An Act to provide for the termination of Federal supervision over the property of the Ottawa Tribe of Indians in the State of Oklahoma and the individual members thereof, and for other purposes
PL 84-943 (S.3969), enacted 08/03/1956

70 STAT. ] 
PUBLIC I4AW 943-AUG. 3, 1956 
968 
Public Law 943 
CHAPTER 909 
August 3, 1956 
[S. 3969] 
Personal p r o p -
erty and funds. 
AN ACT 
To provide for the termination of Federal supervision over the property of the 
Ottawa Tribe of Indians in the State of Oklahoma and the individual members 
thereof, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled^ That the purpose 
o*?t^w'a xribe, 
of this Act is to provide for the termination of Federal supervision ^^j'^^^^ 
over the trust and restricted property of the Ottawa Tribe of Indians vision terminated, 
located in northeastern Oklahoma and the individual members thereof, 
and for a termination of Federal services furnished t a such Indians 
because of their status as Indians. 
SEC. 2. (a) The Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed 
to transfer within three years after the date of this Act to each mem-
ber of the Ottawa Tribe unrestricted title to funds or other personal 
property held in trust for such member by the United States. 
(b) All restrictions on the sale or encumbrance by the owners of 
trust or restricted lands that were originally allotted to persons who 
were at the time of allotment members of the Ottawa Tribe, regardless 
of whether such owners are themselves members of such triba, and 
all restrictions on the sale or encumbrance of trust or restricted land 
owned by members of the tribe (including allottees, heirs, and devi-
sees, either adult or minor), regardless of where the land is located, 
are hereby removed three years after the date of this Act, and the 
patents or deeds under which titles are then held shall pass the titles 
in fee simple, subject to any valid encumbrance. 
The titles to all 
interests in trust or restricted land acquired by members of the tribe 
by devise or inheritance three years or more after the date of this Act 
shall vest in such members in fee simple, subject to any valid 
encumbrance. 
(c) Prior to the time provided in subsection (b) of this section for 
the removal of restrictions on land owned by more than one member 
of the tribe, the Secretary may : 
(1) Upon request of any of the owners made within two years after 
the date of this Act, partition the land and issue to each owner a patent 
or deed for his individual share that shall become unrestricted three 
years from the date of this Act; 
(2) Upon request of any of the owners and a finding by the Secre-
tary that partition of all or any part of the land is not practicable, 
cause all or any part of the land to be sold at not less than the appraised 
value thereof, and distribute the proceeds of sale to the owners: Pro-
vided, That any one or more of the owners may elect before a sale to 
purchase the other interests in the land at not less than the appraised 
value thereof, and the purchaser shall receive an unrestricted patent or 
deed to the land; and 
(3) If the whereabouts of none of the owners can be ascertained, 
cause such lands to be sold and deposit the proceeds of sale in the 
Treasury of the United States for safekeeping. 
SEC. 3. (a) The Act of June 25, 1910 (36 Stat. 855), the Act of 
February 14, 1913 (37 Stat. 678), and other Acts amendatory thereto 
shall not apply to the probate of the trust and restricted property of 
the members of the Ottawa Tribe who die six months or more after the 
date of this Act. 
(b) The laws of the several States, Territories, possessions, and the 
District of Columbia with respect to the probate of wills, the determi-
nation of heirs, and the administration of decedents' estates shall apply 
to the individual property of members of the tribe who die six months 
or more after the date of this Act. 
P r o b a t e of es-
tates. 
25 u s e 151. 
25 u s e 373. 
964 
PUBLIC LAW 943-AUG. 3, 1966 
[70 ST A T , 
Tribal funds. 
E x e c u t i o n of 
deeds, etc. 
o?nt *<L'*^ *"" ^" 
^^^' ^' ^^i^^ ^^ t^^ transfer of title to, or the removal of restrictions 
from, property in accordance with the provisions of this Act, the Sec-
retary of the Interior shall protect the rights of members of the tribe 
.who are minors, non compos mentis, or in the opinion of the Secretary 
in need of assistance in conducting their affairs by causing the appoint-
ment of guardians for such members in courts of competent juris-
diction, or by such other means as he may deem adequate. 
