and not because their relation to it was otherwise different from that of other members of the tribe. Such individual claims as they had to the tribal lands were to be satisfied by their individual allotments. What they were to receive in the right of Freeland was the lands and moneys to which "he would be entitled if living," and these were to "descend" to and vest in them as "his heirs," as if he had received the same "during his life." Putting aside the distinctions between title by purchase and title by descent chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
2. The first restrictions applicable to Creek lands such as these were embodied in § 22 of the Act of 1906, hereinbefore set forth. As respects the mother's conveyance, which was executed January 15, 1908, all that was necessary under that section to make the conveyance effective -- the mother being an adult full-blood Indian -- was that it be approved by the Secretary of the Interior. As before shown, it was approved by that officer July 6, 1910. But it is urged that, before his approval was given, all power to approved had been taken from him and lodged elsewhere by the Act of May 27, 1908. Evidently the Secretary did not so construe that act when his approval was given, else he would have withheld it. Not only so, but his action in this instance was in accord with the practice of his office for a considerable period, and also with an opinion rendered to him by the Attorney General. 27 Ops.Attys.Gen. 530. This administrative view is, of course, entitled to respect, and those who have relied thereon ought not lightly to be put in peril. But it is not controlling. We have examined the act, including § 9, upon which reliance is had, and are of opinion that, as to conveyances made prior to the act, the power of the Secretary to examine and approve or disapprove under § 22 of the prior enactment was not taken away. The act contains no express revocation of that power, nor any provision inconsistent with its continued exercise as to prior conveyances. The provision in § 9 that no conveyance of any interest of any full-blood Indian heir shall be valid "unless approved by the court having jurisdiction of the settlement of the chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
3. Section 6 of the Act of 1908 subjects the persons and property of minor allottees to the jurisdiction of the probate courts of the state, and, in a proviso, says: "No restricted lands of living minors shall be sold or incumbered, except by leases authorized by law, by order of the court or otherwise." One ground on which the guardian's sale on behalf of the minor heirs, Amos and Elizabeth, is assailed is that it was in violation of this proviso. But, in our opinion, the proviso does not include or affect inherited lands. It refers, as a survey of the act shows, to lands of living minor allottees, and not to lands inherited from deceased allottees. Section 9 expressly recognizes that the latter may be sold, and this proviso cannot be taken as prescribing the contrary. The word "living" evidently is intended to mark the distinction. What is intended is to make sure that minor allottees receive the benefit of the restrictions prescribed in § 1, and not to impose others. Apparently it was apprehended that the general language of § 6 might be taken as enabling probate chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Of course, the purpose in requiring any approval is to safeguard the interests of the full-blood Indian heir. Where he is a minor, he can convey only through a guardian, and no court is in a better situation to appreciate and safeguard his interests than the one wherein the guardianship is pending. Besides, as a general rule, a guardianship carries with it exclusive power to direct the guardian and to supervise the management and disposal of the ward's property. It is so in Oklahoma. This rule is so widely recognized and so well grounded in reason that a purpose to depart from it ought not to be assumed unless manifested by some very clear or explicit provision. The Act of 1908 contains no manifestation of such a purpose outside the proviso in § 9. That proviso seems broad, but so is the provision in § 6 subjecting the persons and property of minor Indians to local guardianship. As both are in the same act, they evidently were intended to operate harmoniously, and should be construed accordingly. The proviso does not mention minors under guardianship, and to regard its general words as including them will either take all supervision of the sale of their interest in chanroblesvirtualawlibrary