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PUBLIC LAW 87-775-OCT. 9, 1962
[76 STAT.
Public Law 87-775 October 9, 1962 [H, R. 11590]
Indians. Cherokee T r i b e, Okla. Judgment funds, disposition. 25 USC 355 note.
Share payments.
Claims.
T a x exemption.
Funds not subject to l i e n s, e t c.
74 Stat. 988; S3 Stat. 1379; 74 Stat. 997; 64 Stat. 555.
AN ACT To provide for the disposition of judgment funds of the Cherokee Nation or Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma.
Be it enacted by the Senate and Hpuse of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Interior is authorized and directed to distribute per capita to all persons whose names appear on the rolls of the Cherokee Nation, which rolls were closed and made final as of March 4, 1907, pursuant to the Act of April 26, 1906 (34 Stat. 137), and subsequent additions thereto, all funds which were appropriated by the Act of September 30, 1961 (75 Stat. 733), in satisfaction of a judgment that was obtained by the Cherokee Tribe in the Indian Claims Commission against the United States in docket numbered 173, together with the interest accrued thereon, except $1,432,084.17 which by stipulation of the parties has been set aside for the payments of any offsets that are finally determined to be due the United States, and except the amount allowed for attorney fees and expenses. SEC. 2. (a) Except as provided in subsections (b) and (c) of this section, a share or proportional share payable to a living adult shall be paid directly to such adult; (b) a share payable to a deceased enrollee shall be distributed to his heirs or legatees upon the filing of proof of death and inheritance satisfactory to the Secretary of the Interior, or his authorized representative, whose findings and determinations upon such proof shall be final and conclusive: Provided, That proportional shares of deceased heirs amounting to $10 or less shall not be distributed, and no inherited share amounting to $5 or less shall be paid, and the money shall revert to the tribe; (c) a share or proportional share payable to a person under twenty-one years of age or to a person under legal disability shall be paid in accordance with such procedures as the Secretary determines will adequately protect the best interests of such persons. SEC. 3. (a) All claims for per capita shares, whether by a living enrollee or by the heirs or legatees or a deceased enrollee, shall be filed with the Area Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Muskogee, Oklahoma, not later than three years from the date of approval of this Act. Thereafter, all claims and the right to file same shall be forever barred and the unclaimed shares shall revert to the tribe. (b) Tribal funds that revert to the tribe pursuant to this Act, including interest and income therefrom, may be advanced or expended for any purpose that is authorized by the principal chief of the Cherokee Nation and approved by the Secretary of the Interior. SEC. 4. No part of any funds which may be distributed in accordance with the provisions of this Act shall be subject to Federal or State income tax. SEC. 5. No part of any of the funds which may be so distributed shall be subject to any lien, debt, or claim of any nature whatsoever against the tribe or individual Indians except delinquent debts owed by the tribe to the United States, or owed by individual Indians to the tribe or to the United States. SEC. 6. Payments made under this Act shall not be held to be "other income and resources", as that term is used in sections 2(a) (10)(A), 402(a)(7), 1002(a)(8), and 1402(a)(8) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 302(a) (10)(A), 602(a)(7), 1202(a)(8), and 1352(a)(8)).
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