SEC. 5. Pending the completion of the property dispositions pro-
vided for in this Act, the funds now on deposit or hereaft ;:t deposited 
in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the Ottawa Tribe 
shall be available for advance to the tribe, or for expenditure, for such 
purposes as may be designated by the governing body of the tribe and 
approved by the Secretary of the Interior. 
SEC. 6. Tlie Secretary of the Interior shall have authority to execute 
such patents, deeds, assignments, releases, certificates, contracts, and 
other instruments as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out 
the provisions of this Act, or to establish a marketable and recordable 
title to any property disposed of pursuant to this Act. 
Prior leases, etc. 
g^c. 7. NotMug in this Act shall abrogate any valid lease, permit, 
license, right-of-way, lien, or other contract heretofore approved. 
Whenever any such instrument places in or reserves to the Secretary 
of the Interior any powers, duties, or other functions with respect to 
the property subject thereto, the Secretary may transfer such func-
tions, in whole or in part, to any Federal agency with the consent of 
such agency, or to a State agency with the consent of such agency and 
the other party or parties to such instrument. 
SEC. 8. (a) The Federal trust relationship to the affairs of the 
Ottawa Tribe and its members shall terminate three years after the 
date of this Act, and thereafter individual members of the tribe shall 
not be entitled to any of the services performed by the United States 
for Indians because of their status as Indians. All statutes of the 
United States which affect Indians because of their status as Indians 
shall no longer be applicable to the members of the tribe, and the laws 
of the several States shall apply to the tribe and its members in the 
same manner as they apply to other citizens or persons within their 
jurisdiction. 
(b) Nothing in this Act shall affect the status of the members of the 
Ottawa Tribe as citizens of the United States. 
(c) Prior to the termination of the Federal trust relationship in 
accordance with the provisions of this section, the Secretary of the 
Interior is authorized to undertake, within the limits of available 
appropriations, a special program of education and training designed 
to help the members of the tribe to earn a livelihood, to conduct their 
own affairs, and to assume their responsibilities as citizens without 
special services because of their status as Indians. Such program may 
include language training, orientation in non-Indian community cus-
toms and living standards, vocational training and related subjects, 
transportation to the place of training or instruction, and subsistence 
during the course of training or instruction. For the purposes of such 
program, the Secretary is authorized to enter into contracts or agree-
ments with any Federal, State, or local governmental agency, cor-
poration, association, or person. Nothing in this section shall pre-
Status of Indians. 
Educational pro-
gram. 
70 S T A T ; ] 
PUBLIC LAW 943-AUG. 3, 1966 
966 
elude any Federal agency from undertaking any other program for 
the education and training of Indians with funds appropriated to it. 
SEC. 9. (a) Effective three years after the date of this Act, the corpo-
rate charter issued pursuant to the Act of June 26,1936 (49 Stat. 1967), 
as amended, to the Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma and ratified by the tribe 
on November 30,1938, is hereby revoked. 
(b) Effective three ^ears after the date of this Act, all powers of the 
Secretary of the Interior or other officer of the United States to take, 
reviev*% or approve any action under the constitution and bylaws of the 
Ottawa Tribe are hereby terminated. 
Any powers conferred upon 
the tribe by such constitution which are inconsistent with the provi-
sions of this Act are hereby terminated. 
Such termination shall not 
affect the power of the tribe to take any action under its constitution 
and bylaws that is consistent with this Act without the participation 
of the Secretary or other officer of the United States. 
SEC. 10. Nothing in this Act shall affect any claims heretofore filed 
against the United States by the Ottawa Tribe. 
SEC. 11. Nothing in this Act shall abrogate any water rights of the 
Ottawa Tribe or its members. 
SEC. 12. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to issue rules 
and regulations necessary to effectuate the purposes of this Act and 
may in his discretion provide for tribal referendums on matters per-
taining to management or disposition of tribal assets. 
SEC. 13. All Acts or parts of Acts inconsistent with this Act are 
hereby repealed insofar as they affect the Ottawa Tribe or its members. 
The Act of June 26,1936 (49 Stat. 1967), and the Act of June 18,1934 
(48 Stat. 984), as amended by the Act of June 15,1935 (49 Stat. 378), 
shall not apply to the tribe and its members three years after the date 
of this Act. 
