An Act relating to the Lumbee Indians, of North Carolina
PL 84-570 (H.R.4656), enacted 06/07/1956

254 
PUBLIC LAW 570-JUNE 7, 1956 
[70 STATi 
S u b s i s t e n c e 
charges* 
Additional ho s ' 
pitalizatioTu 
Dependency de-
terminationsc 
Appropri ation. 
Repeals. 
10 u s e 96. 
24 u s e 32-36. 
Exception. 
58 Stat. 697. 
42 u s e 253. 
63 Stat. 201. 
10 u s e 456-456-2 
and notes. 
34 u s e 8 54f. 
Effective date. 
he is dependent, the appropriation supporting the maintenance and 
operation of the medical facility furnishing the medical care shall 
be reimbursed at rates established by the Bureau of the Budget to 
reflect the average cost of providing such care. 
SEC. 302. Commissioned officers and warrant officers, active and 
retired, shall pay an amount equal to the portion of the charge estab-
lished under section 103 (c) of this Act that is attributable to sub-
sistence when hospitalized in a medical facility of a uniformed service. 
Retired enlisted personnel, including members of the Fleet Reserve 
and the Fleet Marine Corps Reserve, shall not be charged for sub-
sistence when hospitalized in a medical facility of a uniformed service. 
SEC. 303. Where a person who is covered under an insurance, medi-
cal service, or health plan or plans, as provided in this Act, requires 
hospitalization beyond the period of time provided under such plan 
or plans, if such hospitalization is authorized in medical facilities of 
a uniformed service, such person may be transferred to a medical 
facility of a uniformed service for the continuation of such hospitali-
zation. Where movement to such medical facility is not feasible, the 
expenses for such additional hospitalization required by such person 
in a civilian facility are authorized to be paid, subject to such regula-
tions as the Secretary of Defense after consultation with the Secretary 
of Health, Education, and Welfare may prescribe. 
SEC. 304. All determinations made under this Act by the Secretary 
of Defense or the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare with 
respect to dependency shall be conclusive for all purposes and shall 
not be subject to review in any court or by any accounting officer of the 
Government, except for cases involving fraud or gross negligence. 
Such determinations may at any time be reconsidered or modified on 
the basis of new evidence or for other good cause. 
SEC. 305. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums 
as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act. 
SEC. 306. The following laws and parts of laws are hereby repealed: 
(1) So much of the Act of July 5,1884 (ch. 217, 23 Stat. 107), as is 
contained in the proviso under the heading "Medical Departments"; 
(2) The Act of May 10, 1943 (ch. 95, 57 Stat. 80), except section 4 
of such Act, and except that part of section 5 which relates to persons 
outside the Naval Service mentioned in section 4 of such Act; 
(3) Section 326 (b) of the Public Health Service Act, except as it 
relates to dependent members of families of ships' officers and mem-
bers of crews of vessels of the Coast and Geodetic Survey; 
(4) Section 710 (a) of the Act of July 1, 1944 (ch. 373, 58 Stat. 
714), as amended; 
(5) Public Law 108, approved June 20, 1949, to the extent it au-
thorizes hospital benefits for dependents of members of the reserve 
components of the Armed Forces; 
(6) Section 207 of the Act of Jime 25, 1938 (52 Stat. 1180). 
SEC. 307. This Act shall become effective six months after the date 
of its enactment. 
Approved June 7, 1956. 
Tune 7, 1956 
IH. R. 4656] 
Public Law 570 
CHAPTER 375 
AN ACT 
Relating to the Liimbee Indians of North Carolina. 
Whereas many Indians now living in Robeson and adjoining counties 
are descendants of that once large and prosperous tribe which oc-
cupied the lands along the Lumbee River at the time of the earliest 
white settlements in that section; and 
70 
S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 571-JUNE 7, 1956 
255 
"^Tiereas at the time of their first contacts with the colonists, these 
Indians were a well-established and distinctive people living in 
European-type houses in settled towns and communities, owning 
slaves and livestock, tilling the soil, and practicing many of the 
arts and crafts of European civilization; and 
Whereas by reason of tribal legend, coupled with a distinctive appear-
ance and manner of speech and the frequent recurrence among them 
of family names such as Oxendine, Locklear, Chavis, Drinkwater, 
Bullard, Lowery, Sampson, and others, also found on the roster of 
the earliest English settlements, these Indians may, with consider-
able show of reason, trace their origin to an admixture of colonial 
blood with certain coastal tribes of Indians; and 
Whereas these people are naturally and understandably proud of 
their heritage, and desirous of establishing their social status and 
preserving their racial history: Now, therefore. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Indians 
now residing in Robeson and adjoining counties of North Carolina, 
originally found by the first white settlers on the Lumbee River in 
Robeson County, and claiming joint descent from remnants of early 
American colonists and certain tribes of Indians originally inhabiting 
the coastal regions of North Carolina, shall, from and after the ratifi-
cation of this Act, be known and designated as Lumbee Indians of 
North Carolina and shall continue to enjoy all rights, privileges, and 
immunities enjoyed by them as citizens of the State of North Carolina 
and of the United States as they enjoyed before the enactment of this 
Act, and shall continue to be subject to all the obligations and duties 
of such citizens under the laws of the State of North Carolina and the 
United States. 
Nothing in this Act shall make such Indians eligible 
for any services performed by the United States for Indians because 
of their status as Indians, and none of the statutes of the United States 
which affect Indians because of their status as Indians shall be applica-
ble to the Ijumbee Indians. 
SEC. 2. All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are 
hereby repealed. 
Approved June 7, 1956. 
Lumbee Indians 
of North Carolina^ 
Public Law 571 
CHAPTER 376 
AN ACT 
To further amend the Military Personnel Claims Act of 1945. 
June 7, 1956 
[H. R. 3996] 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 1 (a) 
of the Military Personnel Claims Act of 1945 (59 Stat. 225), as 
amended, is further amended by striking out "$2,500" and inserting 
in lieu thereof "$6,500". 
SEC. 2. Section 1 of this amendatory Act is effective as of July 2, 
1952, and, notwithstanding section 1 (e) of the Military Personnel 
Claims Act of 1945, as amended, any claim heretofore settled in the 
amount of $2,500 solely by reason of the maximum limitation estab-
lished by the Act of July 3, 1952 (ch. 548, 66 Stat. 321), may, upon 
the written request of the claimant made within one year from the 
date of enactment of section 1 of this amendatory Act, be reconsidered 
and settled in accordance with the amendment contained in that 
section. 
Approved June 7, 1956. 
M i l i t a r y p e r -
sonnel. 
Claimst 
66 Stat. 321< 
31 u s e 222c. 
31 u s e 222c.