SEC. 14. If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof, to 
any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the Act 
and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances 
shall not be affected thereby. 
SEC. 15. (a) The tribe shall have a period of six months from the 
date of this Act in which to prepare and submit to the Secretary a pro-
posed roll of the members of the tribe living on the date of this Act, 
which shall be published in the Federal Register. 
The proposed roll 
shall be prepared in accordance with eligibility requirements pre-
scribed in the tribe's constitution and bylaws. If the tribe fails to 
submit such roll within the time specified in this section, the Secretary 
shall prepare a proposed roll for the tribe, which shall be published in 
the Federal Register. 
Any person claiming membership rights in the 
tribe or any interest in its assets, or a representative of the Secretary 
on behalf of any such person, may, within sixty days from the date of 
publication of the proposed roll, file an appeal with the Secretary 
contesting the inclusion or omission of the name of any person on or 
from such roll. 
The Secretary shall review such appeals and his 
decisions thereon shall be final and conclusive. After disposition of 
all such appeals by the Secretary, the roll of the tribe shall be pub-
lished in the Federal Register, and such roll shall be final for the 
purposes of this Act. 
Corporate charter 
terminated. 
25 u s e 501. 
Regulations. 
25 u s e 461. 
Roll of memberii. 
Pu b 11 c a tlon in 
FR. 
PUBLIC LAW 944-AUG. 3, 1956 
[70 ST A T . 
Taxes. 
(b) No property distributed under the provisions of this Act shall 
at the time of distribution be subject to Federal or State income tax. 
Following any distribution of property made under the provisions of 
this Act, such property and any income derived therefrom by the indi-
vidual, corporation, or other legal entity shall be subject to the same 
taxes, State and Federal, as in the case of non-Indians: Provided^ 
That for the purpose of capital gains or losses the base value of the 
property shall be the value of tlie property when distributed to the 
individual, corporation, or other legal entity. 
Approved August 3, 1986. 
Atigust 3, 1956 
Is. 4116] 
Senate 
Office 
Building Commis-
sion. 
67 Stat. 328. 
40 u s e 174b-l 
note. 
Public Law 944 
CHAPTER 910 
AN ACT 
To increase the membership of the Senate OfBce Building Commission. 
Be it enacted, ty the SeTmte and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled^ That the member-
shij) of the Senate Office Building Commission, created by the Sundry 
Civil Appropriation Act of April 28, 1904 (33 Stat. 481), as amended 
by Public Law 178, Eighty-third Congress, approved August 3, 1953, 
is hereby increased from seven to nine members, such additional mem-
bers to be appointed by the President of the Senate. 
Approved August 3, 1956. 
Vugus 
[S. 4221] 
Public Law 945 
CHAPTER 911 
AN ACT 
To amend the International Wheat Agreement Act of 1949. 
International 
Wheat Agreement. 
63 Stat. 945. 
7 use 1641. 
63 Stat. 2173. 
Be it enojoted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, That section 2 of the 
International Wheat Agreement Act of 1949, as amended, is amended 
by inserting before the parenthesis at the end of the first sentence 
thereof the following: "and the Agreement (International Wheat 
Agreement, 1956) further revising and renewing the International 
Wheat Agreement for a period ending July 31,1959, signed by Argen-
tina, Australia, Canada, France, Sweden, the United States, and certain 
w^heat importing countries". 
SEC. 2. Reference in any law to the International Wheat Agreement 
of 1949 shall be deemed to include the Agreement (International 
Wheat Agreement, 1956) revising and renewing the International 
Wheat Agreement for a period ending July 31,1959. 
Approved August 3, 1956. 
Atxgust 3, 1956 
[H. J. Res. 511] 
Public Law 946 
CHAPTER 912 
JOINT RESOLUTION 
Granting the consent of Congress to the States of New York, New Jersey, and 
Connecticut to confer certain additional powers upon the Interstate Sanitation 
Commission, established by said States pursuant to Public Resolution 62, 
Seventy-fourth Congress, August 27, 1935. 
Resolved hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the United 
Interstate Sani- States of America in Congress assembled, That the Act of August 27, 
st'^din' of SV 1935 (49 Stat. 932) is amended by striking out section 2 thereof and 
pollution. 
inserting the following new sections;